The 2010 MTV Video Music Awards were an explosion of music, fashion and watercooler moments. Catch up with what went down with our live blog of events.

Click here for photos from the white carpet and exclusive Citadel coverage

Ke$ha's garbage bag dress and Katy Perry's colorful hair and Russell Brand nails were no match for the highlight of the white carpet fashion arrivals - Lady Gaga, who started the show with a record-breaking 13 nominations. After making her grand entrance in a late Alexander McQueen ensemble, she picked up two awards before the show even began.

Image courtesy of Kevin Mazur/Getty Images

Eminem opened the show rapping his latest hit “Not Afraid,” where he was joined onstage with a red-haired Rihanna to sing their hit collaboration "Love the Way You Lie,” which they ended with an embrace.

Host Chelsea Handler made her entrance with a run-in with Lindsay Lohan, who humorously joked around with Handler, even giving her a smack on the behind. When Handler entered the show, she parodied Lady Gaga’s “Bad Romance” video, noting that this was the first time the VMAs had been hosted by a woman in the last 16 years.

Lady Gaga took home her third award of the night for Best Female Video where she thanked her little monsters, Alexander McQueen, the gays, and some discharged soldiers who were in attendance with her at the show. 30 Seconds to Mars followed when they snagged the award for Best Rock video. Justin Bieber went on to perform his hit “Baby” outside.

Image courtesy of Kevin Mazur/Getty Images

Usher, the man responsible for Bieber’s discovery, immediately took the stage to perform “OMG” along with other hits. Eminem then won Best Male Video although he wasn’t present to accept the award.

One of the dark horse nominees of the evening, Florence and the Machine, performed what was by far one of the coolest performances of the night, continuing the evening's trend of performances in the round. Katy Perry's ex, Travie McCoy, joined them onstage.

Lady Gaga never disappoints with costume changes, as she took the stage when she accepted the award for Best Pop Video for “Bad Romance” in a new black outfit and spiky head piece.

Image courtesy of Kevin Winter/Getty Images

One of the highlights of the evening was Taylor Swift’s anticipated performance. She sang a track for the first time off of her forthcoming album Speak Now, which is rumored to be directed to Kanye West. Barefoot and earnest in a simple dress, she handled the performance with the same style and grace from last year when her moment was stolen. Instead of being critical, her words to Kanye: "Thirty-two and still growing up now/Who you are is not what you did/You're still innocent."

Click here to see video footage from the VMAs

Mary J. Blige, Swizz Beatz joined newcomer Young Money rapper Drake onstage in a performance fitting for one of the most talked about new artists this year. Eminem then snagged the award for Best Hip-Hop video for "Not Afraid."

Receiving one of the most honorary awards of the night for Best New Artist was Justin Bieber, who thanked his family and Usher. Rock band Linkin Park who just returned to the music scene then took the stage from the Griffith Observatory singing their latest hit "The Catalyst."

We were then surprised with one of the hottest appearances of the night from Cher, who looked amazing.  Lady Gaga was then presented with the award for Video of the Year for "Bad Romance." In her speech, Lady Gaga announced the name of her new album, which will be called Born This Way, as she said she would do if she won Video of the Year.  Click here to see Lady Gaga's post-show interview with Ellen DeGeneres

Image courtesy of Kevin Winter/Getty Images

The final performance of the evening came from Kanye West who kept everyone guessing with his "toast to the d-bag" song. What do you think this song was about? Twitter critics are buzzing that the show was boring. At least Kanye gave us something to talk about again with another year of controversy.

Here is a list of the winners:

Collaboration:
Lady Gaga featuring Beyonce, "Telephone"
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Female video:
Lady Gaga, "Bad Romance"
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Male video:
Eminem, "Not Afraid"
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Hip-hop video:
Eminem, "Not Afraid"
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New artist:
Justin Bieber featuring Ludacris, "Baby"
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Pop video:
Lady Gaga, "Bad Romance"
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Rock video:
30 Seconds to Mars, "Kings and Queens"
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Dance music video:
Lady Gaga, "Bad Romance"
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Art direction:
Florence and the Machine, "Dog Days Are Over"
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Choreography:
Lady Gaga, "Bad Romance"
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Cinematography:
Jay Z and Alicia Keys, "Empire State of Mind"
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Direction:
Lady Gaga, "Bad Romance"
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Editing:
Lady Gaga, "Bad Romance"
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Special effects:
Muse, "Uprising"
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Breakthrough video:
The Black Keys, "Tighten Up"
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Video of the year
Lady Gaga, "Bad Romance"
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Katherine Epstein for Citadel Digital © 2010