MTV EMAS 2018: Haile Steinfeld gets spray-painted live – and four other talking points
Camila Cabello picked up all three major awards
Sign up to Roisin O’Connor’s free weekly newsletter Now Hear This for the inside track on all things music
Get our Now Hear This email for free
The MTV Europe Music Awards did their damnedest to stand up to their American counterparts in Bilbao, Spain tonight.
A vibrant, postmodern art-themed ceremony saw some show-stopping outfits and high-concept performances.
Here were the biggest talking points:
Camila Cabello wins the most awards
The Cuban-American singer was nominated for six awards – the most of any act on the night – and took home three of them: Best Artist, and Best Song and Best Video for “Havana”.
Ariana Grande, Drake and Dua Lipa presented some stiff competition, but it may have been the Spanish language element that swung it for Cabello at the Bilbao event.
Janet Jackson gave the most tightly choreographed performance
At the age of 52, Janet Jackson has still got the moves. There to collect the night’s Global Icon award (the lifetime achievement one, essentially), she performed a medley that included old songs like “All for You” and new ones like “Made for Now”, which involved non-stop, fast-paced dance moves.
Jackson also provided the only real political moment of the night
The ceremony was filled with American artists and took place just a couple of days before the crucial US midterm elections, but the EMAs were almost entirely a politics-free zone this year.
Jackson, however, used her acceptance speech to call for an end to gender inequality and discrimination based on religion.
Hailee Steinfeld was spray-painted by robots
The ceremony’s host had a number of costume changes, one seeing her in a flowing white dress. In accordance with the postmodern theme, she was then blasted with spray paint by robotic arms as she introduced the next performer.
Halsey performed inside a rain-filled box
Nicki Minaj descended from a lift, Bebe Rexha emerged from a bathtub, but it was Halsey’s performance that proved the most visually stunning. Chained to a pole inside a glass cage, Halsey writhed like an imprisoned animal, before the case lifted and the heavens opened, the singer ending the performance soaked on the floor.
Cardi B, Dua Lipa, Nicki Minaj, Panic! at the Disco, Marshmello and BTS were other winners on the night.
You can follow the action as it happened, in what was our live blog, below (please allow a moment for it to load):
The 2018 EMAs were broadcast live on MTV, live-streamed at MTVEMA.com and shown in 360/VR through the MTV EMA app.
Half an hour out, according to the handy timer on MTV's EMAs live stream.
The red carpet is getting underway. Our lifestyle writer, Olivia Petter, is covering all the best looks here:
Our red carpet host for the evening has gone for 'sensitive librarian' I see (all the books are Eat Pray Love).
Halsey here, channelling a moth (in the best possible way).
There's a second camera on the MTV live stream, currently showing some definitely not hype scenes:
It's a big week for public votes. Tuesday will see the future of the Trump presidency altered by an historic US midterm election. But never mind that, BTS or Taylor Swift will win 'Biggest Fans' tonight!
Diego Luna was just getting into the plight of Mexico and the wider world, but we've cut to Jack & Jack talking about how they're gonna be "bringin' it" with their performance tonight.
"I love Spain" - Camila Cabello. Her media training is paying off.
The actual ceremony starts shortly, though we've already had our first award which was dished out on the red carpet. BTS won 'Biggest Fans'.
Amid all the social media generation pop stars performing tonight, Janet Jackson will also be taking to the stage.
Subscribe to Independent Premium to bookmark this article
Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Premium subscription today.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies