The 2011 MTV EMA

The prestigious awards ceremony brought an estimated £10 million to the Belfast economy and was the biggest production ever to be staged in Northern Ireland. A who’s who of pop music came to Belfast to celebrate the genre’s best offerings in a globally televised, Hollywood worthy, glittering awards show.
    Nine live performances and a host of international stars took pride of place in the Odyssey Arena, as EMA gongs were scooped by performers including Lady Gaga, Bruno Mars, Katy Perry and Justin Bieber. Across town, Irish favourites Snow Patrol and US singer-songwriter Jason Derulo played to 15,000 fans on an outdoor stage at Belfast’s City Hall, while the Red Hot Chili Peppers rocked a third stage at Ulster Hall. The show started at 8pm and was broadcast live on MTV’s global network, with the exception of the UK where a one hour delay was in place to meet the watershed requirement.
    TPi caught up with the production team during pre-show rehearsals ahead of the awards, when expectations were high for the fourth MTV EMA ever to be held in the UK during its 17 year history (previously held in London, Edinburgh and Liverpool). Belfast was a city awash with excitement.
    Maggie Mouzaktis, Event Production Manager for the 2011 MTV EMA, explained: “Belfast is a great location as there are lots of hotels available for visitors plus the 400 plus artists and crew. There’s a great buzz building around Belfast, particularly now the artists are arriving, and we’ve found a really helpful local feeling from people and supply companies. There is a genuine excitement in the city and the casted audience are really up for it, more so than you find in other cities that are used to hosting high-profile shows.”
    Continued Mouzaktis: “The Odyssey Arena and its team have been fantastic, although it’s a very tight venue for space, which has required some very detailed planning and use of space from our various suppliers. The venue’s backstage rooms were used as our production offices and four make up rooms, so we’ve extended the capacity with the addition of temporary two-storey dressing rooms with artists catering and a luxurious red carpet area.” 
    The private extension was constructed by the Arena Group, creating an environment where the international stars could prepare to perform. Arena Group diligently planned the positioning of all structures to maximise use of the limited available space between the Odyssey and the Premiere Inn Hotel adjacent to the historic docks where the Titanic was constructed.
    The linked structures included a 20 metre by 40 metre double-decker dressing room and artist dining structure, linked to a five metre by 10 metre structure housing the lavish fuchsia carpet tiles for the exclusive red carpet area.
    Simon Marsh, the Arena Group’s Account Director, said: “Supreme accuracy and planning were essential to the success of this project. Space was limited at the Odyssey and the structures had to be positioned within centimetres between lamp-posts, buildings and busy service roads. The process began with a site survey that meant when Arena’s team arrived on site to install, they knew that the mark-out and installation of the structures required focused accuracy.
    “Our team has been engaged for months in advance to carefully put together the full overlay plans, ensuring comfort, privacy and luxury was of overall importance for the VIP stars our structures would be holding.”
    Marsh continued: “We faced some particularly complex issues over each site, including a road which was situated between the dressing room structures and the main Odyssey arena. To overcome privacy and safety issues, we erected a 15 metre by five metre retractable PVC tunnel, similar to those used at football matches, to bridge the road so that VIPs could move between each area.”
    Mouzaktis added: “Building upwards has proven a valuable space saver and we brought in the Arena Group who are hugely experienced when it comes to temporary multi-storey structures. They’ve been awesome, building quickly, to a very tight schedule and extending the venue to suit our needs. Their team was very calm and good to have around when we had some big winds two nights ago - which added to our Outdoor Event Manager Bizel’s busy week, making sure all the Heras fencing and outdoor elements were secure.”

MAXIMISING SPACE
In the main awards arena, there has also been attention to detail when it comes to maximising space. Bringing in world-renowned Set Designer, Es Devlin, is always sure to create a head-turning scene. This year, the concept focuses on curves. Mouzaktis explained: “Es has given us an organic set with lots of curves based on a ‘Zaha Hadid’ kind of feel. She’s been through a few re-designs to make it suit the time and scale restrictions with the venue, ever mindful of MTV’s budgets. And the result looks stunning.
    “The global [financial] situation affects everyone and means our budgets are squeezed. We always have to manage the Creative Director’s wish-list against a budget, so we’ve tried to enable as much as possible, while managing their expectations.
    “Managing curves in production world is harder – and there is not a straight line on stage. We only brought in Set Square to build the set about four weeks out from the show – and they delivered the set brilliantly. The precision of build was vital as it had to come in and be bolted together in the air. They came to us to get the rigging points we’d plotted, fabricated it in their Mitcham base, shipped eight trucks of set and their Project Director Matt Clemitson, has overseen the build inside the arena in three days, and it all went together on site brilliantly.
    “This is the first time Set Square has worked on the MTV EMA and they’re great guys. Pre-event and on-site communication was really important, particularly with our show riggers from Blackout, and their teams have worked together really well through the night on 24 hour split shifts to achieve this schedule. The set’s side sections, positioned over seats are within centimetres of the walls and Nick Brown from Blackout has played a blinder getting them in.
    The extensive set - including all stages, dressing rooms, catering structures, red carpet areas, broadcast platforms and VIP sections was installed in a five day build time, and everyone worked to an incredibly tight schedule as the last one and a half days included dress rehearsals.
    “The specifications for our seven live bands and two vocals over playback arrived - typically - at the last minute and it’s a testament to our Stage Manager Mike Grove, along with every member of this team that we’ve been able to accommodate each of their technical requirements and manage stage sets in the tight back stage area,” highlighted Mouzaktis.

RIGGING POP ROYALTY
Blackout Director, Kevin Monks, has worked with the MTV EMA producers all over Europe since 1998 providing rigging and draping. He told TPi: “The MTV EMA is always a spectacular show and a technically complicated one to achieve. This year we were working to a very tight build schedule, and there were a lot of creative ideas for us to accommodate within the Odyssey Arena.”
    Monks managed a team of nine Blackout riggers, including the experienced Oz Marsh and Pete Rayel, he expanded: “We installed over 200 rigging points on the first day in the venue, in all there were 250 rigging points. We provided the Kinesis Automation System controlling over 50 motors in the venue’s roof alongside a similar amount from PRG. Blackout also supplied all of the truss, 150 metres of pipe and drape for the main show and additional equipment for the other show and after-party venues.
    “There’s a great cooperation with other suppliers, in particular PRG and Set Square, who we liaised with extensively in the month prior to the show and the in-house rigging team once we were on site. The curved set was constructed brilliantly and went together very easily on site prior to being rigged to fit within centimetres of both sides of the Odyssey.”
    Other key elements Blackout supplied were the extensive mother grid over the main performance stage, with additional truss for the B stage, for flying Jessie J and accommodated a late request for an aerial camera rig to capture shots of Lady Gaga on her five metre moon set. The award presenters stage was positioned at the opposite end of the hall, behind which Blackout delivered an ingenious method of rigging the rear curved screen.
    Monks explained: “We were given the challenge to rig a screen without any rigging from the ceiling, so that sightlines into the artist seats were kept clear. I adapted our Prolyte soundmast towers and created a curved seven-tower ground support to enable XL Video’s screen to be lifted. The six m towers had a metre beneath the stage with the motors located there out of sight, and the chain was fed through a guide at the top of the tower to rig the four metre high screen. A simple but effective solution, which worked very well.”

A TECHNICAL CHALLENGE
XL Video UK supplied specialist LED and IMAG projection screens plus control awards which was broadcast live to 45 countries worldwide. The live music video production specialist has been involved with buzz of this high profile event for several years, and XL’s Chris Saunders was project managing for the third year running.
    Technical challenges for the XL team included fitting an ambitious and visually spectacular stage set designed by Es Devlin - complete with integrated screens - into the venue. Also video crew had to be flexible enough to accommodate specific requests from some of the artists on a tight schedule as some individual performances evolved during the rehearsal period in the preceding week. The XL team was on site for a week during the build.
    Saunders worked closely with Devlin, Production Manager Margaret Mouzakitis, TV Director Russell Thomas and Media Creators Hello Charlie, who produced the show’s bespoke video content and graphics. The large (16 tiles wide by 15 tiles high) LED screen at the back of the main stage was made up from XL’s Pixled F15 modules. Flanking the stage left and right were two IMAG screens of Pixled F11, both 26 tiles wide and 14 high, configured in slightly different shapes to add quirkiness to the look of the set.
    In the ‘Glamour Pit’ presentation area at the opposite end of the arena to the stage, there were a further 14 by 8 modules of F15 mounted behind the presenters. These were used for providing generic block colours and funky ambient footage as well as for winner looks and logo sequences. All the screens were managed on site by Klass Eecloo from XL Belgium.
    Flown from the roof at the back of the arena were two delay projection screens, each fed by a single Barco FLM machine with another running as hot backup. These were fed with the same IMAG images as the two screens either side of stage. XL supplied a Barco Encore screen management system, which was run by Jonathon Bond with a separate output to each screen. The XL crew received a sub-cut of the broadcast TX, and Chris Saunders coordinated outputting this onto the four IMAG screens and sending the assorted playback media to all six screens at the relevant times.
    XL also supplied Lady GaGa with a Barco FLM 22K for projecting content onto her moon set piece, which had to be arranged at the last minute, together with a Catalyst media server on which to store her moon surface content, which produced a highly effective output.
    Saunders commented: “It was great to be involved with another MTV EMA. Each year the show evolves and grows and the technical production standards are consistently high. Es’s set was inventive and interesting as always, and our long-term experience of how the event develops as a live show concept and what’s required helps all things flow in a tight timescale.”

SURPRISING MIXING AND RELIABLE RF
The sound was managed by the irrepressible Derek Zeiba, he said: “I’ve worked for 10 years on MTV EMA shows, so Maggie understands the modus operandi we implement. Start with a reccy of the venue and I specify the best PA for the space. I said either K1 - my current favourite - or X-Line. Bryan Grant at Brit Row made sure the K1 was available. The main fly is K1 with some L-Acoustics as in-fills.
    “The control position is not ideal, but with the Glamour Pit at the opposite end of the main stage we had to be up there behind it, so I had to design the system so each band’s visiting engineer can hear it as it is on the floor. TV would often rather not have a big PA, but the shots of the audience having a great time are important and that requires a good live sound.
    “For TV, the PA has to be hung high above the main area of the set, out of camera. TV drives the positioning, same for the monitor board, which is out of the way for the show. During rehearsals, it was there so they had visual sighting from engineer to artists because we want the band and the audience to have the same experience as they would at a concert.
    “All of the live acts duplicated their live set-ups, my challenge is to replicate seven live acts in the space of a two-hour show. The trick is to deliver every mic line to every band before the cameras get on them. I have a single sound comms ring, taking in front of house, monitors, the OB truck and the sound manager on stage, so the man on stage picks up anyone’s problem and fixes it.
    “Most of my work is pre-coordinating information from artists. We want to help every band achieve want they want to, which is to look and sound good, but I will have a line when demands become too spurious. This year it’s been mixing boards that have surprised me. Twenty years ago we’d have had six different analogue boards arriving with each live band and that evolved to just one Yamaha PMID. This year engineers now have their favourite digital boards: Digi Design Profile, Midas XL8 on FOH, Yamaha PM5D for presentation, Avid and PM5D on monitors.
    Lady Gaga herself walked away with multiple awards, which saw the great and the good of contemporary music descend upon Belfast. This year, Sennheiser radio equipment was used by a number of the show’s performers. As in previous years, the live sound design for the show was mixed by Derrick Zieba, with audio equipment for the performances supplied by Britannia Row Productions.
    Actress and singer Selena Gomez used a ‘custom bling’ Sennheiser SKM 5200 mk II with a Neumann KK 105 capsule for her duties as the show’s host; further SKM 5200 mk IIs and KK 105 combinations were used by those presenting the awards, including David Hasselhoff, Hayden Panettiere and Jessie J.
    All show in-ear monitors were Sennheiser G3, G2 or 2000 series, while some of the highest profile performers to use Sennheiser mics for their performances were Lady Gaga (SKM 5200 with MD 5235 capsule), Snow Patrol (SKM 5200 with KK 105 capsule), Bruno Mars (SKM 2000 with 935 capsule) and Queen and Adam Lambert (also SKM 5200 with MD 5235 capsule).
    “As with other events such as the Brit Awards, the RF spectrum of the MTV European Music Awards has become increasingly complex to manage, with the ever growing use of radio microphones, IEM systems and guitar packs,” said Zieba.
    “It’s difficult enough to find clear, interference-free spectrum to satisfy artist demands, which can easily consist of 16 IEMs, eight guitar systems and several radio mics. To multiply that by seven and make the change over time between acts live-on-air a matter of a few minutes is a very bold challenge. Add to that, handheld radio mics for presenters and award winners in between the live performances and the challenge can become a nightmare!
    “Robust, reliable RF equipment is a must and for that reason alone I would choose Sennheiser. Mark Saunders and Andrew Lillywhite from Sennheiser UK have consistently supported my work on the bigger multi-artist shows for the past decade and once again they were there to offer much appreciated advice and practical support to my superb RF Supervisor Barry Macleod,” added Zieba.

INDIVIDUAL LIGHTING REQUIREMENTS
Head of PRG Event Services, Richard Gorrod, oversaw the lighting supplies for the awards. PRG sent three full time event service crew and an additional eight freelances.
    Lighting Designer, Gurdip Mahal, worked alongside Ross Williams and James Tinsley, the Lighting Operators. Williams was operating most of the movers, while TInsely was on conventional keys and backlight duties.
    All lighting motors were supplied by PRG along with 50 Kinesys Points for moving lighting trusses and set. PRG also supplied a total of 90 Philips Vari-Lite VL3500w, 10 Showgun, 28 Bad Boy, 32 VL5’s, 40 Clay Paky Sharpys, 48 Martin Professional MAC 2000’s, 48 4 lites, 56 Atomic and five M2 Followspots. 
    Mahal used a High End Systems Full Boar console running Artnet via a PRG S400 data distro system for control. Elsewhere, Theo Cox was operating a Jarag Wall for Queen. Again, a Full Boar, this time merged DMX from the media server. PRG also supplied a large amount of band extras for all the different artist’s sets ranging from Xflex for Bruno Mars to 72 Jarag and four 80k Hungaro Flashes for Queen.
    Gorrod said: “The success of the production is due to the same team of people from the different supply companies working on the show year in year out. Blackout, Brit Row, PRG, and Mike Groves from Stage Miracles running all the stage change-overs.”
    In addition, he commented: “On top of the MTV broadcast lights, the bands add their individual requirements, which has meant a huge amount of extra equipment to bring in just a week and half out. We try and give the best rig to fit the budget and we have a huge pool of equipment to pull on.
    “We have a team of people focused on moving lights - four PRG and four local - doing the stage light movement. It’s all about preparation. The whole rig went up in a day and a half. My preparation is the reason this show comes together as quickly as it does on site. I enjoy the one-off shows and having a good team makes an average rig look great.”

EXTENSIVE PLANNING
Stageco installed the curved performance stages, applying considerable broadcast awards experience to provide the decking substructure for the MTV EMA curved stages, presenter platforms and camera platforms. Project Manager, Martin Beckers, along with a team of three Stageco supervisors were based in Northern Ireland for 10 days to ensure the tight load-in and load-out schedules for the three trucks of equipment were adhered to.
    Stageco’s International Project Director, Dirk De Decker, worked closely with Maggie Mouzakitis and Es Devlin in advance to plan the performance structures in line with the curved theme of the set. De Decker commented: “The 2011 MTV EMA is broadcast to over 600 million people worldwide so the placement of the stages and the media and presenter platforms is of the highest importance to the show’s producers to create the best possible look on television.
    “The event requires extensive planning beforehand with Maggie’s team and the other suppliers in order to ensure an efficient build that allows the broadcasters and each of the band’s production teams maximum time to get set up with the required rehearsal times.”

HEALTH & SAFETY WITH TIGHT SECURITY
“There’s a lot of experience in this room,” Mouzaktis said with a smile. “Health and safety is of paramount importance and we’ve got Gary Latham, who’s worked on Brit Awards and with MTV since our Edinburgh show, so he’s very good. Flying by Foy have done the effects for Jessie J and Lady Gaga, with Quantum Special Effects adding the Bruno Mars spectacular gags for TV.
    “Show power has been managed by the technical department’s Jerry Singleton and Steve Reeves delivering a mix from house power and generators for OB trucks and cameras. The whole crew have worked long hard shifts so having Eat Your Heart Out on catering has kept energy levels – and spirits – high, with sumptuous menus every day.
    “Security is always very tight around this show with this many high profile artists in town and it is reassuring to have Showsec’s 15-strong management consultancy team to oversee all elements of the security operation. Showsec Director Simon Battersby is our Director of Security and he’s ensured a faultless and smooth-running security operation,” she concluded.
    Battersby stated: “We have been engaged for months in advance putting together the detailed security plans; working with the show producers, the local venues, Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) and Belfast City Council. With such a high profile show visiting Belfast there have been numerous challenges we have overcome to ensure the safe and successful delivery of the EMA.
    “This is a particularly complex security operation requiring extensive engagement with numerous stakeholders. The fact that we have had over 1,000 accredited people on the main show alone gives an appreciation of the size of the production and number of VIP movements we have managed.”
TPi

Photography: 2000 - 2011 Getty Images and Graham Brown.
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