Mana, Camila, Belinda, and Avril Lavigne Top the Winners' List at 'Los Premios MTV Latin America 2007' With Two 'Tongues' Each

MEXICO CITY, Oct. 19 /PRNewswire/ -- "Los Premios MTV Latin America 2007" returned to Mexico City bigger and better than ever at El Palacio de Los Deportes on Thursday, October 18. Hosted by acclaimed Mexican actor Diego Luna, the sixth annual awards show was jam-packed with more music and more celebrities than ever before. In a spectacular night celebrating the best of music, Mana, Camila, Belinda, and Avril Lavigne topped the award winners list with two "Tongue" awards each. Mana took home the awards for "Best Group or Duo" and "Artist of the Year"; Camila reeled in "Best New Artist North" and "Revelation Artist"; Belinda scored "Best Solo Artist" and "Video of the Year" for her music video "Bella Traicion"; and Avril Lavigne clinched the awards for "Best International Pop Artist" and "Song of the Year" for her hit song "Girlfriend." The winners of "Los Premios MTV Latin America 2007" were selected by a record 12 million voters -- up 240% from last year -- who voted online at MTVla.com and via text messaging on their cell phones.

Other artists celebrating in the award fest included Julieta Venegas who nabbed "Best Pop Artist." Babasonicos won the "Tongue" for "Best Rock Artist" while "Best International Rock Artist" went to Evanescence. Winning the award for "Best Alternative Artist" was Panda. Fergie grabbed a "Tongue" for "Best New International Artist." La Mala hauled in "Promising Artist" and No Lo Soporto landed the award for "Best Independent Artist." In addition, this year's show rolled out three new categories: "Influencia Award," "Best Urban Artist Award," and the "Fashionista Award." With more than three decades making music, English alternative rock legends The Cure were presented with the inaugural "Influencia Award" for their influence and trajectory in the music industry. Daddy Yankee captured the "Best Urban Artist Award"; and viewers voted online for Pablo Concha from Kudai and Paulina Rubio for the best dressed male and female celebrity on the "Los Premios" red carpet.

In addition, MTV Tr3s viewers casted their votes for the "MTV Tr3s Viewers' Choice Awards" at lospremios.MTVTr3s.com, by phone, and via text messaging. Aventura captured "MTV Tr3s Best Pop Artist"; Wisin & Yandel won for "MTV Tr3s Best Urban Artist"; and Kat De Luna brought home the "Tongue" for "MTV Tr3s Best New Artist."

Also, in a "Los Premios" first, MTV presented Juanes with the honorable "Agentes de Cambio Award" for his remarkable contributions towards peace in Colombia, early childhood education, and the rehabilitation of landmine victims. In turn, Juanes presented an "Agentes de Cambio Award" to Bolivian viewer and "Youth Agent of Change" Ivette Mercado who accepted the award on behalf of the 7,000 "Agentes de Cambio" stories that were submitted to MTV Latin America's youth-driven open invitation for young Latin Americans to share their stories about making a positive difference in their communities in areas such as the environment, education, and employment.

Aside from a night full of winners, the star-studded ceremony was filled with an incredible record line-up of memorable performances and jaw-dropping collaborations. The Cure opened the show with the fan-voted favorite song, "Friday I'm in Love" followed by a sizzling performance by rock superstar Juanes of his new hit single, "Me Enamora."

International chart topper Avril Lavigne took to the stage with an eclectic medley of favorites, "When You're Gone" and "Girlfriend." Keeping the energy up, the show continued with an explosive set by new artists Jesse & Joy, Kudai, and Division Minuscula. Mexican pop duo Jesse & Joy enchanted the audience with "Espacio Sideral"; Chilean pop group Kudai performed "Dejame Gritar"; and Mexican punk band Division Minuscula rocked the crowd with "Sognare."

Set amidst a backdrop of samurai masks and Japanese flags, international rock band 30 Seconds to Mars blew the roof off the house with an electrifying rendition of their song "From Yesterday" with special guest Ely Guerra. Belinda slowed things down with "Bella Traicion," while Plastilina Mosh joined international pop singer Hilary Duff on a unique dance mash up of Duff's single "With Love."

Argentine rock band Babasonicos shook the crowd with a moving performance of "El Colmo." The Cure hit the stage for an encore performance of "The End of The World," while Molotov turned up the notch with their entertaining performance of "Yofo". The night came to a climactic end when host Diego Luna was finally able to form his sought after tribute band, consisting of himself, Miranda!, Kudai, and Los Concorde, to honor Soda Stereo with their song, "De Musica Ligera." Soda Stereo presented the first award of the evening in a surprise appearance.

Throughout the night, Kinky, Dante and Toys' Sonidero Nacional kept the flow going, scoring the show with original music. In addition, eleven original, viewer-produced music tracks, hand-picked by renowned musician/producer DJ Toy Selectah for the "Pump Up the Volume" contest, were also featured during the live broadcast of the ceremony. Winners from the contest are listed at http://www.lospremiosmtvprensa.com/.

The star-studded show also included appearances by Soda Stereo, Luisana Lopilato, Dalma Maradona, Julieta Venegas, RBD, Paulina Rubio, Panda, Belanova, Airbag, Martha Higareda, Valeria Gastaldi, Jared Leto, Alex Lora, Beto Cuevas, Luis Roberto Guzman, Wilmer Valderrama, and Daddy Yankee.

"Los Premios MTV Latin America" reflects the music and attitude of youth in Latin America today, and the show brings together a variety of regional Latin American pop and rock artists and international acts -- making it a truly unique music experience. In Latin America, "Los Premios" aired live via pay TV on MTV Latin America and broadcast television via syndication and MTV Brazil. The show was also beamed across four giant public screens throughout Mexico City and was streamed live online at http://www.mtvrevolution.com/. MTV Tr3s in the U.S. also aired the show live, and will air pre-show, show and post- show highlights on its 32 radio stations the next morning. In addition, it will be seen on MTV channels in the U.S. (MTV2), European (Emerging Markets), Baltics, Denmark, Finland, France, Italy, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Spain and Turkey, bringing the show's total reach to 270 million households worldwide.

Following is a complete list of "Los Premios MTV Latin America 2007" winners.

BEST GROUP OR DUO Mana Warner BEST POP ARTIST Julieta Venegas SonyBMG BEST ROCK ARTIST Babasonicos Universal BEST URBAN ARTIST Daddy Yankee Universal BEST ALTERNATIVE ARTIST Panda Movic Records/Warner BEST SOLO ARTIST Belinda EMI/Televisa BEST ARTIST NORTH Division Minuscula Universal BEST NEW ARTIST NORTH Camila SonyBMG BEST ARTIST CENTRAL Kudai EMI BEST NEW ARTIST CENTRAL Six Pack Feria/La Oreja BEST ARTIST SOUTH Airbag Warner BEST NEW ARTIST SOUTH Inmigrantes SonyBMG BEST INTERNATIONAL POP ARTIST Avril Lavigne SonyBMG BEST INTERNATIONAL ROCK ARTIST Evanescence SonyBMG BEST NEW INTERNATIONAL ARTIST Fergie Universal REVELATION ARTIST Camila SonyBMG PROMISING ARTIST La Mala Universal FASHIONISTO AWARD Pablo Concha (Kudai) EMI FASHIONISTA AWARD Paulina Rubio Universal INFLUENCIA AWARD The Cure Universal AGENTES DE CAMBIO AWARD Juanes Universal BEST INDEPENDENT ARTIST No Lo Soporto Indie/PopArt SONG OF THE YEAR Avril Lavigne - SonyBMG "Girlfriend" VIDEO OF THE YEAR Belinda - "Bella EMI/Televisa Traicion" ARTIST OF THE YEAR Mana Warner MTV TR3S BEST POP ARTIST Aventura Premium Latin MTV TRES BEST URBAN ARTIST Wisin & Yandel Machete MTV TRES BEST NEW ARTIST Kat De Luna Epic

In line with MTV Switch, MTV Networks International's new global campaign aimed at building environmental consciousness, MTV Latin America implemented some environmental-friendly efforts to offset some of the greenhouse gas emissions generated from the production. MTV Latin America purchased renewable energy, through Green Tags, from the non-profit organization Bonneville Environmental Foundation. In addition, the main stage of "Los Premios MTV Latin America" was made out of re-used items such as satellite dishes and irrigation pipes; décor for the "Los Premios" red carpet included recycled music turntable stands to showcase the coveted "Tongue" awards; the after party used recyclable plastic containers to create backlighted environmental pieces; and heavy recycling efforts were implemented backstage and front of house.

Jose Tillan, Senior Vice President of Creative, Content and Music for MTV/VH1 Latin America, served as Executive Producer of "Los Premios MTV Latin America 2007" and Audrey Morrissey, a veteran of many MTV productions and award shows, including "Alexandro Sanz MTV Unplugged," "La Ley MTV Unplugged" and four previous "Los Premios MTV," produced the show.

Leading brands Coca-Cola, DHL, Movistar, Converse, Modelo Light, Diageo, Smirnoff, and Yahoo! served as official sponsors of "Los Premios MTV Latin America 2007." The "MTV Tr3s Viewer Choice Awards" were presented by Pepsi in association with T-Mobile and were also sponsored by JC Penney.

MTV has a long history of creating exciting music events with 22 locally produced award shows annually around the world, including the MTV Europe Music Awards, MTV India Excellence Awards, MTV Russia Music Awards, Australian MTV Video Music Awards, MTV Asia Awards, MTV Video Music Awards Japan, and MTV Video Music Awards (U.S.).

MTV Networks Latin America, Inc., a unit of Viacom Inc. , owns and operates MTV Latin America, Nickelodeon Latin America, VH1 Latin America, Viacom Networks Brazil and the MTV Networks Digital Suite, a package of three digital services -- MTV Jams, MTV Hits, and VH1 Soul. Customized versions of the brands in Spanish and Portuguese can be seen throughout Latin America in more than 20 countries. MTV Networks Latin America also connects with its audiences interactively through its websites: http://www.mtvla.com/, http://www.mundonick.com/ and http://www.vh1la.com/, as well as through its broadband and community sites: http://www.mtvrevolution.com/, http://www.mundonick.com/nickturbo and http://www.lazona.com/.

MTV Tr3's is the most-widely distributed TV network dedicated to superserving today's bicultural Latino youth. MTV Tr3's' programming is rooted in the fusion of American and Latino music, cultures, lifestyles and languages. Music programming is at the core of MTV Tr3's and the channel features hitmakers, emerging artists and new sounds that resonate with young U.S. Latinos. In addition to music programming, MTV Tr3's programming slate also features lifestyle series, news, documentaries and other long-form programs that celebrate US Latino hybrid identity and culture.