Munya Vomo
Although South Africa did not make the cut for the MTV Europe Music Awards, the country was well represented by a number of personalities from the country. Among them included Nomuzi Mabena, Sizwe Dlomo, Jen Su and Bonang Matheba.
"We got here on Thursday last week and we did a little shopping, and then from Friday on we did some MTV press things leading to the awards. It was a lot of fun," said Matheba.
Explaining why she had come to Glasgow, Matheba hinted that she is growing her own media empire and so events like these helped her learn about how the First World operates when it comes to these kinds of events.
"I came through because I am a red carpet correspondent, and I have a production company, Bonang Matheba Entertainment. I did the red carpet at the SAMAs for two years, I also do a lot of stuff for Top Billing. For me, it was kind of coming to see how they do it at an international scale. The MTV EMAs are the cream when it comes to awards ceremonies. When we attended the awards, I picked up that we are very far from where we need to be. There is a great respect and detail taken into media in these parts. It seems like the press takes first preference before the musicians which is fantastic. Also the production value is unmatched and I felt great to be a part of it all," she said.
"The way the show is so seamless is amazing. The camera people, the lights, the sound and stage all blew my mind. There was no sound problems like we experience at home. Not even once and that was something to really cherish and emulate. It keeps moving from city to city but it remains so stunning through and through," she added.
Drawing lessons from this experience, Matheba spoke of how we too can have great productions when it comes to our own awards ceremonies.
"What I appreciate about MTV is that we got a taste of what they can do when they hosted the MAMAs in Durban earlier this year. We are not far off actually," she explained.
Zooming into her experiences on the red carpet, Matheba spoke of the celebrities that she was fortunate to get on the night of the awards.
"I was disappointed with the turnouts. There weren't so many big celebrities there. Yet the ones that came through were really fun to chat with. Ozzy Osbourne was the cherry on top and David Hasselhoff also gave us a good interview. He was talking about his last trip to South Africa, which was at the Loeries. He spoke so well about our country. Emeli Sande was very sweet and we were not able to grab Ariana Grande. We got a few good ones and that was worth the trip," said Matheba.
In her spare time, Queen B got to catch up with some retail therapy as she shopped around the streets of Glasgow.
"I am going to try and get a laptop now because with Top Billing and all my MC work, I always like to find dresses. I also want to see the city a little bit and have their Nandos. Then I head back home where I have a Woolworths gig to MC as soon as I get there," she said.
In closing Matheba spoke about where you will get to see her MTV EMA material.
"Definitely on Expresso and we will also zip it out to a few media houses. I will also make some short webisodes for my site www.bonangmatheba.com because I have a very strong online presence and people usually like to see things on their phones at their time," she said.
Catch the repeats of the awards on MTV channel 130: Wed 12 Nov– 12:15pm and 13:15pm; Wed 12 Nov – 8.50am, 12:15pm and 1.15pm; Thu 13 Nov – 08:30am; Fri 14 Nov – 01:15am, 8.05am and 11.15am; Sat 15 Nov – 3.10am, 4.10pm and 9.50pm; Sun 16 Nov – 6.30pm