Mobos Hailed as Huge Success for Leeds
The 20th annual MOBO Awards is being hailed as the 'biggest musical spectacle' Yorkshire has ever scene after they were held in Leeds for the first time. Stars such as Rita Ora, Ella Eyre and Ceelo Green performed at the First Direct Arena for the sell-out show.
“I won a baking competition. And then I get invited to the Mobo Awards! That’s a little bit bizarre, the two are very different. But I’m very excited. I just spoke to Lenny Henry and that’s quite awesome.
“Everywhere I go people know me and that’s really weird. But it’s fun and I’m loving every second.”
Lenny told us the feeling was mutual: “I loved meeting Nadiya from the bake-off, she’s fantastic! I watched her every week, her little face.
“She was in the green room and I was thinking ‘what’s Nadiya doing here?’ And then she was on stage doing this thing for me! It’s a huge honour, I’m very, very happy. It’s wonderful.” Lethal Bizzle opened the red carpet at the award. The grime artist was nominated for best grime act and best video.
He was followed by Celebrity Big Brother star Fatman Scoop, who shook hands with fans as he made his way down the carpet.
CeeLo Green, the star behind hits such as Crazy and Forget You, was honoured at the ceremony with the Outstanding Achievement prize. He made his walked down the carpet wearing a shimmering gold outfit.
Naughty Boy, Lianne La Havas, Stormzy and Bizzle treated fans to performances during the show, alongside Rita Ora, Krept And Konan, FKA Twigs and Ella Eyre.
“It’s so surreal,” Eyre told us after being awarded the Best Female prize.
“The category was so strong. In my head I’d already written it off just because I was happy for the other girls to win because they’re so incredible. Even when I won I had no speech prepared because I didn’t want to get that excited. It’s just an absolute shock.”
“It’s fantastic for the city and we’re moving on to bigger and better things,” she said.
“It’s nice to be able to represent the music talent right here in my home town.”
Leeds’ very own Bupsi from the X Factor was also in attendance after being voted off during Saturday’s first live show.
“It feels absolutely fantastic, this is my hometown girlfriend!” she said.
“I’m in my element right now. Look at the atmosphere, look at the buzz in the air. There are a lot of fans out there for me as well, little me! I’m really lucky to have been here tonight. If I was still in the X Factor process I’d have just been watching it on the TV.”
Tony Watson, Sales and Marketing PR Manger from First Direct Arena says the event was a major coup for the city.
“It was one of the biggest musical spectacles I think Yorkshire has ever seen.
“When the arena was first proposed back in the early 2000s people said ‘if you build it the biggest events will come to Yorkshire’, and we’ve just seen some of the world’s biggest stars right here in Leeds at our arena.
“It was the dream and we wanted to continue to bring the world’s biggest events to Leeds. So we’ve had the BBC Sports Personality of the Year and the Tour de France Opening Ceremony and now we’ve had the Mobos, and we hope it will be a continuation of giant global events.
“It was completely sold out to the rafters, you had incredible sound effects, and the atmosphere was just insane.”
The Mobo Awards was aired live on ITV2.
LISTEN to red carpet interviews pre and post awards with celebs ranging from Ella Eyre to Leeds' own Leroy Johnson HERE: https://audioboom.com/RadioAireNews
Here’s a list of all the winners on the night:
:: Best Hip-Hop Act: Krept & Konan
:: Best Newcomer in association with Virgin Trains: Section Boyz
:: Best African Act: Fuse ODG
:: Best Female Act: Ella Eyre
:: Best Male Act: Stormzy
:: Best Song in association with First Direct: Shutdown by Skepta
:: Best Grime Act in association with BBC Radio 1Xtra: Stormzy
:: Best Album: The Long Way Home by Krept & Konan
:: Best Video: Pendulum by FKA Twigs
:: Best Reggae Act: Popcaan
:: Best Jazz: Binker & Moses
:: Best RNB/Soul Act: Shakka
:: Best Gospel Act: Faith Child
:: Best International Album: If You're Reading This It's Too Late by Drake
:: Mobo Outstanding Achievement Award: CeeLo Green
:: Paving The Way in partnership with ITV2: Wiley
:: Paving The Way in partnership with ITV2: Sir Lenny Henry