John Travolta v eyesight

With a new film to promote in the shape of the Fred Durst-directed The Fanatic, a cinematic turd de farce with an opening weekend at the US box office of just $3,153, John Travolta recently returned to what he does best – becoming an awards show meme. Five years after somehow transforming Frozen star Idina Menzel’s name into “Adele Dazeem” at the Oscars (he returned a year later to creepily stroke Menzel’s cheek), Travolta decided to own last month’s MTV VMAs, awkwardly trying to hand over the award for video of the year to drag queen Jade Jolie instead of its actual recipient Taylor Swift. Blaming the gaffe on an overcrowded stage, the noted Scientologist went on to offer another glimpse into the unique planet he orbits during a subsequent interview with the radio station Hot 93.3. “We’re in pretty good shape on the day ... ” he said without irony, “when that kind of thing can make headlines.”

2017 Oscars v basic reading

Obviously the 2017 Oscars will go down as the year Warren Beatty, in his best comedic performance since Dick Tracy, threw a bemused Faye Dunaway under the bus and had her read out Hollywood’s big-screen remake of Glee, AKA La La Land, as the winner of best picture (spoiler alert: the winner was actually Moonlight). The fact that La La Land’s entire cast and crew were onstage accepting the award by the time producers came out to let them know they needed to take several seats only compounded the issue. But that wasn’t the only balls-up on the night, with Michael Keaton introducing multi-Oscar nominee Hidden Figures as “Hidden Fences”, a case of word blindness that had similarly inflicted various red-carpet reporters (including George W Bush’s daughter Jenna Bush Hager), BuzzFeed and NBC Today.

Michael Jackson v his ego

Having his cake... Britney Spears and Michael Jackson. Photograph: Kevin Kane/WireImage

One indisputable fact about Michael Jackson is that he won a lot of awards, including a Golden Globe for a song about a rat. Perhaps his most memorable award, however, was one that didn’t actually exist. At the 2002 MTV VMAs, a ceremony that happened to coincide with his 44th birthday, Jackson was presented with a cake by Britney Spears who, in her excitement, introduced him as the “artist of the millennium”. Faux flattered but obviously not entirely surprised, Jackson ran with it, launching into a speech about how he could never have dreamed of winning such an accolade, before eventually offering thanks to – and why not? – magician David Blaine. The confused audience dutifully gave a standing ovation while an MTV spokesperson offered up a classic “I think some wires got crossed” post-show denouement.

Terry Wogan v Scooch

More of a poisoned chalice than an award, representing the United Kingdom at Eurovision used to involve a sort of pre-party where session singers, failed Voice contestants and part-time baristas converged to sing songs they hoped would humiliate them on a much larger scale. In 2007, the pop world was shaken when Steps’ unofficial tribute band Scooch re-formed and entered Eurovision: Making Your Mind Up, as it was then called, with the aviation-themed Flying the Flag (For You). After making it to the final two alongside the mononymous Cyndi, the show’s hosts Fearne Cotton and Terry Wogan announced the winner. Well, actually, each announced their own winner, at the same time, with Fearne correctly going with Scooch and Terry bellowing “Cyndi”. Once the dust had settled and poor Cyndi was hastily ushered off stage, it was left to cultural commentator Charlotte Church to sum up the mood of the country when she denounced the song as “absolute shit”. They came 23rd.

Adele v James Corden

She’s flipped... Adele and James Corden. Photograph: Dylan Martinez/Reuters

Professional Londoner Adele doesn’t have much luck at award shows. At the 2012 Brits, while basking in the glory of single-handedly keeping the music industry afloat, her speech was interrupted by the host James Corden, who informed her they needed to cut to a performance by Blur. The irony of the show only running late because of Damon Albarn’s earlier ramblings wasn’t lost on the Cold Shoulder hitmaker as she promptly raised her middle finger. Then at the Grammys a year later, while collecting her award for best pop solo Performance, she was overshadowed by Ukrainian journalist Vitalii Sediuk who raced up to the podium ahead of her, attempted a speech and was subsequently shooed away by J-Lo. In fact, Sediuk has form; in 2011, at the Venice film festival, he handed Madonna a bunch of hydrangeas (“I absolutely loathe hydrangeas” she huffed, chucking them under a table), while in 2012 he was slapped by Will Smith after trying to kiss him at the Moscow premiere of Men in Black 3. The change.org petition to get Sediuk to host the Brits 2020 starts now.