Lady Gaga dominated the proceedings, collecting four gongs. The singer gained awards for best song, best video, best female and biggest fans at the ceremony, in the Odyssey Arena. Teen star Justin Bieber and R&B singer Bruno Mars were the other big winners, receiving two prizes each. Other winners were Katy Perry, who received the best live act accolade, Eminem, who won best hip-hop and Linkin Park, who beat Coldplay to take home best rock. Queen received the global icon award, with band members Brian May and Roger Taylor picking up their honour on the night.
At the same time as the main awards ceremony in the Odyssey Arena, Northern Ireland band Snow Patrol were playing a free gig to 15,000 people at City Hall, with Red Hot Chili Peppers performing at the Ulster Hall.
Snow Patrol frontman Gary Lightbody stated, "It is great that Northern Ireland is getting an international spotlight thrown at it in such a positive way... The list is endless of new bands at the moment and it is great that MTV have taken their cameras around some of the smaller gigs as well over the past week. Very often Northern Ireland in the past has been in the news for other reasons and this is a really, really amazingly positive reason to be in the news."
Monkee Business - A stage musical based on the music of 1960s pop group The Monkees is to be launched next year. Monkee Business will have its world premiere at Manchester Opera House in March before moving to other UK cities. It will feature hits including I'm A Believer and Daydream Believer, but the original band members will not appear. Instead, it will feature a 20-strong cast acting out a "madcap Austin Powers-style plot", producers said. The premiere is part of a scheme dubbed 'Manchester Gets It First', where the city is used as the test bed for new West End-style shows. Ghost The Musical, based on the Hollywood film, was premiered in Manchester in March, selling 100,000 tickets, before moving to the West End.
Hot Stuff - Red Hot Chili Peppers have announced details of their only UK appearances of 2012. The Californian funk-rockers will play an open air gig at Knebworth Park on 23 June and will also perform at Sunderland's Stadium of Light on 24 June. Their 10th studio album, I'm With You, topped the UK's official album chart when it was released earlier this year.
Master Class - Tyne Daly is to reprise her Broadway role in Terrence McNally's Master Class when it arrives in London's West End. The Cagney & Lacey star will play opera singer Maria Callas in the play at the Vaudeville Theatre from 21 January. Stephen Wadsworth's production was a sell-out when it opened on Broadway earlier this year. The original 1995 version won the best play Tony.
Cover Story - A Beatles sleeve which features the faces of music executives in place of the group members has been named the world's rarest album cover. The adapted artwork for the Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band album is worth about £70,000. It was created to celebrate the success of the record - released in June 1967 - for Christmas of that year. The artwork is one of five Beatles album sleeves to feature in the top 10, compiled by Record Collector magazine. Sir Peter Blake's original Sgt Pepper collage was doctored to replace the faces of The Beatles and other notable figures with those of executives from the band's US label Capitol. Only about 100 are thought to have been made.
Charity Auction - Stage One, the charity that helps to develop young theatre producers, has launched a fundraising auction offering lots incl
