The 2014 MTV Europe Music Awards used Sennheiser systems once again

For the twelfth year in a row, Sennheiser UK supported Britannia Row Productions in their provision of audio equipment for the event.

The 2014 MTV EMAs, held in November at The Hydro in Glasgow, Scotland, were, as always, one of the biggest nights on the music calendar. For the twelfth year in a row, Sennheiser UK supported Britannia Row Productions in their provision of audio equipment for the event.

EThe spectacular two-hour show was chaired by Nicki Minaj and featured performances by artists such as Ed Sheeran, Ariana Grande and Charli XCX. Ozzy Osbourne was hailed as 'World Icon', while the band One Direction received three awards. In addition, Ariana Grande was awarded the 'Best Song and Best Female Performer' award, Justin Bieber was awarded 'Best Male Performer', while 5 Seconds of Summer received the 'Best New Artist' and 'Best Push Act' awards.

All presenters, including Nicki Minaj, used Sennheiser's flagship 9000 Series handheld microphones, while performers and presenters used the Sennheiser 2000 Series. Additionally, Ed Sheeran used an SKM 2000 with MD 9235 capsule and an SK 2000 guitar radio pack; Ariana Grande and Charli XCX used an SKM 5200 with MD 5235 capsules; Kiesza a SKM 2000 with 935 capsules and Simon Neil of Biffy Clyro used a wired e 945 microphone.

In addition to her activities as a presenter, Nicki Minaj took the stage to perform the debut of her new single Bed of Lies using an HSP 4 headset microphone with SK 5212 transmitter.

For the first time, Colin Pink was Live Sound Supervisor as he took on the dual challenge of filling Derrick Zieba's shoes and working in an acoustically difficult venue. “The Hydro has difficult acoustics because it is basically a circular building,” explains Colin.

"With this in mind, staging was a challenge with custom placement of speakers, rather than hanging them on the right and left as is usually done. We had six ambient microphones around the stage to be able to distribute the sound more evenly. We also encouraged artists to use in-ear headphones, as when on stage there can be reflections that make monitoring very difficult," he said.

Colin admitted: "The support from the Sennheiser UK team in making this easier was fantastic. They provided all the IEM systems required, which were very well received by the artists, both for sound quality and RF coverage. They also provided us with a number of SKM 5200 handheld microphones which worked very well, even while a singer was flying just a few meters from the speakers."

"All presenters used the fantastic Series 9000 handheld devices. These microphones have amazing clarity and their handling noise rejection is second to none. The show was a huge success. My thanks to Mark Saunders at Sennheiser, and the rest of the team for their help in making it run smoothly and sound exceptionally well," concluded the Live Sound Supervisor for the 2014 MTV Europe Music Awards.