Channel V, China Central Television (CCTV) and Shanghai Media Group are going to announce the 10th Chinese Music Awards early next month in Shanghai.

The awards will be bestowed according to public sentiment -- with the first round of voting starting on December 1. The second round will run from December 22 to January 7.

Pop music fans from both home and abroad are able to vote for their favorite entertainers at www.cma.sohu.com, vchinese.com and cctv.com, or by using their mobile phones via SMS. And 10 lucky voters will be drawn at random for free tickets to the big night.

Before the final ceremony in Shanghai, the singers nominated will also promote themselves at university gigs in Beijing, Guangzhou and Shanghai.

The 15 gongs up for grabs include Best Band, Best Newcomer, Best Female Singer, Best Male Singer, Best Hit Single and Best Music Video.

Li Dai, general manager of Channel V China, said the event's slogan, "U and Me," indicates the channel's ambition to build a united nation of music, which can move beyond the boundaries of countries and the language barrier.

"As the leading music media in Asia, Channel V is always devoted to innovation to satisfy today's pop music fans' demanding and fast-changing taste," said Li.

Yin Li, deputy director of CCTV's Overseas Program Department, said: "Pop music is an important part of Chinese culture. As one of the organizers, CCTV is more than happy to contribute to making the event the most influential pop awards ceremony in the country."

Acclaimed as China's answer to the Grammys, Channel V held its first Chinese Music Awards in 1994.

Its goal is to promote original Chinese pop music throughout the world, improve the level of local song writers, producers and singers and also discover new pop sensations.

(China Daily December 10, 2003)