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Despite
being veterans at organising award shows, Indus Television Network's
latest offering, the first MTV Music Video Awards, were a huge disappointment.
The entire show was badly managed right from the get go, and was
riddled with a juvenile script, tepid performances and poor technical
execution.
The
red carpet area, which was still being prepared when the guests
started arriving, was unable to live up to its name, as only a handful
of celebrities bothered to show up. Out of those who did, half were
there to present the awards, while the other half were there to
receive them. Vaneeza arrived wearing one of her lawn dresses, thus
using the event as a platform to advertise her lawn collection.
Tariq Amin was wearing weird georgette flapper-like pants with long
slits - on the inside. A slightly overweight Begum Nawazish Ali
looked gorgeous, while Mahnoor Baloch, who was underdressed for
an award ceremony, still managed to look half her age. And Mehreen
Raheel looked pretty.
The
organisers had arranged for the celebs to arrive inside the venue
in flashy cars. They were greeted at the entrance by a bevy of people
dressed up as paparazzi who clicked away at their cameras, trying
to give the whole event an Oscar-like touch.
The
show started over two hours after the designated time, and things
only went from bad to worse from that point on. The announcers/VJs
seemed bored and were unable to liven up the audience with their
meaningless banter and ridiculous jokes. Sadder still was when the
bored-to-death audience refused to comply with Mehreen Raheel's
shrill pleas to clap for Tariq Amin, who went on to win four awards
that evening. However, Begum Nawazish Ali, who came on stage to
present an award, got a very warm welcome from the audience.
No
big name from the music industry was among the list of performers
for the event. Regardless of whether they were getting an award
or not, the stars of the local music industry should have been present
to support the event and lend it star power. Roxen, Arif Lohar,
Nirma and Shiraz Uppal were some of the performers and, as expected,
all them were lip-syncing. However, the sound system was good enough
to keep the audience in doubt about that fact - till the sound people
started to play the song before the artist got up on stage, thus
not only confusing the audience, but also embarrassing the performer.
Hopefully,
the magic of editing will rid the show of all the hitches and glitches
before it is aired on television. Indus Television Network, however,
should get credit for paying tribute to the music industry. If only
they had gotten their act together.
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