Britney Spears was the big winner at the Nrj Music Awards, scooping two gongs at the prestigious ceremony in Cannes, France.
The “Toxic” hitmaker, who wasn’t in attendance for Saturday’s (17Jan09) prizegiving, was honored with the Best International Female Artist accolade as well as a Best Video prize for her hit single “Womanizer”.
Enrique Iglesias was stunned after he was named Best International Male Artist, telling the crowd he wasn’t the deserving winner, saying: “I feel like Akon should have gotten this award. It’s a great honor for me to receive it”.
The Pussycat Dolls scooped the Best International Group, beating off competition from rockers Coldplay.
But the British group’s frontman Chris Martin wasn’t left empty-handed – he took home a statuette to celebrate his band’s 10th anniversary.
Delivering his acceptance speech in almost perfect French, the star said “I’m sorry but my French is like an old car – it’s very slow and very boring to listen to”.
Explaining his bandmates’ absence, he joked “I came here aloneas my bandmates are on the beach, probably eating ice cream at the moment!”
The main winners are as follows
Best International Male Artist Enrique Iglesias
Best French Male Artist Christophe Mae
Best French Group Duet Cleopatre
Best French New Artist Zaho
Best International Song Rihanna – Disturbia
Best International Album Katy Perry – One Of The Boys
Best International Female Artist Britney Spears
Best International Group Duet Pussycat Dolls
Best International New Artist The Jonas Brothers
Best Video Britney Spears – Womanizer