Pictures from the UK Asian Music Awards 2011

Click the image to check out the pictures

Stars shone on the blue carpet last night as the Brit-Asian music industry event of the year, the Lebara Mobile UK Asian Music Awards, celebrated its ninth year with a truly glittering and glamorous event at the Camden Roundhouse.  

Hosted by BBC Radio 1 and BBC Asian Network presenter Nihal, this year’s ceremony not only showcased the vast array of talent within the Asian music industry, with a range of fabulous live performances, but also showed the diversity and range that currently exists within the Asian music scene.  

Host Nihal comments: “Having been part of the UK AMA’s for many years now, I have seen the industry grow and become stronger and more powerful. The UK Asian music scene has progressed incredibly this year and the show plays an integral part in highlighting and celebrating good music and great talent.” From stunning arrivals from a host of A list stars, to electric performances, this gala ceremony certainly set the standard and flew the flag for British Asian musical achievements.

After months of anticipation and frantic voting by the public, last night the Camden Roundhouse saw 17 national and international artists take to the stage and receive their much-deserved awards… 

Two big winners on the night were Jay Sean and PBN, who shared the spotlight by each taking home two coveted awards: Jay Sean, who made a special appearance on the night, walked away with the ‘Best Video’ award for his hit single ‘2012’ featuring Nicki Minaj as well as the Lebara Mobile ‘Best Male Award’. Jay was presented the huge and most desired accolade by friend and ‘Every Little Part of Me’ singer, Alesha Dixon.  PBN (Panjabi by Nature), did the West Midlands proud by winning the BBC Asian Network’s and The Official Charts Company inaugural ‘Best Selling British Single’ award for ‘Kaun Nee Jaandah’, along with the hugely successful album ‘Crowd Pleaser’ being selected for the ‘Best Album’ award. 

Girl power was in certainly in full force at this year’s Lebara Mobile UK Asian Music Awards, with three of the industry’s rising stars receiving praise for their outstanding achievements:  Glamorous pop princess and ex-Eastenders star, Preeya Kalidas, not only took home the ‘Best Female’ award, but also dazzled audiences with her performance of Urban club banger ‘Cross My Heart’ with grime MC Skepta. She also ‘shimmied’ on stage with H Dhami wowing the audience with their recent collaboration.  

Also on the winners’ list this year was the surprise sensation of 2010, Rumer, who received acknowledgement of her amazing rise to fame with the AMA for ‘Best Alternative Act’. Described as having a ‘voice like chocolate’, and receiving huge acclaim from music critics and fans alike, she mesmerised audiences with a beautiful performance of her new single ‘Thankful’ which was released yesterday. 

Crossing continents, Punjabi queen, Miss Pooja has truly captured the hearts of fans in the UK, with her massive Bhangra collaborations, resulting in her being voted the ‘Best International Act’.  From the Punjab to the US, the voting public showed that their love for music has no geographical borders, as chart-topping artist, DJ Sanj walked away with ‘Best International Album’ for the Punjabi dance floor smash ‘American Desi’.  As well as a list of outstanding winners, this year’s Lebara Mobile UK Asian Music Awards saw show-stopping performances from a wide variety of artists.  

Multi-award winning Danish group, Outlandish, joined the Lebara Mobile UK AMA’s 2011 straight from Denmark and showcased their amazing new tracks ‘Triumph’ and ‘Apun Ke Mafik’. Punjabi vocalist Nindy Kaur entertained the crowd with a collaboration with the hugely talented singer, song-writer and producer, Parichay.  

Continuing the evening’s breath-taking performances, 2point9’s latest signing Jernade Miah showed off his moves performing his debut track ‘Switch Me On’ and Sukshinder Shinda and Labh Janjua added some Desi flavour to the stage.   

Adding to the diversity of the Asian music scene, Mumzy took to the stage with a UK Urban collective. With ‘Love Drunk’ vocalist Loick Essien, East London based MC, Griminal, Brazilian born English rapper, Aggros Santos and British RnB singer-songwriter, Junior in tow, Mumzy and Co. delivered a ground-breaking performance.  

The evening started and ended with the legendary reggae artist, Apache Indian who kicked off the night with a medley featuring three of his greatest tracks ‘Movie Over India’, ‘Arranged Marriage’ and ‘Boom-Shack-A-Lack’ proving that old is truly gold. Apache Indian broke the mould over 20 years ago as the first Asian artist to break the mainstream charts. Last night saw Apache receive credit and homage for his truly inspiring and amazing career as he received the ‘B4U Award for Lifetime Achievement’.  

The Lebara Mobile UK Asian Music Awards were launched to recognise, honour and celebrate the immense talent that exists within the UK Asian music scene. This show has discovered some of the most successful artists who have made an impact in the industry. 

Lebara Group CEO and Founder, Ratheesan Yoganathan commented: “Lebara Mobile has been the title sponsor for the UK AMAs for the past two years and even in such a short space of  time we have seen the industry grow for the better. New talent has emerged and been nurtured by established names within the Asian music industry, which is something we strongly support and believe in. The diversity of the musical talent is refreshing and shows that music really does cross geographical and cultural boundaries.

Seeing European, American and Asian artists all on one stage proves that music is at the heart of every community and continues to flourish.” The glittering array of stars that graced the blue carpet in Camden last night was true testament to the increasing popularity of Asian inspired music. Amongst the stars that joined the industry’s best were pop diva Alesha Dixon, Siva from boy band The Wanted, the original boy band Damage, sultry Mistresses actress Shelley Conn, Spooks star Shahzad Latif,  stars of Anuvahood Adam Deacon, Portia Freno, footballers Florent Malouda amongst a host of others.  

CEO and Co-Founder of the UK AMA’s, Abs Shaid adds: “This year the show has really set the standard for many more shows to come. We have received a great deal of support from all the sponsors and the media who believe in the UK AMA’s and want it to gain the recognition it deserves. The calibre of performers, winners and celebrities who attended the show this year has been phenomenal and as the show goes into its tenth year we hope it continues to go from strength to strength…bring on 2012!” 

Full list of winners are below:

• Lebara Mobile Best Male Award:                                Jay Sean
• Asian Woman Magazine Best Female Award:            Preeya Kalidas
• RWS Best Desi Act:                                                       Jaz Dhami
• State Bank of India  Best Video Award:                       Jay Sean – 2012
• Ask Sharmila Best Album Award:                                Punjabi By Nature
• Jaguar Cars Best Urban Act:                                       Mumzy
• Pride of Asia Best Alternative Act:                               Rumer
• Anaya London Best Club DJ:                                      DJ Kayper
• UK AMAs Best Radio Show:                                          Bobby Friction
• Media Moguls Best Newcomer:                                   Jernade
• Shaadi.com Best International Act:                             Miss Pooja
• Tilda Rice Best International Album:                            DJ Sanj
• YSLV Best Producer Award:                                          Sukhshinder Shinda
• BBC Asian Network Best Selling British Single:             Artist: Panjabi By Nature

Track: Kaun Nee Jaandah

• B4U Music Lifetime Achievement Award:                     Apache Indian
• UK Asian Music Awards Commitment to the Scene     Cornershop