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HOST OF INTERNATIONAL AND ASIAN ARTISTS COME TOGETHER TO SUPPORT THE MTV ASIA AID GLOBAL BENEFIT IN BANGKOK
Hosted by Alicia Keys, MTV Asia Aid Urges Viewers Around The World To Keep Contributing Towards The Tsunami Relief Efforts,
With UNICEF The Primary Global Recipient Of Funds Raised.
Event To Air Across MTV's Global Network, And Made Available To All Global TV Channels Cost Free And Rights Free,
To Reach Potential Viewing Audience Of Over 1 Billion People.
Special One-Hour Version Of Show To Air Globally On CNN
February 3, 2005
The MTV Asia Aid global benefit concert held tonight at the IMPACT Arena in Bangkok, Thailand, featured a host of artists from Asia and around the world, as more than 11,000 fans gathered to show their support for tsunami recovery efforts. Alicia Keys hosted the event, with the key message of the evening being to urge viewers to keep contributing to the relief and reconstruction efforts by supporting UNICEF and other charities. Presenters included Vanness Wu (of F4), Chester Bennington (of Linkin Park), Sri Lankan cricket legend Aravinda de Silva and singer Alston Koch, Bollywood Stars Fardeen Khan and Bipasha Basu, as well as UNICEF's Executive Director, Carole Bellamy.
The event featured LIVE performances from artists across Asia and from around the world - Asha Bhosle, Bird Thongchai McIntryre, Hoobastank, Good Charlotte, Jay Chou, Kelly Clarkson, Namie Amuro, Rain, Simple Plan, Siti Nurhaliza, Slank and Tata Young. The event also featured a specially taped performance by Ronan Keating filmed in Phuket over this last weekend. Celebrities from around the world joined United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan in appearing in specially taped messages of support - including 50 Cent, Ashanti, Black Eyed Peas, Bryan Adams, Enrique Iglesias, Franz Ferdinand, Jackie Chan, Jennifer Lopez, Joss Stone, Keane, Moby, Nelly, Ricky Martin, Football Star Rio Ferdinand, Robbie Williams, Shakira, Sting and Zhang Ziyi.
The event was designed to include viewers - both in the auditorium, and those watching in Asia and around the world. Two stages were especially created to integrate the 11,000 strong live audience into the event. Huge screens featured SMS messages of hope and support collected from MTV viewers around the world. CNN has also contributed greatly to the event, with eight specially created vignettes, highlighting the need for continued support of the relief efforts.
Viewers are urged to donate money through SMS, post, or a Website - www.mtvasiaaid.com. For more information, or to find out how you can donate to the reconstruction efforts, please log onto the Website. Additional charities are being supported in local markets - eg. In Thailand funds will also go to the "Rajaprajanugroh Foundation under the Royal Patronage" and "The Government House - Disaster Relief Fund"; and funds in India will also go to the "Prime Minister's Relief Fund."
The evening began with Hoobastank, whose rendition of "The Reason" set the tempo for the concert. Kelly Clarkson, the "original" American Idol, kept up the beat with her number "Since U Been Gone," from her album, Breakaway. Thailand's International Star Tata Young performed "I Believe" while Indonesian Rock Band, Slank, pumped adrenalin into the event with their hit, "Gara Gara Kamu." Korean pop superstar, Rain, enhanced the evening with "It's Raining".
Maryland based, US Rockers, Good Charlotte were next with their number "I Just Wanna Live." Siti Nurhaliza, the pop Princess of Malaysia, enthralled the crowd with her song "Seindah Biasa," followed by Irish superstar Ronan Keating's straight-from-the-heart rendition of "I Hope You Dance," exclusively and specially recorded for the MTV Asia Aid concert from Kata Beach in Phuket a few days earlier!
Taiwanese pop singer Jay Chou, showed the audience why he is rated as one of Asia's hottest stars with the number "Snail Song", followed by a medley of his hit songs. Indian diva Asha Bhosle's new version of the percussion-based song "Dhanno Ki Aankhon Mein" from the Bollywood film Kitaab, had the crowd wanting for more. The queen of Japanese Pop, Namie Amuro, then regaled the audience with her hit song "Girl Talk," rendered in her sweet, powerful voice. Canadian punk-pop group, Simple Plan, took center stage with their song "Welcome To My Life," setting the scene for the grand finale where Thai Superstar Bird Thongchai McIntyre bonded with the audience with his song "Som Dai."
MTV Asia Aid will be broadcast on MTV channels around the world to a potential viewing audience of over 1 billion people. Through additional rights and cost free syndication of the show to broadcasters, the goal is to have this event seen in more than 3/4 of the world's television households. Already, the following broadcasters have agreed to air the event:
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RTVA (Andorra)
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TV5 (Mongolia)
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Network 10 (Australia)
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C4 (New Zealand)
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BTV (Bangladash)
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NBN (Philippines)
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PBS BiH (Bosnia & Herzegovina)
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RTP (Portugal)
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BNT (Bulgaria)
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Channel 5 (Singapore)
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Much Music (Canada)
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SVT (Slovakia)
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HRT (Croatia)
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Canal Plus (Spain)
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CYBC (Cyprus)
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Maharajah TV (Sri Lanka)
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CT (Czech Republic)
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SLRC (Sri Lanka)
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Georgia TV (Georgia)
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TSI (Switzerland)
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ERT (Greece)
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ITV (Tanzania)
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CETV (Hong
Kong)
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Channel 3 (Thailand)
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Magyar TV (Hungary)
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CCN TV6 (Trinidad & Tabago)
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Hotvision (Israel)
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Voice of America (USA)
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JRTV (Jordan)
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Link TV (USA)
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LRT (Lithuania)
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VTV3 (Vietnam)
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NTV7 (Malaysia)
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In addition to the show being available via cable and terrestrial channels, a webcast of the show was also available on www.mtvasiaaid.com at 10pm (Singapore/Hong Kong time).
Official partners for the MTV Asia Aid are Toyota Motor Corporation, HP and Samsung. Local support are from Sinyal Kuat Indosat in Indonesia, 5425 in Korea, DiGi Telecommunications Sdn Bhd in Malaysia, Addict Mobile in the Philippines, StarHub in Singapore and Heineken in Thailand. MTV Asia Aid is also strongly supported by Tourism Authority of Thailand. Thai Airways is the official airline of MTV Asia Aid.
To broadcast the MTV Asia Aid benefit rights free and cost free, please contact Sara Piot (piot.sara@mtvne.com) on +44 207 478 6314 or Christopher James (chris.james@mtv-asia.com) on +65 6420 7163.
About MTV Networks Asia Pacific
MTV is the world's largest television network and the leading multimedia brand for youth. It is also Asia's Most Watched Music Channel in Asia Pacific (PAX 2004), viewed by more young adults than any other music channel. In 2004, MTV was named 'World's Most Valuable Media Brand' for the fifth consecutive year, ranking in the top 50 of The World's Most Valuable Brands overall (research by Interbrand in cooperation with BusinessWeek). MTV Networks Asia Pacific operates ten 24-hour programming services - MTV Australia, MTV China, MTV India, MTV Indonesia, MTV Japan, MTV Korea, MTV Mandarin, MTV Philippines, MTV Southeast Asia and MTV Thailand. Including programming blocks in various parts of Asia, MTV has a combined distribution of more than 180 million homes. MTV Networks International reaches more than 400 million households in 166 territories.
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