THE LARGEST televised music show in the world will descend on Lisbon next November. The 12th annual MTV (Music Television) Awards will be held at the Pavilão Atlantico on November 2, with giants of the music world present to hand out the gongs.
This year’s event in Rome saw 150,000 people celebrate the awards in Rome’s main square and Portuguese hip-hop band, Da Weasel, awarded the gong for Best Portuguese Act.
Lisbon has proved itself very capable of hosting major world cultural and sporting events in recent years, such as the 1998 World Expo, the Rock-in-Rio Lisboa festival last May, and the 2004 Euro Football Championships. The city has also proved a major concert draw, with megastars such as Madonna, Bryan Adams, Jamiroquai, Anastacia, Dido and Lenny Kravitz all performing recently. The acoustic conditions offered by the Pavilão Atlantico and the state-of-the-art sound and lighting technology available in the 16,000-seater auditorium make it the perfect venue for the awards.
Portugal is also considered to have one of the best live music cultures anywhere in Europe with major ‘V2-style’ open-air music festivals throughout the summer drawing young revellers from around Europe.
Brent Hansen, CEO of MTV, said: “organising the MTV Europe Music Awards in Lisbon has been on our minds for some time and now we’re turning our plan into a reality. The historical richness of the city and its architecture coupled with its cosmopolitan spirit and rich musical diversity make it an ideal location to hold these awards.”
AntonioCampo Dall’Orto, network director of MTV Europe South agreed, saying: “Ever since we launched MTV Portugal in 2003, we’ve seen the success of the channel grow in the country and today it is the most popular music TV channel in Portugal. We also had an important international music event called the Isle of MTV in Portugal in 2002 which was a great success.”
Many believe that Lisbon has won its right to stage the event because of the success of MTV Portugal, which has one million daily viewers and Portugal’s ability to safely organise large-scale world-class events.
Lisbon Câmara President, Dr. Carmona Rodrigues, added that Lisbon has once again demonstrated its privileged position as the city of choice to host large international events. “The MTV Music Awards is, without doubt, going to be the cultural, musical and artistic event of the year for Lisbon and will further project the city’s image on the international stage and draw in tourists vital for the local economy,” he commented. “Lisbon is considered one of the top European destinations for the German, Italian, Spanish and British under-30s who enjoy ‘clubbing’.”
The Portuguese Minister for Tourism, Dr. Telmo Correia, added, “It is a great honour for us that MTV have taken the decision to hold the awards in Lisbon. It is an important moment for us and Lisbon has shown that it is a traditional city with a long history, but it is also a young city and we know that the MTV audience is focused on 15-30 year-olds.”
The official announcement was followed by the first-ever live televised concert by MTV Portugal, with two Portuguese bands considered close to MTV Portugal – Da Weasel and Blasted Mechanism performing.
The MTV Europe Music Awards attracts an average 120 million viewers in Europe and one billion worldwide. In all, 12 million young people voted in 22 categories for their favourite artists in 2004.
