POP QUEENS LOCK LIPS - Madonna, Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera kiss at the MTV Awards.

Madonna and Britney Spears have stunned pop fans with a sizzling snog at the MTV Video Music Awards.

The fortysomething pop queen puckered up and planted a passionate kiss on Britney's lips before giving Christina Aguilera some lip service of her own as she sang her single Hollywood.

Former Mouseketeer mates Britney and Christina had opened the show with a gyrating rendition of Madonna's hit Like a Virgin. The Material Girl then joined them on stage for a saucy show.

And so another year of MTV's annual celebration of music videos was ushered in in true rock star fashion.

Rapper Missy Elliott, teen heart throb Justin Timberlake, singer Beyonce Knowles and rapper 50 Cent were the night's big winners.

Elliott took the evening's top honour, Best Video of the Year, and also won Best Hip-Hop Video for her song Work It.

Knowles won Best Female Video, Best R&B Video and Best Choreography for Crazy in Love while rapper 50 Cent won for Best Rap Video and Best New Artist for In Da Club.

Timberlake won Best Pop Video, Best Dance Video and Best Male Video - a category in which he beat Johnny Cash, 71, a rock and roll legend old enough to be his grandfather.

Cash, who was not at the Radio City Music Hall ceremony due to illness, was nominated for six awards but only won Best Cinematography for Hurt.

Coldplay, who won Best Group Video, Best Direction in a Video and Breakthrough Video for The Scientist, also performed live in what was described as a highlight in the star line-up.

Other winners at the ceremony included punk band Linkin Park for Best Rock Video, rockers Good Charlotte for the Viewers' Choice award and rapper Eminem for Best Video from a Film.

British pop band Duran Duran, which began making videos even before MTV started broadcasts 20 years ago, won a Lifetime Achievement Award.

The awards were voted on by a pool of music industry executives, producers and journalists.

first off.....the kiss between the performers was not sleezy, or anything else, they were just doing there job, it wasn't even that big of a deal people make it seem like they were having sex on the stage, it really wasn't anything. second off....how can you people critisize others for their sucess, none of you guys could get up there and preform on that stage, so stop being so mean about what they do for a LIVING. third off..... the movie crossroads was good, i dont mean it was the best movie ever, but it wasnt created to be an academy award winning masterpiece, it atempted to be a teen flic, and it succeded in doing so. there are aspects of everyones lives that someone else it going to find wrong or offencive, but your business is not always on public display, we have to remember that celebrities are people too, and dont deserve to be talked about in that way, imagine how you would feel if the whole world commented on the way you live your life and all the things you do or have done. and as far as watching/listening to their work, if you dont like it, dont watch it, and dont say you cant get away from it, because you can always change the radio station or tv channel

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