MUMBAI: Mikanos, in downtown Mumbai, rocked real hard last night. MTV had its nominees voting party at the popular hangout, to build up excitement over the 2004 MTV Asia Awards. Hard bodies, piercings and tattoos in unusual places were spotted all over the place.

The event will air on the channel on 28 January. Red FM was the radio partner for the event.

Since the awards will take place on 14 February 2004 AKA Valentine's Day in Singapore, the party theme was love. There were performances from three of the Indian nominees - Falguni Pathak, Rekha Bhardwaj and Vaishali Samant. VJs Nikhil and Sophiya got the crowd into the groove, with interactivity that included contests. And this is exactly where the well toned physiques came into play.

Fans and viewers can pledge their undying love for their favourite artistes through the company site or through SMS or even email. The broadcaster is also running a contest which closes on 14 January. Viewers can pick up an awards postcard and tick off their favourite artistes. The prizes include tickets to Singapore to watch the show and goodies from the sponsors Toyota and Hewlett Packard.

These days no party seems to be complete without DJ music booming in ones ears. There was plenty of that at the party, courtesy DJ Maneesh who kept the crowd
dancing and hopping till the wee hours of morning.

In addition to party in India, the upcoming awards were also celebrated in China, Phillipines, Taiwan, Indonesia, Korea and Malaysia. In addition to the three performers, who showcased their talents, other Indian nominees are Abhijeet and Shweta Shetty. Last night the Singapore
Tourism Board also had a stall with brochures touting
the delights of the region.