Illustration by Jillian Tamaki

Forgive us, O Great And Noble Deities of Pop Culture, for we have stumbled. For months, we dismissed the phenomenon of Rickrolling as merely an increasingly annoying internet meme, destined to quickly disappear into the great abyss of forgotten fleeting fads, with little or no lasting impact on the greater good. But lo! Thanks to yesterday's MTV Europe Music Awards, we have seen the error of our ways.

Apparently one of the highest honours at the MTV EMAs is the (mildly hyperbolic) prize for the Best Act Ever. This year's contenders included U2, Christina Aguilera and poncey German emo rockers Tokio Hotel (I know; I'm baffled as well). But unbeknownst to MTV Europe, a team of tireless Rick Astley lovers mounted a guerilla campaign to nominate the flame-haired Never Gonna Give You Up singer as a write-in candidate in the category.

While such online initiatives frequently lose momentum, fizzle out and die, the Astley For Best Act Ever campaign reigned triumphant. In a shocking turn of events, the singer reportedly received 95% of the popular votes in the category (allegedly, Astley's total votes constituted 80% of all votes cast across the board for various MTV EMA honours). Gossip blogger Perez Hilton could barely contain his hysterics when he announced the Best Act Ever results during the broadcast. Rumour has it that MTV Europe, clearly feeling as though they'd been the butt of some prank, refused to let Astley attend the ceremony to receive his award -- a fact that infuriated the web-nerd folks who'd worked so hard to achieve the biggest Rickroll of all time.

It's hard not to feel rather awed by this curious grassroots (or its cyber-equivalent) accomplishment, though one wonders what remarkable feats could be achieved if the Rickrolling minds behind this campaign channeled their efforts into something a little less... er... esoteric.

--Sarah Liss