Entertainment

Bieber tops MTV EMA 2015 race

SOUNDS FAMILIAR - Baby A. Gil - The Philippine Star

October 27, 2015 | 10:00am

The Biebs is back. Despite a formidable list of co-nominees, and that includes the seemingly insurmountable Taylos Swift, Justin Bieber topped the MTV EMA 2015 race and went home with the most number of trophies. He won in five categories. This means that his fans, the Beliebers, were responsible for most of the over half a billion votes cast for the nominees this year.

Come to think of it, perennial winner Swifty won only in one category at the EMAs. That is so unlike her. The only reason I can think of is that her fans must be saving their votes for the upcoming American Music Awards. Back to Bieber.

Bieber, whose performance of his latest hit What Do You Mean? during the show was also every bit a winner, was named, Best Male, his sixth win in a row, Best Look, Worldwide Act: North America, Best Collaboration for his work with Skrillex and Diplo on the song Where Are You Now? and Biggest Fans. The latter was a hotly contested category in social media but the Beliebers prevailed. Bieber’s closest competitor was the boy group One Direction, which came in second.

But can you guess who gave the Bieber stiff competition among the evening’s performers? It was no other but tenor Andrea Bocelli whose powerful rendition of his timeless hit Time To Say Goodbye really wowed the MTV generation watching the show. No it was not just because he was on his own turf. The MTV EMAs was broadcast across the globe from the Mediolanum Forum in Milan, Italy. Or that it was his first time out on the EMA stage. Believe you me, nothing beats classical vocals in a pop milieu. No wonder Bocelli’s duet of Pink’s Just Give Me A Reason with stunning newcomer Tori Kelly was truly goosebump inducing.

Bieber and Bocelli were not the only big names present. Truth to tell, it felt like MTV pulled out all the stops not only to make the 2015 EMAs memorable but also to kick off the MTV Freedom campaign. This was clearly presented by Pharrell Williams in his song Freedom. His performance ended with the moving scene at the Piazza Duomo in Milan where 21 pilots and superstar DJs Martin Garrix and Afrojack had earlier delighted the crowd.

Thousands now held up a huge 23 x 16 Freedom Flag. This incorporates national flags from all over the world and symbolizes the birth of a Utopian country that knows no borders. The campaign seeks to raise awareness, activism and donations in support of the current refugee crisis. Check out the website freedom.mtvema.com to find out more about this.

Macklemore & Ryan Lewis opened the show with their hit song Downtown and with Eric Nally flying high above the stage. Jason Derulo occupied three stages with his dancers for the Want To Want Me number. Ellie Goulding emerged out of a large cluster of giant mirrored crystals to sing her Love Me Like You Do. And another highlight of the show was honoring rock heroes Duran Duran with the very first MTV Video Visionary Award. This one ceIebrates the greatest pioneers in the history of the music video art form.

That has a nice ring to it. The music video has now become an art form. Hurray for the music video! Make sure you are around when the 2016 MTV EMAs airs from the city of Rotterdam in Holland.

And now the honor roll of the MTV EMA 2015: