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It will mark 1 December, World Aids Day, with a day long MTV Music Summit for AIDS at the SNDT college campus in Mumbai.
There‘s a reason for the summit, says MTV India managing director Alex Kuruvilla. A recent study has indicated that 50 per cent of those newly infected with the deadly HIV/AIDS virus are youth.
The day long concert, first of its kind in India, will have live performances from 19 leading artistes including Shubha Mudgal, Colonial Cousins, Euphoria and many others from the Indian music scene. The concert kicks off at noon on the SNDT campus.
At a press meet held to announce the summit, Kuruvilla said that the concert aims at bringing young people together on a campaign against HIV and the AIDS virus. "The idea of the campaign is to communicate the serious message to youth in an entertaining and catchy manner and not in a preachy and holier-than-thou manner," he added.
The channel is pulling all marketing strings to push the ‘concert with a message‘, which he says, fell in place within six weeks. MTV has already lined up an interesting on-air promo throughout out the day. An approximate 15 promos are being aired currently, but will be joined shortly by fresh promos as the campaign hots up.
The MTV logo has already donned the red ribbon signifying the fight against the virus, while the channel VJs will gradually take the issue up in the course of their programmes. They will talk to viewers across the country about the facts and myths associated with the virus.
Although the live concert will be aired only on a later date, the channel has lined up an exclusive premiere Staying Alive 3 hosted by rap and hip-hip music artiste, Sean ‘P Daddy‘ Combs. It has also lined up Staying Alive - Music To Live For, a 90-minute show featuring Moby, Destiny Child and teen heartthrob Britney Spears. Both these programmes are dedicated to the cause of HIV/AIDS.
