Now in their 20th year, the awards recognise artists from around the world and across genres, a celebration of what MTV viewers worldwide consider the best in music.

When the MTV Europe Music Awards were launched in 1994, they began as an alternative to the American MTV Video Music Awars, and celebrated US acts as well as those from other countries, a theme which continues to this day.

The first were held on November 24, 1994 at Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, five years after the wall came down.

They were hosted by Tom Jones and featured Aerosmith, Björk, Roxette, Take That and George Michael.

Presenters included East 17, Jean Paul Gaultier, Naomi Campbell, Pamela Anderson and model Helena Christensen, who famously kissed INXS's Michael Hutchence live on stage.

There were 10 award categories with Youssou N'Dour and Neneh Cherry's 7 Seconds the winner of the best song.

This year, nearly double the number of awards are up for grabs, with 17 to be handed out.

Over the years, it's not always been just about the music.

In 1995, French nuclear testing in the South Pacific got the most attention when Jon Bon Jovi, during his speech for winning the award for best rock, said: "The only enemy is ignorance. Peace, people. Let's get rid of all this nuclear testing" and Bono made crude remarks about the President, a reference again to nuclear testing.

Other notable moments in EMA history included, in 1996, when Metallica performed the songs Last Caress and So What? instead of their single King Nothing as scheduled.

The MTV executives told the band they weren't allowed to use any swear words during their time on live TV, and upset with the scripted, family-friendly MTV antics, Metallica simply played non-TV friendly songs.

Over the years, as the awards have grown in popularity, they have become almost as notorious for their wild fashion and costume changes as the music.

In 1998 six new categories were introduced including the MTV Selects; UK and Ireland, Northern, Central and Southern.

Faithless opened the show with God is a DJ and Madonna performed The Power of Goodbye.

The big winners of the night were the Spice Girls and Madonna with two awards.

In 2001 the show was the first entertainment broadcasts following the September 11 attacks in New York.

Gorillaz won an award for Best Song and Best Dance and as co-creators Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett walked onto stage to make a speech, Damon Albarn sported a T-shirt with the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament logo.

One of the highlights of 2002 was an offer made by host P Diddy, to give away a lush ring to the first woman to undress on stage. One lady took the challenge, a lady took the stage and won the ring.

When Moby came on stage to collect the award for Best Website he wished the best wishes to Eminem, showing that he bore no grudge after the confrontation on the 2002 MTV Video Music Awards.

Three years later Madonna opened the show in a giant disco ball performing Hung Up.

In 2006 the 13th awards were hosted by Justin Timberlake, who won Best Male and Best Pop prize and joked that he only won because he agreed to present the event in Copenhagen. Depeche Mode, founded in the UK in 1980, said: "A big thank you to the fans and a big thank you to MTV for playing our videos for 25 years" after winning the award for Best Group."

Despite winning the award for Best Hip-Hop, Kanye West was so disappointed at not winning for Best Video that he crashed the stage when the award was being presented to Justice vs Simian for We Are Your Friends.

An online campaign ensured that one-hit wonder Rick Astley was named Best Act Ever in 2008.

In 2009 Katy Perry opened the show and performed a medley of the nominees for Best Song.

The Jonas Brothers introduced a tribute to Michael Jackson performed by Michael's fans.

The following year Lady Gaga was the big winner after scooping the Best Female, Best Song and Best Pop trophies.

The event was hosted by Eva Longoria — who had 13 outfit changes.

Bon Jovi received the first ever Global Icon Award, and then they performed the brand new single What Do You Got and two of their most successful songs: You Give Love a Bad Name and It's My Life.

Two years ago the event returned to Germany.

It was the fifth time that Germany and the second time that Frankfurt was the host city of the EMAs. The event was hosted by Heidi Klum with the help of Ludacris as the co-host.

Taylor Swift, Justin Bieber and One Direction were the biggest winners, taking home three awards each.

The event featured performances from Muse, Taylor Swift, No Doubt, Carly Rae Jepsen, Psy, Fun, Alicia Keys, Pitbull, Rita Ora and The Killers. There was also a tribute to Whitney Houston introduced by Alicia Keys.

Last year the awards were held in Amsterdam and featured performances from Bruno Mars, Icona Pop, Katy Perry, Kings of Leon, Miley Cyrus, Robin Thicke, Iggy Azalea, The Killers and Imagine Dragons

Eminem received the Global Icon Award.