Molotov, Natalia Lafourcade And Juanes Sweep The Video Music Awards Latin America 2003

    MIAMI, Oct. 24 /PRNewswire/ -- Mexican artists Molotov and Natalia
 Lafourcade along with Colombia's Juanes triumphed at the second annual MTV
 Video Music Awards Latin America (VMALA), broadcast live on MTV Latin America,
 which celebrates its 10th anniversary this year, as well as on MTV2 in the
 United States. Molotov dominated the event, winning four awards, including
 "Video Of The Year" and "Best Group/Duo", while Natalia Lafourcade won three
 awards including "Best Solo Act". Juanes won for the second year in a row,
 taking two awards home, including "Artist Of The Year". Mexico's international
 movie star Diego Luna returned to host the event which featured a one man
 performance by controversial Argentinean Fernando Pena, as well as the event's
 signature duets and artistic collaborations that combined the most vibrant
 talent and sounds representing artists from across the region, in a glittering
 celebration of music and Latin youth culture.
     The VMALAs will air on MTV in the US on November 1 at 11 PM ET, and is
 being made available to MTV's global networks of channels in Europe and the
 Asia-Pacific, as well as in Canada and Brazil, to a potential viewing audience
 of over one billion households. It will also air on selected broadcasters
 throughout Latin America to 48 million homes in the region.
     The show kicked off with "Los Black Stripes" an unprecedented
 collaboration of Latin music royalty (Ricky Martin, Juanes, Charly Alberti --
 ex-Soda Stereo, Vicentico -- ex-Fabulosos Cadillacs, Alex Lora of El Tri,
 Plastilina Mosh, Andrea Echeverri of Aterciopelados, and Jorge Gonzalez from
 Los Prisioneros), performing a medley of tunes saluting 10 years of music that
 rocked Latin America and impacted youth culture across the region. Host Diego
 Luna made a star studded entrance, meeting TV star Erik Estrada, personality
 Daisy Fuentes, superstar Britney Spears, and soccer legend Maradona
 (masquerading as God!) en route to the stage, before being lowered into the
 house from the roof of the auditorium.
     The high-energy Spanish language ceremony was held at Miami's Jackie
 Gleason Theatre, and featured a diverse line-up of artists from across the
 region, Europe, and North America. In its second year, it is the premier pan-
 regional music event created especially for young Latin Americans. The show
 featured ground-breaking live performances and collaborations including La Ley
 mixing it up with Ely Guerra, Natalia Lafourcade with Control Machete, and
 Iggy Pop with Sum 41 closing the show with "Little Know It All" and "Lust For
 Life."
     Additional spectacular performances included Korn, premiering their single
 "Right Now" in their first-ever performance at an award show, Dido performing
 an acoustic version of her new track "White Flag," Alejandro Sanz performing
 his single "No Es Lo Mismo", Cafe Tacuba performing "Eres/Cero Y Uno", The
 Mars Volta performing "Drunkenship of Lanterns" and Gustavo Cerati singing
 "Artefacto."
     Argentinean Fernando Pena added a new dimension to the show with a
 controversial performance addressing a plethora of social issues that affect
 young Latin Americans including HIV/AIDS, drug use, hypocrisy, identity,
 disease, etc. MTV Latin America, which will shortly launch a comprehensive
 Public Affairs campaign, embraced the opportunity to provoke and empower
 viewers through the issues that Pena confronts.
     The winners of the MTV Video Music Awards Latin America 2003 are:
 
      Artist of the Year:                  Juanes
      Video of the Year:                   Molotov
      Best Solo Act:                       Natalia Lafourcade
      Best Group or Duo of the Year:       Molotov
      Best Pop Artist of the Year:         Natalia Lafourcade
      Best Rock Artist of the Year:        Juanes
      Best Alternative Act:                Molotov
      Best Rock Artist - International:    Coldplay
      Best New Artist - Argentina:         Vicentico
      Best Artist - Central:               Libido
      Best Pop Act - International:        Avril Lavigne
      Best New Artist - International:     Evanescence
      Best Artist - Mexico:                Molotov
      Best New Artist - Mexico:            Natalia Lafourcade
      Best Artist - Argentina:             Bersuit Vergarabat
      Best New Artist - Central:           TK
      Best Independent Act:                Hermanos Brothers
 
     In true MTV style, the VMALA's award is a tongue -- symbolizing the
 Spanish language that unites all Latin Americans throughout the region.
     Following its premiere on MTV Latin America and MTV2 in the US, the MTV
 VMALAs will be made available to MTV's 44 channels around the world and will
 be seen on select terrestrial outlets in Latin America.  The MTV airings will
 include MTV US on November 1. Terrestrial outlets carrying the event include
 Televisa's Canal 5 in Mexico, RCTV in Venezuela, Ecuavisa in Ecuador, Medcom
 in Panama, Artear in Argentina, REDPAT in Bolivia, Caracol in Colombia and
 Colmed in the Dominican Republic, making the show available to 48 million
 households throughout the region.
     Charlie Singer (SVP Programming/Production, MTVN Latin America) executive
 produced. Audrey Morrissey ("Alejandro Sanz MTV Unplugged," "La Ley MTV
 Unplugged," "Conexion MTV") served as producer; and Manny Rodriguez
 ("Alejandro Sanz MTV Unplugged," "La Ley MTV Unplugged") directed; Jose Tillan
 (VP Music and Artist Relations, MTVN Latin America) supervised the musical
 content of the show.
     Sponsors for the "MTV Video Music Awards Latin America 2003" include Coca-
 Cola, Visa International Latin America and Caribbean, Sony Ericsson Mobile
 Communications, McDonalds, Panasonic, Yop and Sol.
     The VMALAs 2003 acknowledges the support of the Miami-Dade County Tourist
 Development Council, the Miami-Dade County Department of Cultural Affairs, the
 Cultural Affairs Council, the Miami-Dade County Mayor, the Board of County
 Commissioners, and the Miami Beach Visitor and Convention Authority.
     MTV has a long history of creating exciting music events with 12 locally
 produced awards shows annually, around the world. Additional MTV award
 ceremonies include the MTV Japan Video Music Awards (Japan), MTV Asia Awards
 (Singapore), CCTV-MTV Mandarin Music Honors (China), MTV Mandarin Awards
 (Taiwan), MTV Philipinas (Philippines), MTV Penghargaan (Indonesia), MTV
 Europe Music Awards, Video Music Brasil Awards, MTV Movie Awards (US), MTV
 Video Music Awards (US) and the MTV India Music Excellence Awards premiering
 shortly.  Many award shows such as the MTV Video Music Awards and the MTV
 Movie Awards are customized for international audiences by MTV channels around
 the world, offering viewers a unique local perspective to a global event.
     MTV Latin America, a unit of MTV Networks Latin America, Inc., is a 24-
 hour Spanish-language cable television network that airs music programming to
 more than 13 million households in Spanish-speaking Latin America.  The
 network is delivered via satellite to cable, MMDS, UHF broadcast and direct-
 to-home viewers aged 12-34.  MTV Networks Latin America, Inc., a unit of
 Viacom International, owns and operates MTV Latin America and Nickelodeon
 Latin America, which have regional headquarters in Buenos Aires, Mexico City
 and Sao Paulo (for Nickelodeon only) and operating headquarters in Miami.
     MTV Networks International includes the premier multimedia entertainment
 brands MTV: Music Television, VH1, Nickelodeon, TMF (The Music Factory) and
 Game One seen in more than 380 million households in 166 countries and 18
 languages via 44 locally programmed and operated TV channels and 22 Web sites.
 The company's diverse holdings also include interests in television
 syndication, publishing, home video, radio, recorded music, licensing &
 merchandising and two feature film divisions, MTV Films and Nickelodeon
 Movies.  MTV Networks is a unit of Viacom International Inc.
 (NYSE:   VIA, VIA.B).
 
 

SOURCE  MTV Networks Latin America