Madonna gave the first global live television performance from her new album yesterday when she appears at the MTV Europe Music Awards, a showcase for the music industry outside the United States. The 47-year-old American superstar will sing “Hung Up”, the first single from her disco-inspired “Confessions on a Dancefloor”, which she hopes will reverse a recent slump in form when it hits stores on November 14 after weeks of media buildup. Sales of her last three albums totalled an estimated 10-11 million copies, a disappointing return for one of the world’s most successful artists with global sales of more than 160 million albums.

Joining Madonna on stage in Lisbon will be Coldplay, whose 2005 album “X&Y” stormed the charts, and Robbie Williams, who has recently released “Intensive Care”. Rock quartet Foo Fighters, hip hopsters Black Eyed Peas and punk-pop icons Green Day also feature on a night that MTV hopes will combine the strength of traditional live rock performance with cutting-edge technology.

“We have a very strong lineup this year and we’ve been able to bring in a much wider variety of rock acts than we’ve been able to do in the recent past”, Brent Hansen, creative president at MTV Networks International, said on Wednesday. “The market has been dominated by R & B and hip hop in the last few years. For us, this show states each year our belief in live performance and our ability to do something different from other people”, he told Reuters of the annual awards show.

Leading the way at the 2005 awards are Coldplay and virtual band Gorillaz with five nominations each, Gwen Stefani with four and 50 Cent, Green Day, James Blunt, Snoop Dogg and U2 with three nominations apiece. Although it is a European ceremony, American artists tend to do well at the awards which are decided by MTV’s European viewers voting online.