Only the Oscars could match the gathering of celebrity, style and music talent that filled Royal Albert Hall last night for Fashion Rocks for The Prince's Trust. Our picture shows Giorgio Armani with Beyonce Knowles who performed in one of the designer's creations.

The charity event was based around 18 top fashion designers, each with their own catwalk parade and with their chosen artist performing a soundtrack. A circular stage with the catwalk around the outside made an ideal setting for this glamorous event.

Hand Held Audio were asked to provide the radio microphones for all the artists and also presenters Elizabeth Hurley and Denis Leary. Most of the soundtracks consisted of live vocal to playback so a large in-ear monitor requirement added to the complexity of the wireless system.

RF expert John "Freddo" Fredericks, who was on site to look after all things wireless for the live show and TV recording, said:
"It was a great show. There was a really good atmosphere - egos seemed to take a back seat and everything ran smoothly."

Among the artists present were some of Hand Held's regular customers - Robbie Williams (singing for Versace), Blue (for Dolce & Gabbana), Skin (for Gucci) and Bjork (for Alexander McQueen).

It With TV viewers gripped to their seats wondering if it was going to be Alex or Alaistair the second Fame Academy competition to win a £1million recording contract came to a climax on October 4th.

12 weeks of vocal dualling were over and the diminishing radio mic requirement was down to zero. Hand Held Audio, who had again been asked to supply the show with wireless systems, collected their racks of Sennheiser and Shure equipment from Britannia Row - live sound contractors for the Fame Academy.

Sennheiser SKM5000 hand helds with the Neumann K105 capsule (in silver!) were the choice for presenters Cat Deeley and Patrick Kielty and very swish they looked too. For the contestants the Shure UHF Premier Series mics were preferred, with Beta58A capsules.

So after 3 months of devotedly spotting the tiny HHA logos on the base of the mics as the cameras zoomed in for a tight close-up, we all wish Alex . . . and Alaistair . . . and Carolynne the best of luck for the future.

The 10th annual MTV European Music Awards are to be held at the Ocean Terminal Arena, Leith, Edinburgh on November 6th. Sound designer Derrick Zieba has asked wireless specialists Hand Held Audio to supply radio mics and in ear monitors for both performers and presenters. It will be the 5th year running that Hand Held have supplied and managed performance wireless at the event.

The growing list of stars already confirmed includes Pink, Dido, Kylie Minogue, Beyonce Knowles, Travis and the Chemical Brothers featuring The Flamin' Lips. Among the presenters are Shirley Manson from Garbage and Dave Navarro with Perry Farrell of Jane's Addiction while Christina Aguilera hosts the show. The rumours that Madonna will appear are yet to be confirmed.

While Derrick Zieba is preparing his equipment specifcation Hand Held's Nick Bruce-Smith has been making preliminary investigations into frequency availability at the venue. Edinburgh is a notoriously difficult city to run a large wireless package in - mainly due to shortage of usable frequencies - which is in turn a consequence of the complex arrangement of TV repeaters in the area.

"This is going to be our most challenging MTV awards show yet" said Nick, with the air of a man rolling his sleeve's up. "Not that we mind that - with careful planning, a proven crew (John "Freddo" Fredericks will be the RF guru at the event) we know we can do a good job."

Misteeq

The up-front R&B band have just completed a successful UK tour which also featured their appearance at the Mobo Awards. Production manager Malcolm Blair asked Hand Held Audio to make custom ear monitors for the girls and their band. Alesha, Sabrina and Su were all fitted for Future Sonics monitors with soft inner tips for added comfort. These monitors are finished to a high cosmetic standard and suit the girls vocal application perfectly.

For the backing vocalists Hand Held Audio's own acrylic monitors were the preferred choice, while band members Isaac & Gareth went for the flexibilty of Ultimate Ears' UE5 Ambient monitors. The UE5A's give the artist personal control over the level of ambient sound they experience by cleverly designed interchangeable filters.