FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Taylor Swift made up for disappointment at the Country Music Association awards with three prizes on Sunday at the MTV Europe Music Awards, one of the biggest nights in pop outside the United States.
By the halfway mark on the night, Swift, who left the Country Music awards empty-handed less than two weeks earlier, had picked up honors for Best Female, Best Live and Best Look.
"Drei? Drei? I can't believe you gave me three awards," Swift, who is nominated in five categories, told the crowd, trying out her best German.
Rihanna, who led the nominations with six, had so far not picked up a prize.
Teen heartthrob Justin Bieber won Best Male for the second year in a row, while Carly Rae Jepsen picked up Best Song for "Call Me Maybe" and Best Push recognizing up-and-coming talent.
MTV chose a circus theme for this year's awards at the 100-year-old Festhalle venue, and Rita Ora opened the show by belting out her No. 1 British hit "R.I.P." from a giant bird cage.
One of the night's most popular performers was dance sensation Psy with his record-breaking hit "Gangnam Style".
Skipping through the venue and on to the main stage in a sparkly blue jacket with his horse riding-inspired dance, he became the first South Korean artist to perform at the annual awards.
The song, which is up for the Best Video award, has been viewed more than 670 million times on YouTube and received a record-breaking 4.9 million "likes" on Facebook since being released in mid-July.
Host Heidi Klum, who this year filed for divorce from singer husband Seal, also teamed up with Psy for a tongue-in-cheek performance of the dance.
HOUSTON REMEMBERED
Before the show began, performers on the red carpet included rapper Ludacris, who debuted his new video "Rest of My Life".
"The fans are ecstatic right now. Hopefully we'll be back at the EMAs next year performing this track," Ludacris told journalists amid the din of screaming fans.
Stars like the Jonas Brothers, who received one of the biggest cheers from fans on the carpet, and Kim Kardashian said they were looking forward to Thanksgiving dinners.
"There's always a lot of food, but we're still figuring out how to get all of us together," said Kim, referring to the sizeable celebrity Kardashian clan.
Despite being billed as the Europe Music Awards, the majority of nominees are traditionally North American, and 2012 is no exception.
Alongside Psy, acts who took the stage at the show included country singer Swift, 14-time Grammy winner Alicia Keys, the Killers, newly reformed No Doubt and Jepsen.
Heading the nominations was Rihanna with six, including Best Song and Best Video for "We Found Love".
Following close behind with five nominations was Swift, Katy Perry had four, while Lady Gaga, who cleaned up last year with four prizes, was in the running for three awards.
Bieber, who reportedly just broken up with girlfriend Selena Gomez, was up for four awards, including Best Male and Best Pop.
MTV is also honoring late Whitney Houston with a Global Icon award. Houston, who was found dead in a Beverly Hills hotel bathtub on February 11, will be the third artist to be given the award, following Bon Jovi and Queen in 2010 and 2011.
"We will also love you Whitney. Forever!" Alicia Keys said, presenting the award.
The EMA awards were last held in Frankfurt in 2001. Last year's awards in Belfast attracted 23 million viewers on all platforms and 158 million votes worldwide.
(Reporting by Victoria Bryan and Maria Sheahan; editing by Mike Collett-White)