9th August 2003
Thursday 25th September 2003
ROYAL ALBERT HALL
Since its inception just 8 years ago, The MasterCard MOBO Awards have seen phenomenal growth and have firmly become not just the coolest music date of the year, but also the biggest urban music awards ceremony in Europe. The 2002 event was broadcast across the world in regions including Africa and Asia and watched in excess of over 200 million viewers.
CEO and Executive Producer of MOBO Kanya King MBE, unveiled exciting plans for the 2003 event while confirming the date for the ceremony as:
THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 25th, 2003
This year will see MOBO return back by popular demand to the glorious Royal Albert Hall where the likes of P.Diddy, Tina Turner, BB King, Lionel Richie and Destiny‘s Child took to the MOBO stage back in 1998 and 1999.
Heather Walker (Deputy Chief Executive and Director of Programming, RAH) commented: "The Royal Albert Hall are very happy and proud to be hosting the Awards again. The MOBO Awards reflect our ongoing support and promotion of all genres of artistic excellence to all audiences.‘"
Channel 4 has again proved successful in securing the exclusive broadcast rights for the UK transmission of Europe‘s most credible awards, having signed a new deal with MOBO‘s television production arm, BOOMCAST. Commissioned by Jo Wallace - Head of Entertainment, T4 and Youth, the awards will be broadcast on flagship youth and music strand T4 in September. As part of its promotional plans, Channel 4 have committed to a huge build to the big night which will include marking the month of September as ‘MOBO Month‘ on T4 which attracts in excess of 2 million music fans every Sunday.
Jo Wallace said: "I‘m delighted to be involved with this year‘s MOBO‘s and feel T4 is its natural home. We hope T4 will broaden the awards appeal whilst not disappointing its core audience."
This year also sees MasterCard retain its position as title sponsor of the awards for a fourth consecutive year. Rita Broe, VP Head of Marketing, MasterCard Europe commented:
"The MasterCard MOBO Awards have gone from strength to strength over the three years of our sponsorship. The event is a cornerstone of our music programme, which helps us to deliver ‘priceless‘ experiences to our cardholders. Now firmly established as one of the highlights of the British music calendar, we are delighted to announce our involvement for the fourth consecutive year. Once again this year we expect MOBO to help position MasterCard as the best way to pay for music"
The glittering show will be broadcast that weekend on SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 28th, on T4/Channel 4. Additional broadcast slots to be announced. Official netcast partner AOL will webcast the event worldwide live from the Royal Albert Hall.
A full list of nominations will be announced at the official Nomination Launch Party in London on Monday 1st September 2003
Tickets will be on sale from Monday 21st July from tickets@mobo.com
The full list of categories for The MasterCard MOBO Awards 2003 are as follows:
BEST R&B ACT
BEST HIP HOP ACT
BEST VIDEO
BEST JAZZ ACT
BEST REGGAE ACT
BEST PRODUCER
BEST GOSPEL NEWCOMER
BEST WORLD MUSIC ACT
BEST UK GARAGE ACT
BEST SINGLE
BEST UK RADIO DJ
BEST UK CLUB DJ
MASTERCARD BEST ALBUM
BEST NEWCOMER
UK ACT OF THE YEAR
UNSUNG ACT AWARD
MOBO OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
MOBO LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
Celebrity Award presenters will be secured by Upfront Television Ltd, London. Click here for more information on Upfront‘s services.
David Jensen Photography:
https://www.davidjensen.co.uk/
