With the three pop divas in contention, the prize for bestfemale was the most closely watched battle at the Viacom-owned music network's 20th annual European awards ceremony.
Claiming her prize, the U.S. singer gave a dramaticperformance of her song "Unconditionally", suspended like asequin-covered glitter ball 9 metres (30 feet) above a giganticouter-space-themed set.
Cyrus, who was awarded best video for "Wrecking Ball",capitalised on her infamous "twerking" encounter with musicianRobin Thicke at the U.S. Video Music Awards in August, walkingthe red carpet in a bold mini dress with the words "Please StopViolence" wrapped tightly around her hip.