Rockstone Sessions attended last week’s pre-party of the MTV European Music Awards. An amazing night, full of nominees, artist and other celebrities. They all got together to find out who’d be awarded the Best Dutch Act. It was a classy, black tie party in the Odeon Club in Amsterdam. This elegant location was dominated by both national and international acts, red carpets and unlimited Champaign. The text and photos below will give you an exclusive insight from a Rockstone’s point of view.
Before the actual party started, all the celebrities had to walk their way inside in style by crossing the red carpet. The gathered press seemed to have the most interest in the nominees of the night. They turned out to be a diverse group this year, consisting of two DJ’s (Hardwell and Martin Garrix), two bands (Kensington and Chef’s Special) and a singer/rapper (Mr Probz). We were of course curious about their expectations and asked them about it. Although we couldn’t talk to Hardwell, since he didn’t show up. Apparently he had a last minute gig in New York, fair enough.
None of the nominees seemed to have a strong feeling about who’d be winning. According to Mr Probz: “It is not for me to name a favourite, so I won’t”. We asked last year’s winner Kensington whether they deserved it more this time. The band mentioned that they didn’t expect it last year. “And this time everybody is doing a great job again.” Allright, it might all be a little politically correct, but we expected nobody to declare themselves top favourites beforehand. The red carpet ceremony mainly functioned as a photo moment for the press of course. As you can see on the photos, all the guests dressed up perfectly and seemed to enjoy the little ritual. Nevertheless, the party itself happened to be a lot more exciting.
This wasn’t a surprise, since MTV provided the crowd with a grand line-up. Kensington started the party with a brief, but beautiful show. They warmed up the audience easily, which was probably supported by the open bar. After them, Amir Charles took over the stage. When he finished his electronic set it was time to go international with Andy Burrows. He played a very intimate set, which was definitely one of the night’s highlights. After him Emanuelle Vos got behind her turntables. Four impressive shows within a timeframe of just two hours. Thanks MTV!
As indicated above, the night was great. But for one particular nominee, it became even better. When Emanuelle Vos left the stage, Anna-Alicia Sklias en Kay Nambiar, who hosted the event, asked for the audience’s attention. You could feel a collective tension rising as they said: “The Winner of the MTV EMA Best Dutch Act 2014: Kensington!” Oh yeah, they did it again. Confetti, loud music, people cheering; the whole package. They got up there, thanked their voters and played another song. A ritual they hope to do on the ninth of November as well, when they’re nominated for the actual MTV European Music Awards in Glasgow. Something they must look forward to, considering their answer to our question why they should win tonight: “We’ve never been to Scotland.” We assume they’ll have a good time. And so did we in Amsterdam, as Plan De Champagne played us tunes until the early hours.
Photos: MTV
We wanted to know how it feels ourselves 🙂