This year, a slew of music newbies pumped out catchy hits and worked a signature style, be it side-swept bangs or cartoonish wigs. With so many choices, it's a good thing we left the business of picking this year's 2010 MTV Video Music Awards Best New Artist up to the fans at home. And to no one's surprise, they chose Justin Bieber.
The VMA rookie took home the Moonman for the smash clip "Baby." The video was up against some chart-topping competition, as Jason Derülo ("In My Head"), Ke$ha ("Tik Tok"), Nicki Minaj ("Massive Attack") and Broken Bells ("The Ghost Inside") were all up for hardware.
"Wow," the teen sensation gasped after making his way to the stage. Bieber said that as a young kid from Canada, he was surprised by the honor, saying, "This means a lot to me." The teen star shouted out music industry execs, showed respect to his "big bro" ("Thank you to Usher for being my mentor") and, of course, his fans: "Thank you to everybody here."
The win was another highlight of a big night for the teen superstar and his army of Beliebers. Bieber hit the stage early in the night for a throwback-themed rendition of his hits "Baby" and "Somebody to Love," which included his own amped-up drum solo.
Bieber, who presented last year, was excited to take his VMA experience to the next level and hit the stage at this year's festivities.
"I'm excited to be performing at the VMAs. It is all still unbelievable, because last year I went for the first time and no one knew who I was,"Bieber said recently. "Just really shows that dreams can come true and what incredible, dedicated fans I have. I'm a lucky guy and grateful. Now I just want to get on that stage, have some fun in front of my heroes, because at the end of the day I'm still a kid and still a fan."
