EME awards goes live online

Richard 'Richie B' Burgess, chairman and founder of the Excellence in Music and Entertainment (EME) Awards, and CEO of Jamaicansmusic.com, Alex Morrissey, recently announced that the glitzy red-carpet awards ceremony will be streamed live to Jamaicansmusic.com.

Slated to take place on March 12, patrons can purchase pay-per-view tickets for US$9.99 ($850.64) on www.jamaicansmusic.com.

Widely hailed for its glitz and glamour, the EME Awards are known for celebrating and honouring the most outstanding talent within the Jamaican entertainment industry as well as recognising international figures that have made contributions to Jamaica's music industry.

In commenting on the collaboration, Morrissey noted that the site is thrilled to give patrons live feeds from one of the island's premier red-carpet entertainment events.

He noted that Jamaicansmusic.com is a strong Jamaican music brand and it will continue to highlight and celebrate the myriad talent in the Jamaican music industry.

"Today is a very special day for us because once again we are able to deliver the best entertainment content to the world. The EME has a deep sense of energy and creativity that is parallel to none - that energy and creativity represents what we are about," said Morrissey.

Users who sign up for the live stream will get the opportunity to interact with the artistes, who will take questions directly from online patrons. Each user who signs up online for the live stream will get a unique username and password to view the award proceedings, beginning at 6:30 p.m. on March 12. Online viewers will see everything from the red carpet to live performances and winner announcements from the main stage.

30 Jamaican acts to be honoured

It was also announced earlier that the show will honour American rappers Eve and Trina for collaborating with Jamaican artistes such as Lady Saw, Sean Paul, Sean Kingston and Barbee.

In addition, over 30 Jamaican top acts will be honoured during this year's awards, with top acts vying for awards such as DJ of the Year, Best New Artiste, Vocalist of the Year, Producer of the Year and the new category Artiste of the Decade (2001-2010).

A powerful contingent of reggae and dancehall acts will also perform, including Jah Cure, Lady Saw, Bounty Killer, Etana, Elephant Man, Wayne Wonder, Tifa, Andrew Tosh, No-Maddz among others.