Entertainment

Girls rule at the MTV EMAS

SOUNDS FAMILIAR - Baby A. Gil - The Philippine Star

November 7, 2018 | 12:00am

From left: Janet Jackson, Dua Lipa and Camila Cabello

AP photos

Sad. Boohoo. IV of Spades did not win for Best Southeast Asian Act at the MTV European Music Awards (EMAS). The massive event which is really more global than European was held last Nov. 4 at the Bizkaia Arena of the Bilbao Exhibition Center in Barakaido, Bilbao, Basque Country in Spain.

The award went to Malaysian hip-hop icon Joe Flizzow, who was formerly of the popular Too Phat collective but has now gone solo. Aside from IV of Spades, Flizzow also beat Afgan from Indonesia; The Sam Willows from Singapore; Slot Machine from Thailand; Minh Hang from Vietnam; and Twopee Southside also from Thailand.

Fans of the Spades should not really feel bad about this. Please note that the band has only been around for a little over a year and has only one big hit single Mundo. If band members play their cards right, they will surely get more EMA nominations in the years to come. And that is with or without ex-frontman Unique. Remember when Mundo became a hit, Unique was still a Spade.

As for Pinoy music buffs feeling rebuffed about this, please take note that only three Filipino artists have ever been nominated in the Best Southeast Asian Act category. IV of Spades was the fourth. And we have already won twice. Sarah Geronimo became the winner in 2013 while James Reid was the choice last year. So time now to take a look-see at which local acts will likely be nominated in 2019.

Despite that there is much to be happy about this year’s EMAs. The guests really put on one fantastic show. And would you believe, most of the numbers were by female artists as well as the winners. Just as it was at the recent American Music Awards, it was the girls who dominated the evening, looks-wise, performing-wise and even awards-wise.

Top winner of the 2018 European Music Awards was the Global Icon awardee Janet Jackson. It felt great watching Janet at her best on stage after a long, long time. Looking lovely and in tip-top shape she did a medley of Made For Now, All For You and Rhythm Nation with, hold your horses!, lots of dancers, drummers, torches with accompanying torch bearers and lots of explosions. I can just imagine a talk balloon over her head aimed at the other girls, “I started all this stuff, you know.”

As for the various EMA categories, the top winner of the evening who I think was not even born yet when Jackson made her first recording was Camila Cabello, who unfortunately did not perform but literally looked like the belle of the ball in flaming red. She brought home four trophies, all of them of the major categories out of her six nominations: Best Artist, Best Song, Best Video for Havana ft. Young Thug, and Best US Act.

I do not know if Ariana Grande went home teary-eyed because she did not win anything despite her five nominations. But happy girls all were winners Dua Lipa, Cardi B, Little Mix and Nicki Minaj who gave the show a flaming opener, Good Form and great closer, Goodbye with Jason DeRulo and David Guetta. It was also nice to see Alessia Cara after quite a while looking lovely doing Trust My Lonely. Bebe Rexha’s I’m A Mess number was truly spectacular. And Hailee Steinfeld made not only for a great performer, Back To Life, she was also a pretty and very competent host of the show.

And now here is the MTV EMA 2018 Honor Roll.

•Best Artist: Camila Cabello

•Best Video: Camila Cabello, Havana ft. Young Thug

•Best Song: Camila Cabello, Havana ft. Young Thug

•Best Pop: Dua Lipa

•Best New: Cardi B

•Best Look: Nicki Minaj

•Best Hip-Hop: Nicki Minaj

•Best Live: Shawn Mendes

•Best Rock: 5 Seconds of Summer

•Best Alternative: Panic! At The Disco

•Best Electronic: Marshmello