Amy Winehouse Confirmed for Rare U.S. Performance as Headliner of the 2007 'mtvU Woodie Awards'

Amy Winehouse Confirmed for Rare U.S. Performance as Headliner of the 2007 'mtvU Woodie Awards'

College Favorites The Academy Is...and Spank Rock Will Also Hit 'Woodies' Stage November 8th at Roseland Ballroom in NYC

NEW YORK, Oct. 11 /PRNewswire/ -- Building on a tradition that's placed college students front and center for unforgettable live performances from Beck, Death Cab for Cutie, Gym Class Heroes, TV on the Radio, Saul Williams and many others, today mtvU, MTV's 24-hour college network, confirmed that Amy Winehouse, The Academy Is... and Spank Rock are all set to perform at the 2007 "mtvU Woodie Awards." The only awards to honor the music voted best by the college audience, the 2007 "mtvU Woodies" will take place November 8th at Roseland Ballroom in New York City and premiere simultaneously on mtvU and mtvU.com November 15th at 8pm ET. An encore performance will follow on MTV2 November 18th at 12:30am ET and MTV will also showcase highlights from show.

In February of this year, Amy Winehouse was named to mtvU's "Freshmen Five," a semi-annual list of emerging acts poised to ride college student support to mainstream notoriety, and a few months later she did just that -- quickly becoming one of the biggest names in contemporary music. The acclaimed North London songstress will treat students to a rare U.S. performance at the "Woodies," one of only two scheduled for the remainder of 2007. Also on hand to shake things up will be student favorites The Academy Is..., backed by mtvU since the release of their debut album, Almost Here. Since then the band has rocked mtvU's "Campus Invasion Music Festival '07," "Spring Break" and registered some of the most highly streamed video premieres in the history of mtvU.com. In addition, The Academy Is... is currently headlining a nearly 60 stop fall tour presented by mtvU and also featuring Armor For Sleep, The Rocket Summer and Sherwood. Philadelphia-bred hip hop group Spank Rock are getting noticed with their breakout first single "Rick Ruben," off of their experimental debut album YoYoYoYoYo, and with strong student demand, have found themselves in heavy rotation on mtvU. The group's new release Bangers & Cash EP, released on Downtown Records, hit stores on October 9th.

Top nominees for the 2007 "mtvU Woodie Awards" include The Shins -- with nominations in the "Woodie of the Year," "Alumni Woodie," and "Viral Woodie" categories -- followed by Modest Mouse, Gym Class Heroes, Lily Allen, Justice, Linkin Park and The Academy Is..., with two nods each. Other prominent nominees include headliner Amy Winehouse, Arcade Fire, Lil' Wayne, Bright Eyes, The Knife, Common, Klaxons, M.I.A., Spoon, CSS, The Rapture, TV on the Radio, Thom Yorke and Paramore. Nearly fifty emerging and influential artists are nominated for the fourth annual "mtvU Woodies." Additional "Woodies" performers and presenters will be announced in the coming weeks.

Powered by college students from across the country, the fourth annual "mtvU Woodie Awards" will feature students in front of the camera and behind the scenes, as they present, introduce and honor their favorite music and artists. College students have helped establish the "mtvU Woodies" as a crystal ball for the music about to break big, helping their favorite artists "graduate" to MTV2, MTV and wider success -- including record sales, sold out tours and accolades at other award shows. Some of the most notable success stories from the past few years include Fall Out Boy, the Killers, Death Cab for Cutie and the Plain White T's, all of which saw their careers skyrocket after the "Woodies."

For more on "Woodie"-related programming, ways to win a trip to this year's show, exclusive interviews with nominated artists and music videos from all of this year's nominees, please visit mtvU.com. A full line-up of performers, presenters and more will be announced in the coming weeks.

The fourth-annual "mtvU Woodie Awards" is sponsored by Citi, Ford College Student Purchase Program, Garnier Fructis and T-Mobile.

About mtvU

Broadcast to more than 750 colleges across the country, with a combined enrollment of nearly 7.5 million, mtvU is the largest, most comprehensive television network just for college students. Twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, mtvU can be seen in the dining areas, fitness centers, student lounges and dorm rooms of campuses throughout the U.S. mtvU is dedicated to every aspect of college life, reaching students everywhere they are, through a three pronged approach - on-air, online and on campus. mtvU focuses on content including music videos from emerging artists which can't be seen anywhere else, news, student life features, events and pro-social initiatives. mtvU is always on campus, with more than 500 events per year, including exclusive concerts, giveaways, shooting mtvU series and more. For more information about mtvU, and for a complete programming schedule, visit www.mtvU.com.

In September 2005, mtvU became the first MTV Networks channel to also be distributed in its entirety online. The network is simulcast and available on demand at mtvU.com 24/7, featuring all of network's on-air content plus exclusive new music, original series and student-produced programming for college students and music fans everywhere.

mtvU also owns and operates the College Media Network, the largest interactive network of online college newspapers in the US, and RateMyProfessors.com, the Internet's largest listing of collegiate professor ratings. The College Media Network comprises 514 campus publications that serve institutions including Brown University, the University of Illinois, the University of Southern California, the University of Texas at Austin and Duke University, with a combined enrollment of over 5.5 million students, reaching an average of 5 million unique users each month. RateMyProfessors.com reaches approximately 1.5 million college students each month, via the site's more than 6.6 million student-generated ratings of over 1,000,000 college professors.

MTV Networks, a unit of Viacom (NYSE:VIA) (NYSE:VIA.B) , is one of the world's leading creators of programming and content across all media platforms. MTV Networks, with more than 130 channels worldwide, owns and operates the following television programming services -- MTV: MUSIC TELEVISION, MTV2, VH1, mtvU, NICKELODEON, NICK at NITE, COMEDY CENTRAL, TV LAND, SPIKE TV, CMT, NOGGIN, VH1 CLASSIC, LOGO, MTVN INTERNATIONAL and THE DIGITAL SUITE FROM MTV NETWORKS, a package of 13 digital services, all of which are trademarks of MTV Networks. MTV Networks connects with its audiences through its robust consumer products businesses and its more than 200 interactive properties worldwide, including online, broadband, wireless and interactive television services. The network also has licensing agreements, joint ventures, and syndication deals whereby all of its programming services can be seen worldwide.

First Call Analyst:
FCMN Contact:

Source: mtvU

CONTACT: Jason Rzepka of mtvU, +1-212-654-7198,
jason.rzepka@mtvstaff.com; or Melissa Barreto of MTV-MTV2-mtvU,
+1-212-846-7226, melissa.barreto@mtvstaff.com

Web site: http://www.mtv.com/

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Profile: International Entertainment