25/09/08: 2008 Ibiza DJ Awards @ Pacha

From the minute Miss W stepped a stiletto-shod toe onto the red carpet at the pre-event cocktail party at Ocean Drive tonight, she knew this was going to be no ordinary night out to say the least.

Why? Well, firstly the reason for the gathering was to celebrate the 2008 Ibiza DJ Awards, which are voted for by the public so a very important night on the Ibiza social calendar indeed. Secondly, Miss W had caught a glimpse of That Person she had previously considered a Semi-Boyfriend up until a few weeks ago so she felt the need to flick her freshly blow-dried hair a lot as she chatted to super-hot Chilean DJ Luciano on the red carpet, acting as if he was asking her on a date (despite the fact he is happily married and we all know Miss W would NEVER be a home wrecker), not simply discussing his current predilection for dropping old school house classics on the dance floor.

Well, you can’t blame a girl for wanting to look popular in front of an ex, can you?

Anyway, back to business. After grabbing one of the delicious cocktails on offer to soothe my flustered nerves, I finally managed to relax and work my way through the room. From the Mambo family through to the Pacha crew, the German techno-lords, local media magnates and the gorgeous Italian television crews, there was no shortage of schmoozing and air kissing for at least an hour. Then it was on to the main event, moving just down the road to Pacha, where the awards ceremony would be taking place.

I must say it was quite strange to walk into Pacha and be able to actually see the floor – quite a different experience to the usual Thursday nights, but it certainly made balancing a glass of wine – which was free flowing right up until the clock struck 12 – and a delicious Japanese flavoured canapé much more of an easy task than it would be on a crowded dance floor.

With a huge stage set up in the centre of the floor, Miss W picked a prime position high above the VIP area so she could get the perfect view of the action. Starting with the always amazing Pacha dancers posturing on the stage, resplendent in white wedding-esque costumes the only thing that seemed slightly (dare I say?) un-glamorous about the night was the err, interesting alien decorations and fluoro green netting swathed about the stage.

Obviously it tied in with the fact that each winner received a small statue of ‘Kryptonite’ as their award but the relevance was completely lost on me - wasn’t Kryptonite actually Superman’s weakness anyway?

Moving right along, it was time for the awards to begin and the dance floor was now completely full in time for the big announcements – hosted in English by Des Paul of MTV and Capitol Radio and in Spanish by Mariana Ribelo – whose frock seemed to have been designed to coordinate with the alien!

So with no further ado, please allow me to introduce to you, the winners: Tiesto, David Guetta, Armin Van Buuren, Richie Hawtin, Steve Lawler, David Guetta, Adam Beyer, Sasha, Jazzanova, Ricardo Villalobos and Luciano. Special awards were presented to Bill Kelly, co-founder of the Miami Music Conference, Beatport founder Jonas Tempel for their contribution to the dance music industry and as for the biggies? Song of the year went to Mark Knight and Funkagenda’s huge re-working of Laurent Garnier’s Man With The Red Face and Best Ibiza Night went to Cocoon at Amnesia, an award which Miss W thought was very well deserved given it’s huge success for yet another season.

And after the awards? Well the business of an after party is a very important one indeed and when the after party is hosted by a certain Mr & Mrs Guetta – yes, that’s David and Cathy of F*** Me I’m Famous for those who don’t know – in a place like Pacha, well, that’s another whole story indeed.

THE LOWDOWN
THE GOOD: Seeing the island's movers and shakers descend upon a venue, dressed up to the nines and with the intention of letting their hair down together after a long and busy summer. Smiles all round...
THE BAD: While the quality of sound at Pacha musically is amazing, the acoustics of the room didn’t seem to lend themselves to the presenter’s voices as it was difficult to hear them speak – though the winners certainly managed to hear their names being called so all was not lost.
THE GOSSIP: Although the event itself is clearly not a strictly Pacha event, it didn’t stop tongues wagging over the noticeable absence of any nomination for Wonderland and its residents. Surely one of the most successful new club nights on the island deserved a look in?