Usher, R&B star picked his first prize at the MTV Europe Music Awards in Rome, winning best album with “Confessions”. Usher sang together with fellow R&B star and friend Alicia Keys.

About 6,000 people attended the event at the Tor di Valle hippodrome, which hosted a string of star performers from rapper Eminem to Scottish rockers Franz Ferdinand. Other live performers are soul diva Alicia Keys, Swedish punk rock group The Hives, LA rockers Maroon 5, and hip-hop stars Nelly and The Beastie Boys.

List of winners of the MTV Europe Music Awards

Best album: Usher, “Confessions”

Best rock: Linkin Park

Best group: OutKast

Best alternative act: Muse

Best video: OutKast, “Hey Ya!”

Best hip-hop: D12

Best R&B: Alicia Keys

Best new act: Maroon 5

Best pop: Black Eyed Peas

Best female: Britney Spears

Best male: Usher

Best song: Outkast, “Hey Ya!”

Rapper Xzibit, who played host, was rolled onto the stage on a chariot by aides dressed in black leather gladiator costumes in front of a series of pseudo Roman columns.

Among the favorites to pick up the other prizes were OutKast, Beyonce, Britney Spears, Anastacia, Jay-Z, Maroon 5, Black Eyed Peas, as well as Usher and Franz Ferdinand.

Hip-hop group OutKast, with five nominations, and Usher, with four, are be hoping to add to a host of awards already won this year.

Detroit rapper Eminem performed “Just Lose It,” a song that sparked controversy because of a video with references to Michael Jackson’s child molestation allegations.

Eminem appeared against a backdrop of a camouflaged tank, drummer boys, and children dressed as soldiers.

MTV said the ceremony would air to a potential worldwide audience of more than 1 billion people. It is the second time that Italy hosts the event, after a ceremony staged in Milan in 1998.