The Red Hot Chili Peppers [ tickets ] and Shakira [ tickets ] led this year's pack of MTV [ tickets ] Video Music Award nominees with a total of seven nominations each, but they were practically shut out when a number of the night's Moonman trophies went instead to up-and-coming acts during last night's (8/31) award ceremony in New York City.

At no time was this more evident than when the night's top honor was handed out for Video of the Year, which went to underdog quartet Panic! at the Disco for "I Write Sins Not Tragedies." The teenaged rockers beat out videos from heavyweights Christina Aguilera, the Chili Peppers, Madonna and Shakira.

Other surprises included James Blunt [ tickets ]'s Best Male Video win for "You're Beautiful," which topped nominated clips from T.I., Nick Lachey, Busta Rhymes and Kanye West; and All-American Rejects' Best Group Video victory for "Move Along," which bested videos by the Chili Peppers and Gnarls Barkley, among others.

Newcomer Chamillionaire, meanwhile, beat out 50 Cent, T.I., Busta Rhymes and Yung Joc to claim Best Rap Video for "Ridin'."

Despite their slew of nominations, the Chili Peppers and Shakira left virtually empty handed, though nominated videos by each did score one technical award apiece. The Chili Peppers' "Dani California" claimed Best Art Direction, and Shakira's "Hips Don't Lie" took Best Choreography.

Avenged Sevenfold, which broke through to a national audience last year with their major-label debut, "City of Evil," took Best New Artist in a Video for "Bat Country."

In addition to picking up Best Male Video, Blunt's "Beautiful" also scored a win for Best Cinematography, making the clip one of only two to win more than one award last night; Gnarls Barkley's "Crazy" took Best Editing and Best Direction.

Fall Out Boy claimed this year's Viewer's Choice trophy for its hit "Dance, Dance."

In addition to the award presentations, the night, as always, was punctuated by numerous live performances, beginning with Justin Timberlake, who opened the show with his chart-topping single, "Sexy/Back." Other performers included Shakira and Wyclef Jean, who ran through "Hips Don't Lie"; Ludacris and Pharrell, who rolled out Luda's new single, "Money Maker"; Beyonce singing "Ring the Alarm"; and Christina Aguilera, who gave a dramatic rendition of her new single, "Hurt."

Prior to receiving their awards, Panic! At the Disco performed "I Write Sins Not Tragedies," and All-American Rejects delivered "Move Along."

Busta Rhymes and Missy Elliott also gave brief performances during the presentation of this year's Video Vanguard Award, which Kanye West presented to noted hip-hop-video director Hype Williams.

One of the night's most noteworthy performances came courtesy of OK Go; the group's members successfully recreated the intricately choreographed performance featured in their video for "Here It Goes Again," which involved executing a number of perfectly timed moves atop a set of moving treadmills.

The Raconteurs, featuring The White Stripes' Jack Black, served as the house band throughout the night, and were joined early in the show by veteran singer/songwriter Lou Reed for a rendition of Velvet Underground's "White Light/White Heat," then later by ZZ Top singer/guitarist Billy Gibbons for ZZ Top's "Cheap Sunglasses." The group also busted out a version of The Buggles' "Video Killed the Radio Star," the video for which was the first ever to air on MTV when the network launched 25 years ago; White modified the words slightly to "Internet Killed the Video Star."

He was partly right: for the first time ever, a number of awards were determined, in part, by fan votes--to which some of the night's surprise victories can be attributed--as ballots were sent to both industry professionals and a select group of viewers. In addition, this year's ceremony was the first to be simulcast on the Internet, and is archived for on-demand viewing at MTV's website.

Another sure sign of the times was this year's inclusion of an award for Ringtone of the Year, which went to FortMinor's "Where'd You Go."

A complete list of winners is included below.

After spending the previous two years in Miami, the VMA ceremony returned to MTV's home base of New York City this year, and was held at Radio City Music Hall. (Last year's show took place three days after Hurricane Katrina, and Florida was facing another potential hurricane of its own earlier this week.) Comedian Jack Black hosted the show, which he kicked off by performing a musical number that found him dressed first in a Moonman costume, then in a Vegas-era Elvis suit and cape.

Assisting Black in the comedy department was comedian Sarah Silverman, who lampooned, among other people and things, Paris Hilton, who was in attendance. To wit: after telling Hilton that she was getting fat ("I can't even see the bones in your back!"), Silverman commended the hotel heiress on the news that she and former "Simple Life" co-star Nicole Richie were planning to patch up their relationship during an upcoming appearance on "The Late Show with David Letterman." ("Anyone who schedules a reconciliation with their estranged best friend for an appearance on a popular late-night talk-show during sweeps week is someone who operates from her heart.").

Other highlights included a surprise appearance by Al Gore, who received one of the night's more sustained ovations while appearing to announce the launch of MTV's new environmental initiative at think.mtv.com. The former Vice President's brief appearance included a bite-size version of his global-warming presentation, documented in the recent film "An Inconvenient Truth."

Guns N' Roses frontman Axl Rose was the night's final presenter; the former-recluse-now-seen-everywhere rocker introduced a show-closing performance by The Killers.

2006 MTV VIDEO MUSIC AWARDS WINNERS

VIDEO OF THE YEAR
Panic! At The Disco
"I Write Sins Not Tragedies"
A Fever You Can't Sweat Out
decaydance/Fueled By Ramen
Director: Shane C. Drake
Producer: Brandon Bonfiglio
Production Company: Red Van Pictures

BEST MALE VIDEO
James Blunt
"You're Beautiful"
Back To Bedlam
Custard Records/Atlantic Records
Director: Sam Brown
Producer: Kat Armour-Brow
Production Company: Flynn Productions

BEST FEMALE VIDEO
Kelly Clarkson
"Because of You"
Breakaway
RCA
Director: Vadim Perelman
Producer: Rhonda Vernet
Production Company: Tate USA

BEST GROUP VIDEO
The All-American Rejects
"Move Along"
Move Along
Interscope Records/Doghouse Records
Director: Marc Webb
Producer: Marcienne Friesland
Production Company: DNA

BEST RAP VIDEO
Chamillionaire featuring Krayzie Bone
"Ridin'"
The Sound of Revenge
Chamillitary/Universal Music
Director: Life Garland
Producer: Hagai Shaham
Production Company: Lotus Filmworks, Inc./Terrero Films

BEST R&B VIDEO
Beyonce featuring Slim Thug & Bun B
"Check On It (Pink Panther)"
Destiny's Child #1's
Music World/Sony Urban/Columbia
Director: Hype Williams
Producer: Matthew Stillman
Production Company: Stillking Productions

BEST HIP HOP VIDEO
The Black Eyed Peas
"My Humps"
Monkey Business
A&M Records
Director: Fatima Robinson and Malik Sayeed
Producer: Tony McGarry
Production Company: Black Dog at RSA Films

BEST DANCE VIDEO
Pussycat Dolls featuring Snoop Dogg
"Buttons"
PCD
A&M Records
Director: Francis Lawrence
Producer: Lynn Zekanis
Production Company: DNA

BEST ROCK VIDEO
A.F.I.
"Miss Murder"
Decemberunderground
Interscope Records
Director: Marc Webb
Producer: Marcienne Friesland
Production Company: DNA

BEST POP VIDEO
Pink
"Stupid Girls"
I'm Not Dead
LaFace/Zomba Label Group
Director: Dave Meyers
Producer: Joseph Sassone
Production Company: Radical Music

BEST NEW ARTIST IN A VIDEO
Avenged Sevenfold
"Bat Country"
City Of Evil
Warner Bros. Records
Director: Marc Klasfeld
Producer: Rachel Curl
Production Company: Rockhard Films

BEST DIRECTION IN A VIDEO
Gnarls Barkley
"Crazy"
St. Elsewhere
Downtown/Atlantic Records
Director: Robert Hales
Producer: Coleen Haynes
Production Company: HSI Productions

BEST CHOREOGRAPHY IN A VIDEO
Shakira featuring Wyclef Jean
"Hips Don't Lie"
Oral Fixation Vol. 2
Epic Records
Director: Sophie Muller
Producer: Grant Jue
Production Company: Oil Factory
Choreographer: Shakira

BEST SPECIAL EFFECTS IN A VIDEO
Missy Elliott
"We Run This"
The Cookbook
From Touchstone Pictures and Spyglass Entertainment's "Stick It"
Hollywood/Gold Mind/Atlantic Records
Director: Dave Meyers
Producer: Barbara Benson

BEST ART DIRECTION IN A VIDEO
Red Hot Chili Peppers
"Dani California"
Stadium Arcadium
Warner Bros. Records
Director: Tony Kaye
Producer: Rachel Curl
Production Company: Above The Sea
Art Director: Justin Dragonas

BEST EDITING IN A VIDEO
Gnarls Barkley
"Crazy"
St. Elsewhere
Downtown/Atlantic Records
Director: Robert Hales
Producer: Coleen Haynes
Production Company: HSI Productions
Editor: Ken Mowe

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY IN A VIDEO
James Blunt
"You're Beautiful"
Back To Bedlam
Custard Records/Atlantic Records
Director: Sam Brown
Producer: Kat Armour-Brow
Production Company: Flynn Productions
Cinematographer: Robbie Ryan

MTV2 AWARD
30 Seconds To Mars
"The Kill"
A Beautiful Lie
Virgin Records America
Director: Bartholomew Cubbins
Producer: Alexander Moon and Douglas Friedman
Production Company: A Common Thread, Inc.

BEST VIDEO GAME SOUNDTRACK
Marc Ecko's Getting Up (Atari)

BEST VIDEO GAME SCORE
Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (Jeremy Soule)

RINGTONE OF THE YEAR
FortMinor "Where'd You Go"