The Power To Decide Lies In Your Hands Come 14 June

 MTV Asia Awards 2008 is back and it is bigger, better and bolder. Counting down to the Awards show in Genting- City of Entertainment on 2 August, MTV is pleased to unveil more than 50 local and international nominees being honored at Asia’s biggest pan-regional music event. Drawing towards the big day at the Arena of Stars in Genting, MTV viewers in the region will be able to shout out to the world their preferred choice in music simply by casting votes for their favorite artists from 14 June to 25 July 2008. The excitement continues to build as performers and awards presenters are announced in the coming weeks, culminating to one spectacular night where winners will be announced to a live audience and broadcasted to millions of homes in Asia.

Awards will see a total of 16 categories, 10 of which will be determined by MTV viewers’ votes for the Favourite Artist category. Nominees for the Favourite Artist categories consist of the movers and shakers who shape the local music industry as well as the most popular International artists in Asia. The other 6 awards are honorary awards– The Video Star Award, Breakthrough Artist, The Innovation Award, Best Hook-Up, Bring Da House Down and edc Style Award. These awards will be presented by MTV Asia in recognition of key industry figures and trendsetters, be it in terms of fashion, music, video or live performances to the way the artists market themselves.

For the regional categories, Philippines’s hot favorites Chicosci, Sandwich, Spongecola and Urbandub are in the running for the Favorite Artist Philippines. Who will take home the prestigious award this year? 

On the international front, who will the Favorite Artist be? Punk pop princess Avril Lavigne, with her gutsy guitar riffs and rebellious rock ’n’ roll attitude, is probably The Best Damn Thing we have ever seen. Or will G-L-A-M-O-R-O-U-S Fergie beat her to it for the stellar performance in her debut album The Dutchess? Perhaps Linkin Park will bring the house down just Minutes to Midnight? Even though Justin Timberlake can save the world from destruction in just 4 Minutes, can he save his pop prince title for sure?

Competition is tough in each category but nothing is set in stone so start voting for your favorite artist to keep them in the running for the ultimate victory.

The Golden M Bar

One of the highlights of the MTV Asia Awards will be the design of the trophy, which transcends the conventional template of other award trophies. The MTV Asia Awards trophy embodies the “breaking rule” philosophy of the brand, providing viewers, fans and artists alike with off-the-wall creativity and inspiration. This year, MTV will be presenting the winners with a heavyweight item to mark the return of a glamorous M-- a gold bar in the shape of an ‘M’.

“M is back and what more to make a statement than with a gold bar in a Casino resort, Genting – The City of Entertainment? It is extravagant, lavish and over-the-top, the ultimate Blink! Other than putting the M back into music, we’re also bringing the Mojo back into the most authoritative International Music Awards Show in Asia,” said Silvia Goh, Vice President, Multiplatform Content.

The trophy is plated in 24K gold by Risis, MTV’s official partner for the trophy. Each trophy comes in a customized velvet case and envelope. “All that glitter may be gold after-all!” added Silvia Goh.

Keep Watching and Start Voting - YOU Have the Power To Decide And Win!

Leading up to the Awards, there will be fabulous contests and events planned around the show. 

Vote for your favourite artist and international artist online or over mobile and you and a friend could win an all expense paid trip to the MTV Asia Awards 2008 in Genting-City of Entertainment, Malaysia. All you need to do is to SMS your choice to 2959 following the format MAA <space> “Artist code”. Alternatively, voters can go to the official website at www.mtvasiawards.com or the WAP site at wap.mtvasia.com/maa to vote.

Fans can also grab the Vote Widget of their favorite artist off the website and place it in their blog or social network page. Voting starts from 14 June and will end on 25 July 2008.

A new exciting dimension of the Awards will be the “So You Wanna Be A Presenter” contest. To increase interactivity with the audience, MTV has sent out a call for User Generated Content (UGC) videos for the coolest Award presenter. Send in a video of how your local nominees should be presented at the MTV Asia Awards 2008 to the official website by 13 July. The wackiest, out-of-the-world, over-the-top video from each market will be aired live at the Awards show and the ultimate video of all will win an all-expense paid VIP trip for two to the Awards.  

The latest updates on the MTV Asia Awards 2008 can be found on the official website at www.mtvasiaawards.com and WAP site at wap.mtvasia.com/maa from 14 June onwards. Fans can visit the official website for more information on Awards related contests and events. The MTV Asia Awards 2008 will be broadcasted to over 291 million homes across the region, and promoted on MTV Asia’s web-site.  Portions of the programming will be carried on MTV channels worldwide, reaching more than a billion viewers across 162 countries. MTV Asia Awards 2008 will also be aired on Malaysia’s Astro Channel 713 and StarHub Channel 20 on 2 August at 11pm.

Performers and Awards presenters will be announced in the coming weeks.

Official partner sponsors for the MTV Asia Awards 2008 are edc by Esprit, Tourism Malaysia and Genting- City of Entertainment. The MTV Asia Awards 2008 is unleashed in Malaysia by Xpax.

 Note to Editor

Press information is available at www.mtvasiaawards.com/press/

About MTV Asia

MTV is the world’s largest television network and the leading multimedia brand for youth. It is also Asia’s Most Watched Channel (Young Asian 2006, 15-24s), viewed by more youth than any other channels.

The MTV Asia channel is a 24-hour programming service distributed to more than 2.6 million homes in the region. As a global brand and a regional channel, MTV Asia seeks to offer programming reflective of our trademark standard, yet promote local cultural tastes and music talent.

MTV’s fundamental brand values are being relevant, totally passionate about music and life, unpredictable, funny, risk-taking, bold and open. The brand is also committed to champion pro-social causes such as HIV/AIDS education, anti-piracy and misuse of drugs.

More information on MTV Asia can be found at www.mtvasia.com.