This year the MTV Video Music Awards moved to Las Vegas, trimmed down to two hours, ditched the host and concentrated on the live performances in an extreme makeover that was all about the music and, as it turned out, all about Sennheiser microphones and wireless personal monitoring systems. On Sunday, September 9th, five of the eleven VMAs handed out went to Sennheiser users, almost half of the twenty-nine artist performances in venues around the Palms Casino Resort featured Sennheiser mics and Sennheiser was the only brand of microphone used throughout the pre-show, the red carpet segments, and by every announcer during the show.

Sennheiser’s newest user, Rihanna, picked up a pair of the iconic Moonman awards, including the prestigious “Video of the Year” as well as “Monster Single of the Year.” In addition, Beyoncé and Shakira – both Sennheiser users – won for “Most Earth-Shattering Collaboration,” Fergie took home the award for “Female Artist of the Year” and Gnarls Barkley were honored for “Best Editing.” The production relied heavily on Sennheiser’s fifty years of wireless technology experience to ensure trouble-free broadcast of all the venues, no matter if closely or remotely located from the Palms Casino Resort. Eight of the thirteen artists showcased at The Pearl theater performed using Sennheiser mics, including Rihanna, with an SKM 5200 handheld outfitted with a Neumann KK 105-S capsule, and Nelly Furtado, with a custom gold-plated SKM 935 G2.

Using a Sennheiser SKM 5200 with the Neumann KMS 105 capsule at the MTV Music Video Awards, Rihanna, Sennheiser’s hottest, new user won a pair of Moonman awards for “Monster Single of the Year” and the prestigious “Video of the Year.” (© Getty Images)

Coordinating wireless audio and communications in the diverse and far-flung Fantasy Suite locations posed a challenge, but David Bellamy, the primary RF person on the show, reports that the Sennheiser equipment performed as expected: “It was seamless.” In addition to eighteen channels of Sennheiser EW 300 IEM wireless personal monitors provided by the show’s sound production company, Clair Brothers Audio, Bellamy’s L.A.-based Soundtronics company supplied around fifty channels of Sennheiser RF equipment, including EM 3532 and
EM 3032 receivers, plus SKM 5200 wireless microphones for all the presenters in The Pearl.

It was all Sennheiser in the Fantasy Suite in the Palms Hotel during the recent MTV Music Video Awards in Las Vegas where the Foo Fighters reigned supreme with Dave Grohl on the MD 431 II, Evolution 935s for backing vocals, and a slew of Evolution 900 series mics for backline. (© Getty Images)

Sennheiser wired microphones were used exclusively throughout the Foo Fighters’ VMA Fantasy Suite, including frontman Dave Grohl’s preferred MD 431 II at center stage. Guests Cee-Lo Green (Gnarls Barkley), Serj Tankian (System of a Down) and Josh Homme (Queens of the Stone Age) also dropped by to blast through a series of originals and covers with the band.

On the red carpet and the main floor of the Palms Casino during the 2007 MTV VMA Pre-Show Royale, MTV VJs interviewed guest presenters, performers and nominees with the help of Sennheiser
SKM 5200 wireless handhelds supplied by Kevin Sanford and his New York-based company, Wireless First. Performances during the pre-show included Pussycat Doll, Nicole Scherzinger rocking out on her Sennheiser/Neumann combination mic.

Noted Sanford, “Working in a live casino from four positions, with forty-two channels of Sennheiser RF, about 300 feet from Bellamy’s position was quite an adventuresome undertaking. Upon arrival, it looked impossible – in the end it was fun and the Sennheiser RF was flawless.”

The Sennheiser Group is one of the world’s leading manufacturers of microphones, headphones and wireless transmission systems. A family firm established in 1945 and based in Wedemark near Hanover, Germany, the company recorded sales of over 356 million euros in 2006, 82% of which was generated abroad. Sennheiser employs over 1,800 people worldwide, around 55% of whom are in Germany. The Group has manufacturing plants in Germany, Ireland and the USA and is represented worldwide by subsidiaries in France, the UK, Belgium, the Netherlands, Denmark (Nordic), Russia, Hong Kong, India, Singapore, Canada, Mexico and the USA, as well as through trading partners in other countries. Also part of the Sennheiser Group are Georg Neumann GmbH, Berlin (studio microphones), K + H Vertriebs- und Entwicklungsgesellschaft mbH (Klein + Hummel studio monitors, installed sound) and the joint venture Sennheiser Communications A/S (headsets for PCs, offices and call centers).

Download Press Release:
MTV_Video_Music_Awards.zip (964 kB)

You can find out the latest information on Sennheiser by visiting http://www.sennheiser.com/ or by contacting:

Sennheiser electronic GmbH & Co. KG 
Press Office • Edelgard Marquardt 
Am Labor 1 • 30900 Wedemark 
Tel: +49 (5130) 600-329 
Fax: +49 (5130) 600-295 
E-mail: marquare@sennheiser.com

Sennheiser electronic GmbH & Co. KG
Greg Beebe
Director Global Relations
Tel: +1 (860) 581-8052
E-mail: gbeebe@sennheiserusa.com