LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA--It was ladies night at the 36th annual American Music Awards, which was broadcast live by ABC from the NOKIA Theatre L.A. LIVE in downtown Los Angeles on Sunday, November 24. It was also Sennheiser's night, with nine of the award show's divas -- including Alicia Keys, Queen Latifah, Kathleen Battle, Sarah McLachlan, Rihanna, Annie Lennox, Beyoncé, Miley Cyrus and Leona Lewis - singing through Sennheiser wired and wireless vocal microphones.
The 2008 AMAs featured a record nineteen live performances, culminating in a rendition by Alicia Keys of "Superwoman," the latest single off her "As I Am" album, along with surprise guests Queen Latifah and opera soprano Kathleen Battle. All three used Sennheiser SKM 5200 RF handhelds with MD 5235 or Neumann KK 104 capsules.
Wired Neumann vocal mics were also in evidence. Annie Lennox, recipient of the lifetime achievement Award of Merit trophy, gave one of the evening's highlight performances at the piano, singing a solo version of her big hit, "Why," using a Neumann KMS 104 wired vocal mic. Later, Sarah McLachlan, at the piano, in a duet with Pink, used her longtime favorite mic, the KMS 104.
Brett Valasek, general manager with the show's sound provider, ATK Audiotek, reports that a dozen channels of Sennheiser evolution G2 IEM systems were also in use on the night. "It was a two-stage setup, and we had eight channels of transmit, with six G2s on each stage." Sennheiser's personal wireless monitors were favored by many of the artists. "We had about twenty Sennheiser belt-packs per stage. I know the first three performances probably gobbled up about thirty of the forty Sennheiser belt-packs," recalls Valasek.
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