MTV EMAS 2018: Haile Steinfeld gets spray-painted live – and four other talking points

Camila Cabello picked up all three major awards

(MTV)

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.

(MTV (MTV)

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.

(MTV (MTV)

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.

[4 November 2018 21:59 · Christopher Hooton]

Janet Jackson receives the Global Icon award, which is I guess the more polite term for the veteran award.

[4 November 2018 22:05 · Christopher Hooton]

She uses the platform to say vague things about gender equality and world peace. It's family tradition for every speech to end in the world "love" being said over and over again, after all.

[4 November 2018 22:07 · Christopher Hooton]

Bastille capped things off. Nirvana suffered borderline copyright infringement with the yellow faces falling from the sky. Hailee is wearing her 128th dress of the evening. It's over! We made it!

[4 November 2018 22:08 · Christopher Hooton]

Oh, and a very brief In Memoriam at the close – weird they didn't go for something bigger.