Bling galore at MTV’s Europe awards
● Who can turn down an offer to attend one of the world’s blingest music awards?
Especially when you get to shimmy with some of the world’s biggest stars, including a musical legend, the self-proclaimed queen of rap and a white-helmet-wearing DJ reportedly worth a cool $21m.
So off I jetted last Friday to Bilbao in
Spain for a party-filled weekend ending with the 2018 MTV Europe Music Awards as the guest of the African offshoot of Viacom International Media Networks. First stop was the conglomerate’s shindig to showcase its offerings spanning not only its channels such as MTV and Comedy Central but also movie house Paramount Pictures.
Held at the city’s Euskalduna conference centre, I caught up with Alex Okosi, the man behind Viacom in Africa, before heading to the nearby
San Mames stadium where rock band
Muse and support act Crystal Fighters entertained us.
The awards were held at the Bilbao Exhibition Centre the following afternoon. One of the first to walk the pinkish red carpet was Latin glamour couple Ana Fernandez and
Adrian Roma, while stomping without stopping was that enigmatic disc-spinner, Marshmello, who earns a whopping $150,000 a gig and is reported to be US artist Chris Comstock behind the mask.
Then there was every plastic surgeon’s dream cast, Brit reality stars Nathan Henry, Sophie Kasaei and the bodysuit-bedazzled Chloe Ferry, whose derriere looks like it’s had a bit of aesthetic enhancement.
I was still recovering from the Botox overload when up bolted Hollywood bad gal Lindsay Lohan, surprising a Kiwi reporter by pronouncing “I love New Zealand!” before scooting off.
Actor Terry Crews arrived with his glamorous wife, Rebecca King-Crews, and rattled off his fave Mzansi spots including Sun City and Joburg.
I liked Lindsay’s gold pleated Saint Lauren strapless number, the silver feathered and lace gown worn by supermodel Jourdan Dunn and the night’s biggest winner, Havana singer Camila Cabello’s long princess-like red silk gown. Locally, singer Shekhinah made a grand entrance in a floral jacket-dress (sadly she didn’t walk away with the African Act award – it went to Nigeria’s Tiwa Savage) while I was underwhelmed by Nadia Nakai’s too-long Gert-Johan Coetzee dress.
Best dressed? Dua Lipa’s thigh-high floral playsuit captured the fun of the awards.
On to the actual ceremony, and Nicki Minaj deserved her self-appointed title with a flaming opening act which took my breath away, while Janet Jackson proved that, at 52, she still has it. But my fave has to be the scene-stealing performance by American singer Bebe Rexha whose song I’m A Mess is set to be a fixture on my summer playlist.