It was a very good night for Justin Bieber, who scored five wins at MTV's 2015 Europe Music Awards, during a star-studded show held Sunday at the Mediolanum Forum in Milan (Italy) aired across MTV's global network of more than 60 channels and hundreds of digital platforms.

Ed Sheeran, Nicki Minaj, One Direction, Rihanna, Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, Taylor Swift, and Shawn Mendes also won EMAs, which were based on more than half billion votes from around the globe.

Bieber, who performed his tropical ballad hit single “What Do You Mean?” on the Milan stage, scooped EMAs for Best Male; Best Look; Worldwide Act: North America; Best Collaboration for his work with Skrillex and Diplo on “Where Are You Now?”; and also the Biggest Fans prize in a heated social vote, with One Direction landing in second place.

Macklemore & Ryan Lewis opened the show with a high-octane performance of their award-winning song “Downtown”. Later in the evening, they scored the Best Video prize for “Downtown.”

Andrea Bocelli performed his classic “Time To Say Goodbye,” and then joined singer-songwriter Tori Kelly to bring down the house with a duet rendition of Pink's hit “Learn To Love Again”. Appropriately, Milan marked the first time the Italian tenor attended the EMAs. 

The closing act was Pharrell Williams' potent perf of his hit track “Freedom”. The broadcast then cut to Milan's cantral Piazza Duomo, where thousands of fans held up a massive 'Freedom' flag comprising national flags from all over the world. 

Duran Duran were honored with the first ever MTV Visionary Award.

Ed Sheeran and “Orange is the New Black” actress Ruby Rose hosted, with Sheeran also performing with UK drum and bass outfit Rudimental on their hit “Lay It On Me”. Sheeran also took home awards for “Best Live Act” and Best World Stage.”

Viacom used the EMAs, which are the biggest international MTV event of the year, to test the latest technology to give fans new ways to experience and interact with live TV.

MTV aired the red carpet pre-show and also the entire awards ceremony via a virtual reality livestream that used multiple cameras and touted the Milan show as the first global music awards event providing fans this type of immersive experience during the entire event. 

Source: Variety