20 reasons why the 2017 MTV EMAs are a must-watch

You can't have a great awards ceremony without having a top notch host. Singer and actress Rita Ora is this year's host. She most definitely qualifies as "top notch."

Since 2010, the MTV EMAs have been giving out the Global Icon award, a recognition given to artists that are not only iconic at a worldwide level – duh – but have also been that way for a long time. Past winners include Whitney Houston and Queen. This year, that much deserved honor goes to U2.

Unlike their American counterparts, the VMAs, which focuses on the music video aspect of music, the EMAs have just one single category to it. Instead, the EMAs are all about all the different types of music there are in the world. There's a hip-hop category—Kendrick Lamar will win it, let's call it now – as well as an electronic one – for the likes of Martin Garrix, David Guetta, and Major Lazer. 

One of the things the EMAs are known for is for having some of the most epic live musical performances at an awards ceremony. Take 2009, where U2 performed "Sunday Bloody Sunday" at the historic Brandenburg Gate. And as if that wasn't enough, Jay-Z joined in and freestyled.  

For this year's edition of the awards, MTV announced that it was doing away with separate categories for female and male artists, and will just have one single "Best Artist" category. Up for it this year are Kendrick Lamar, Shawn Mendes, Taylor Swift, Ariana Grande, Ed Sheeran, and Miley Cyrus. 

This year, it'll be in London. England. MTV has previously held the festivities in cities like Paris, Barcelona, Milan, and Stockholm. 

Take the 2013 edition of the EMAs, where Miley Cyrus lit up a joint as she accepted the "Best Video" award for "Wrecking Ball."

Like the 2016 EMAs, for example. Green Day was awarded the "Global Icon" award, and they used part of their speech to criticize America for electing Donald Trump. Afterwards, they performed their George W. Bush-era anthem, "American Idiot."

Like in 2002, when Moby squashed his feud with Eminem while accepting the "Best Website" award (yep, that was a thing at one point!).

Like in 2003, when Christina Aguilera and Kelly Osbourne got petty with each other. Aguilera was rumored to have refused to participate in the pre-show red carpet if Kelly Osbourne was there. Later, Aguilera, who was hosting that year, did a skit where she threw darts at a picture of Ozzy's offspring. Kelly Osbourne would later talk smack, and this feud would go on for a little over a decade.

The EMAs usually take place in venues that can fit in a lot of people. This year, for example, the event will be at London's Wembley Stadium, which can hold up to 90,000 people. In 2004, 400,000 people showed up at the Tor di Valle Racecourse to watch the likes of Franz Ferdinand and the Beastie Boys perform. 

You're not a legit music awards show unless you've had a Kanye freakout moment. Sure enough, in 2006, Kanye stormed the stage after losing "Best Video" to Justice and Simian because he thought his video for "Touch the Sky" was better than theirs for "We Are Your Friends." The man may be a jerk, but he wasn't wrong then, and he isn't wrong now.

How can you not love an awards show that created the "Best Act Ever" in 2008 just so they could give it to Rick Astley for the express purpose of rickrolling the whole world? 

On that very same show, Paul McCartney was given the "Global Icon" award, which was very fitting because that year's EMAs were held in Liverpool, England – birthplace of the Beatles. Paul, of course, thanked Ringo, John and George.

The 2015 EMAs were also livestreamed in virtual reality 360 video. 

For much of its existence and until 2010, the EMAs gave out the "Free Your Mind" award given to an organization or individual trying to make the world a better place. The first ever award – given in 1994 – was given to Amnesty International, while the last one was given to Shakira for her work promoting education worldwide. 

The EMAs don't just recognize artists from different musical genres. They also celebrate artists from all parts of the world, giving awards that spotlight different regions from time to time. In 2014, for example, Colombian rock band Don Tetto won for "Best Latin American Central Act."

Since 2013, the EMAS have had a category devoted to Korean music, which is pretty much synonymous with K-pop. This year's contenders are GFriend, Mamamoo, Highlight, Seventeen and Wanna One.

Dubbed the "Best World Stage" award, it's given to the best live musical event of the year. Up for it this year is Steve Aoki, the Kings Of Leon, DNCE, The Chainsmokers, Foo Fighters, and the entire Tomorrowland music festival (hey, we did say event and not artist, right?).

Every artist, famous or not, would tell you that they'd be nothing without their fans. And they're right. The EMAs know this, and have even given fanbases their own category. This year, the fans of Taylor Swift, Ariana Grande, Shawn Mendes, Justin Bieber, and Katy Perry will be duking it out for the "Biggest Fans" award.