May 19, 2006

MTV Centrestage Launches With Coldplay Live In Singapore

By News Desk

The inaugural MTV Centrestage Singapore, a celebration of live music, is set to rock the nation on July 10 at the Singapore Indoor Stadium with music icons Coldplay. Staged by Live Nation and MTV Centrestage, Coldplay Twisted Logic Tour 2006 will be presented by Nokia Nseries and supported by Singapore Tourism Board. Coldplay, one of the most awarded bands in the world with four Grammies, four Brit Awards, nine MTV Awards and countless others under their belt, will be performing at this one-night only concert, the only Southeast Asia stop on their 2006 tour.

The vanguard of new wave British rock, Coldplay -- Guy Berryman (bass), Jonny Buckland (lead guitar), Will Champion (drums), and Chris Martin (vocals, guitar, keyboards) -- stands as one of the biggest bands in the world. Formed in London in 1998, the band signed to Parlophone the following year. Coldplay's first two albums, Parachutes (2000) and A Rush Of Blood To The Head (2002), have sold over 16 million copies worldwide. X&Y, their most recent album released last year, was recorded in the U.K. and was produced by Danton Supple (Morrissey, Elbow), Ken Nelson (Badly Drawn Boy, Kings Of Convenience) and the band.

"At MTV, we always believe in creating exciting content and showcases for our audience and MTV Centrestage, a celebration of live music, is a testament to that commitment," said Mishal Varma, Senior Vice-President of Programming and Talent Artist Relations, MTV Networks International Creative (Asia-Pac). "Together with Live Nation, we are very excited to bring Coldplay to Singapore and give their fans access to this one-night only concert."

Said Oliver Chong, Director, Cluster Development (Events & Entertainment), Singapore Tourism Board, "Singapore has always been a must-stop destination for many of the world's best acts in the performing arts and music scene. Coldplay is certainly internationally acclaimed and enjoys a vast following worldwide as well as in the region. We look forward to receiving the band as well as many of their fans whom we hope will descend on Singapore to lend their support this July."

"Since the initial announcement of the four-year MTV Networks Asia-STB strategic alliance in February this year, there has been much media and public anticipation of the series of 17 events slated for Singapore between 2006 and 2009. Hence, we are very pleased to welcome the annual MTV Centrestage to its permanent home here in Singapore. MTV's top-rate events will enhance Singapore's position as a vibrant lifestyle destination that offers world-class entertainment and an exciting schedule of international events, thereby boosting our efforts to become the Entertainment Capital of Asia," continued Mr Chong.

Nokia lends its support to MTV Centrestage as the Presenting Sponsor in Singapore, having previously collaborated with MTV and STB for MTV Fashionably Loud in March this year. "Nokia delights in bringing people together through music -- it is a natural extension to our vision of Connecting People," said Chris Carr, General Manager of Nokia Singapore. "Nokia has blazed a trail for music on mobiles - from personalized ringing tones to integrated FM radios and MP3 support. We are particularly excited about the newly launched full-featured, music-optimized Nokia N91 mobile jukebox, which features 4GB of music storage."

"As the world's largest manufacturer of digital music players, Nokia is leading the charge to make mobile music widely accessible to consumers worldwide," Carr added.

Tickets for this showcase are on sale at all SISTIC outlets from 19 May 2006. Ticket prices are at SGD$168, SGD$148, SGD$118 and SGD$68. For more information on ticket sales, please visit www.sistic.com.sg .

As part of the lead up to the July 10th concert, MTV channels throughout Asia will offer their viewers unique opportunities to experience MTV Centrestage including: