Submitted by: kirkland on Sunday August 29th, 2004 at 02:20 AM EST

Olympic competitors like Paul Hamm and Carly Patterson are skipping out of the closing ceremony in Athens and heading to Miami for the MTV Video Music Awards Sunday, the New York Daily News reported.

Hamm is embroiled in controversy after president of the International Gymnastics Federation asked him to give up his all-around gold medal as the ultimate show of sportsmanship after a scoring error cost a South Korean athlete the medal.

The Video Music Awards, which always has been held in either New York or Los Angeles, is venturing into new territory this year with the Miami show. The network plans to take advantage of the beach town: Celebrities will be ferried to the red carpet on luxury yachts.

"Everybody's on a vacation mind-set. It's going to be more of a party this time," Jessica Simpson said. "It will be nice to lay out at the pool before I perform."

Presenters include Usher, Jennifer Lopez, P. Diddy, Nelly, Christina Aguilera, Dave Chappelle, Will Smith, Hilary Duff and the Miami Heat's newest member - Shaquille O'Neal.

» Read full story @ Miami Herald