Miley Cyrus wins top prize at MTV Video Music Awards

INGLEWOOD: Pop shock diva Miley Cyrus won Video of the Year for "Wrecking Ball" at Sunday´s 2014 MTV Video Music Awards outside Los Angeles, which gave pride of place to the rising generation of pop stars.

The music video for "Wrecking Ball" was directed by fashion photographer Terry Richardson -- known for an erotic style -- and shows the 21-year-old singer in skin-tight white underwear and cropped top, swinging suggestively from a wrecking ball. The former idol of tween girls around the world for her role in the television series "Hanna Montana" shattered her good-girl image when she performed last year at the Video Music Awards in a flesh-toned bikini and bent over and gyrated provocatively with singer Robin Thicke.

This year, Cyrus again made headlines, this time by staying off stage and sending a homeless man to accept her award, who spoke out for the 1.6 million homeless and runaway children and teens in the United States as a teary-eyed Cyrus listened.

Meanwhile, rapper Common asked for a moment of silence in memory of Michael Brown, the unarmed black teenager killed by a white policeman in Ferguson, Missouri.

Cyrus´s Video of the Year win bested Beyonce and her husband Jay Z, nominated for "Drunk in Love," as well as Iggy Azalea featuring Charli XCV for "Fancy," and Pharrell Williams for "Happy," and Sia for "Chandelier."

But Beyonce caused a sensation when she appeared on stage in a rhinestone-studded leotard, joined by husband Jay Z, and their daughter, Blue Ivy -- in an apparent bid to lay to rest rumors of an imminent divorce.

Rapper Drake won Best Hip-Hop Video for "Hold On (We´re Going Home)," which had also been contested by Canadian duo Majid Jordan.Pop princess Katy Perry won the trophy for Best Female Video with her song "Dark Horse," featuring rapper Juicy J. The men´s category was won by Ed Sheeran, 23, for his "Sing," a duet which he recorded with Williams.

Best Pop Video went to the young Ariana Grande, the latest pop sensation, for the song "Problem," which also features Iggy Azalea.

And New Zealand singer-songwriter Lorde, 17, took home Best Rock Video for "Royals," a song that, in January, won her the Grammy for Song of the Year and Best Pop Single. The first MTV awards were handed out in 1984. Winners receive a statuette of an astronaut on the moon, known as a "Moonman" award.