MUMBAI: MTV Asia's second awards ceremony will be held on 24 January 2003 in Singapore. The channel has announced that Backstreet Boys' Nick Carter who has released his first solo album Now or Never is the first international artiste confirmed to perform at the event.

The region wide promotion campaign kicks off this month with the 360 degree marketing approach. This will involve on air and off air elements as well as on ground events. The awards will be seen by a live audience of over 7000 people and will be broadcast to over 150 million people across the globe.

In all, 19 trophies are to be handed out. The inaugral ceremony this year had seen a whopping 17.8 million votes being cast online. The Backstreet Boys' video The Call won favourite video last time around. Panasonic has returned as the regional sponsor. Toyota Motor Corporation has joined the electronic manafacturer as the official sponsor. SMART Communications returns as partner sponsor in the Phillipines.