Hosting the MTV Europe Music Awards is a huge box to tick off any pop superstar's bucket list. Katy Perry's done it, Ed Sheeran's done it, Christina Aguilera's done it – and even Robbie Williams back in the day. This year, Rita Ora will be hosting the annual awards as they come to London for the third time.
As well as bringing her signature British humour and glamour to the proceedings, Ora will perform her new single at the event at the SSE Arena, Wembley on Sunday 12th November. The Kosovo-born singer and actor, who grew up in west London, has been nominated eight times at the EMAs so far in her career, including for Best UK/Ireland Act, Best New Artist, Best Video and Best Look.
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Ora said she was "really honoured" to be asked to host the awards because, she told Refinery29: "London is my hometown and I think I represent Britain in such a fun way." Bruce Gillmer, Head of Music and Music Talent at Global Entertainment Group, Viacom dubbed her "the perfect hometown hero" to lead the "ultimate global music celebration".
Given her previous TV and presenting experience – hosting VH1's America’s Next Top Model, judging on The Voice and The X Factor – and seemingly infinite CV, she's no doubt up to the task.
"I feel like I’m better live than I am pre-recorded, so I think we’re going to figure it out. I’m one of those people that pulls it out the bag when I’m under pressure, so let’s see what happens. The good thing about music and music awards is you can’t ever really go wrong because music is such a universal language," she told us.
While Ora said it wouldn't be fair to reveal who she thinks this year's big winners will be, she said the current dominance of British music makes it a perfect time for the EMAs to come to the UK. "We’ve got so many artists in the charts right now that are from Britain, British music is really powerful, Wembley is such a historic venue, so there are lots of reasons why the MTV EMAs came back to London."
The nominees, the night's other performers and presenters will be announced in the weeks to come. Voting for the winners will open next week at mtvema.com, so stay tuned.