This is a special MTV Europe Music Awards, hosted by none other than Rita Ora, on what marks close to a month since One Direction's Liam Payne lost his battle with the cancer. This comes a year after their duet single For You, from 2018. As Ora narrated a somber night amidst much celebration, her voice had been cracking when describing Payne as "one of the kindest people that I knew.".

Wearing a dark suit, Ora's tribute was an introspective moment in an high-octane event where Taylor Swift became the first artist in the 30 years of EMAs history to have taken home three Best Artist awards. Other winners included Raye, Sabrina Carpenter, Tyla, and Benson Boone.

Raye, crowned Best UK and Ireland Act, performed her chart-toppers Escapism and Body Dysmorphia to a lively audience. This is the first time the EMAs have taken place in the UK since 2017, and Ora hosted it for the third time. To close the show, Ora maintained a more subdued tone as she suspended her usual energetic hosting to honor Payne.

"I just wanted to take a moment to remember somebody very dear to us," she began, speaking directly to the audience. "We lost him recently. He was a big part of the MTV world, my world, and I think many of yours at home and everybody here tonight."

«And, you know, there were so many ways we were talking about honoring him, but I think sometimes just speaking is enough. She also spoke about Payne's warm character: "Liam Payne was one of the kindest people that I knew. Ora lauded his generosity, even calling him someone who "had the biggest heart" and was "always the first to help.".". "He brought so much joy to every room he walked into and left such a mark on this world. So let's just take a moment to remember our friend," she concluded.

Later, a short video was played. It consisted of some shots of Payne and a part of the One Direction song Night Changes. Pictures of Payne filled screens around the arena with the caption, "MTV remembers Liam Payne 1993-2024.".

Meanwhile, Taylor Swift continued her incredible year, taking four awards: Best Artist, Best Video for Fortnight, Best Live Act, and Best US Artist. Swift couldn't make it to the Manchester show as she was preparing for the final stretch of her Eras tour in Canada; however, she did video in to say thanks, everyone appreciated that. She even spent Sunday cheering on her boyfriend, Kansas City Chiefs player Travis Kelce to an NFL game in Kansas City.

Accepting the award, Swift said she was coming to everyone from the Eras tour. How much she wished to have been with them that night, but thank you so much for these amazing awards. She also gave thanks for her fans and also for the wonderful contribution of a fellow artist, Post Malone, who was included in Fortnight. "The fact that you have honored the tour, everything that's happened with the album this year, the video, it's just unbelievable," she said, adding that she'd enjoyed performing in Europe earlier in the year.

Elsewhere, Sabrina Carpenter won Best Song with her hit Espresso, though the failure to attend was owing to her performance on her Short n' Sweet tour in San Diego.

In a bid to forge a unique opening act, an emerging star, Benson Boone, took to the stage suspended high above the audience at Manchester's Co-op Live arena playing the piano. Boone has got Best New Artist and said he is shocked and thankful. "I was completely unprepared for this, but I will say I've not been doing music a crazy long time," he admitted, going so far as to say that he only had recently discovered his voice, passion, and career path.

Raye was also part of the many celebrities who appeared live, entertaining the audience with her performance and winning Best UK and Ireland Act. Her prominent appearance and heartfelt thanks to the audience reflected all the many mixed emotions that filled the night.

It was the EMAs combined celebration, remembrance, and excitement of live performance in creating an indelibly stamped mark on every viewer's mind during that media view on the television set as Ora sang her tribute song for Payne.