Jack Black News

Blood was shed, people were electrocuted, lobsters ran amok--and that was just when the Jackass crew was on camera, reminding people to cast their votes for the Viewer's Choice award.

But when Johnny Knoxville and company weren't practicing self-immolation Thursday night, Panic! At the Disco's "I Write Sins Not Tragedies" took home the biggest Moon Man at the 2006 MTV Video Music Awards, beating out Shakira, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Christina Aguilera and Madonna for Video of the Year. Fall Out Boy won hearts and votes, taking home the Viewer's Choice award for "Dance, Dance."

While host Jack Black, who first hit the stage dressed in silver Moon Man regalia, promised there were going to be "a lot of surprises," we're not sure he meant of the musical variety. But, as it turned out, the most-nominated videos of the evening, the Chili Peppers' "Dani California" and Shakira's "Hips Don't Lie" captured a mere one Moon Man apiece in technical categories.

Gnarls Barkley's "Crazy" and James Blunt's "You're Beautiful" were the only multiple winners of the evening, with two apiece.

Meanwhile, the soap opera that could have been the VMAs this year pretty much went off without a hitch.

Nick and Jessica--same room, no problem. Paris and Nicole--same room, no problem. (Not that either of those pairs actually shared stage time.) Environmentalist and Rock the Vote beneficiary Al Gore presented part of his Inconvenient Truth lecture. Snoop Dogg told the crowd he really felt like smokin' something.

Pretty standard, really.

Justin Timberlake kicked off the evening at New York's Radio City Music Hall with a calculatedly smooth performance of his new single "SexyBack," featuring Timbaland, which hit number one on the Billboard Hot 100 this week.

To present the first award of the evening, Lil' Kim came out dressed in an orange prison jumpsuit, flanked by two beefy guards. She thanked the crowd "for keeping your lighters up for me for the whole last year" while she served a prison term, and then handed out Best Male Video to British soft rocker Blunt for "You're Beautiful."

A no-show Kelly Clarkson captured the female counterpart of that award for "Because of You."

Performers included Shakira and Wyclef Jean, Pharrell and Ludacris, Beyonce, Christina Aguilera, The All-American Rejects, T.I. and the Chicago-based quartet OK Go, who reproduced their YouTube-favorite video for "Here It Goes Again," treadmill for treadmill. The Raconteurs, led by Jack White (who wasn't too thrilled by Black's suggestion that the two were opposite sides of the same coin and should start a band), provided musical interludes throughout.

Being the only two people Pink didn't make fun of in her "Stupid Girls" video, Nick Lachey and Nicole Richie were called upon to present the M!sundastood singer with the Best Pop Video award for her ode to Jessica Simpson, Paris Hilton, Mary-Kate Olsen and Lindsay Lohan.

This year marked the first time MTV simulcast the live show on its Website and to get into the spirit, the network had backstage cams, red carpet cams and any other type of cam you could possibly want capturing the action.

Sarah Silverman's backstage bit, in which she talked about Lance Bass hitting on her--only to be shocked to find out that the former boy bander is gay--was way more entertaining than her time onstage, in which all she did was give a stiff shout-out to Hilton, warning the "Stars Are Blind" singer that "you seriously need to lose weight."

Chamillionaire's "Ridin' " scored Best Rap Video honors, Beyonce's "Check on It" won for Best R&B Video, Black Eyed Peas' "My Humps" proved their worth by winning Best Hip-Hop Video and the Pussycat Dolls snapped up a Best Dance Video win for "Buttons."

Though 20/20 canceling his scheduled appearance ruined his week, Chamillionaire reassured the crowd that "this award just made my year."

"Nobody can cancel this," the Houston-born rapper said.

The All-American Rejects were not so much (rejects, that is), winning Best Group Video for "Move Along," and A.F.I.'s "Miss Murder" killed the competition, winning for Best Rock Video.

"I am getting so trashed tonight," All-American Rejects frontman Tyson Ritter announced during the band's acceptance speech.

Pretty standard.

Here's a complete rundown of the winners of the 2006 MTV Video Music Awards:

• Video of the Year: Panic! At the Disco, "I Write Sins Not Tragedies"
• Best Male Video: James Blunt, "You're Beautiful"
• Best Female Video: Kelly Clarkson, "Because of You"
• Best Group Video: The All-American Rejects, "Move Along"
• Best Rap Video: Chamillionaire, "Ridin' "
• Best R&B Video: Beyonce featuring Slim Thug, "Check on It"
• Best Hip-Hop Video: Black Eyed Peas, "My Humps"
• Best Dance Video: Pussycat Dolls featuring Snoop Dogg, "Buttons"
• Best Rock Video: A.F.I., "Miss Murder"
• Best Pop Video: Pink, "Stupid Girls"
• Best New Artist in a Video: Avenged Sevenfold, "Bat Country"
• Viewer's Choice: Fall Out Boy, "Dance, Dance"
• Best Direction in a Video: Gnarls Barkley, "Crazy"
• Best Choreography in a Video: Shakira featuring Wyclef Jean, "Hips Don't Lie"
• Best Special Effects in a Video: Missy Elliott, "We Run This"
• Best Art Direction in a Video: Red Hot Chili Peppers, "Dani California"
• Best Editing in a Video: Gnarls Barkley, "Crazy"
• Best Cinematography in a Video: James Blunt, "You're Beautiful"
• Ringtone of the Year: Fort Minor, "Where'd You Go"
• Best Videogame Soundtrack: Marc Ecko's Getting Up
• Best Videogame Score: Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion
• Video Vanguard Award: Hype Williams