Zendaya's Euphoria and Spider-Man: No Way Home win at MTV awards

Spider-Man: No Way Home is the third-biggest hit for North American theatres ever. PHOTO: 2021 MARVEL

LOS ANGELES (AFP) - American actress Zendaya dominated the MTV Movie and TV Awards on Sunday (June 5) as her teen drama Euphoria (2019 to present) and big-screen superhero blockbuster Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021) were voted best show and best movie respectively.

The light-hearted awards, taking place at the start of the summer blockbuster season, are voted online by the public, and underscored the huge popularity of the 25-year-old former Disney child star.

Zendaya won best performance in a show for Euphoria, HBO's often bleak and hard-hitting look at modern teen life, which also won offbeat awards for "best fight" and a new award for the best on-screen "hookup".

The MTV awards have long bestowed tongue-in-cheek "golden popcorn" statuettes for categories ranging from "best kiss" to "most frightened performance".

With obsessive fans encouraged to vote multiple times for their favourites, the awards tend to recognise mainstream and commercial hits with large and devoted social media followings.

It was little surprise therefore that Spider-Man: No Way Home - by far the biggest box office hit since the pandemic - won best movie.

The film has earned almost US$1.9 billion (S$2.6 billion) worldwide, and is the third-biggest hit for North American theatres ever.

It also won best performance in a movie for actor Tom Holland, Zendaya's on-screen and real-life boyfriend, who plays the latest incarnation of the web slinging superhero - although neither attended the ceremony in Santa Monica, near Los Angeles, in person.

Lending some A-list stardust to the room, pop star Jennifer Lopez was presented a non-competitive Generation Award.

She thanked "true love" before telling her fiance, actor Ben Affleck, "and everybody at home" that she was on her way back for dinner.

Lopez also won best song, for On My Way (Marry Me), while 19-year-old multiple Grammy winner Olivia Rodrigo won best music documentary for Olivia Rodrigo: Driving Home 2 U (2022).

American actor Jack Black was also honoured by MTV for his career on Sunday.

The 52-year-old attempted an energetic entrance, somersaulting on stage to youthful cheers from the audience, before breathlessly calling for "a little blast of oxygen".

English actor Daniel Radcliffe, who won best villain for adventure comedy The Lost City (2022), joked that his British accent had made his evil turn a breeze.

"This is a universally recognised accent of pure evil," he said. "This is a voice that would kick a puppy or not give Oliver Twist more food."

The Harry Potter actor added: "I really should thank my parents most for just having the foresight, all those years ago, to have me be British, so that I could grow up sounding naturally evil enough to one day win this award."

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