Jean Michel Jarre hosted the 4th IFPI Platinum Europe Awards yesterday evening, at the Le Plaza Hotel in Brussels.

The ceremony celebrates artists having sold over 1 million records in Europe. Artists receiving an award included Axelle Red, Hélène Ségara, Bomfunk MC, Blue, Henri Salvador, Westernhagen and Estopa. The Irish musician and campaigner Sir Bob Geldof received a special award for his Exceptional Contribution To Music, and Luciano Pavarotti finally, received an award for Outstanding Contribution to Music in recognition of his unparalleled artistic and recording achievements over a career spanning more than 40 years. Other celebrities present were the Belgian jazz musician Toots Thielemans and European Commissioners, Members of the European Parliament (Willy Declerck, Belgium) and Ambassadors, as well as heads of the recording industry in Europe.

The show was presented by Neil Kinnock, European Commission Vice-President, and Jean Michel Jarre, and was produced by Lisa Anderson, who was also responsible for the Brit Awards, the Classical Brit Awards and recently the Queens Golden Jubilee celebrations.

Jean Michel Jarre finally announced that after his forthcoming performance in Denmark, he will go on tour with the same concept of the Danish concert with the venues to be outside cities. He also revealed plans are underway to release the Denmark concert on DVD. Jean Michel was not accompanied by his fiancée Isabelle Adjani, but he talked about the forthcoming marriage in interviews he conducted.

Press coverage has been extensive in Belgium, with all major Belgian newspapers featuring an extensive report of the ceremony, however with Jean Michel Jarre only briefly mentioned and is not featured in any of the photos. Belgian TV stations RTL-TVI, VTM, RTBF, VT4 and AB3 have shown coverage in their news programmes during the past few days, although Jarre can only be seen and is not interviewed, despite being interviewed at the awards.