For the second time, EuroTel, the
largest operator of mobile telephones in the EuroTel GSM Global and T!P networks, became
the general partner of the prestigious Popular Music Academy Awards project. The 1998
awards ceremony, which took place on Saturday March 6, 1999 in the Trade Fair Palace in
Prague, was linked to EuroTel's logo and products.
The gala evening was hosted by the genial chairman of the Council of the Popular Music
Academy, Michal Horáček. The tension and uncertainty of the nominated artists and the
audience lasted right up to the announcement of the winner, as voting by members of the
academy took place during the course of the evening. The academy, which consists of 174
voting representatives from the media, publishers, critics, artists themselves and other
personalities from the world of music, voted twice, first on the winners of the nine genre
awards on March 4 with the participation of musicians and journalists. Then, on March 6
during the gala evening in the impressive setting of the Trade Fair Palace, it voted on
seven across-the-board awards.
Like last year, the public could also watch the gala evening live on TV Nova. The awards
ceremony was also broadcast live on Czech Radio 1 for the first time ever.
The awards were generally handed over by famous names from the world of music. One award
was also presented by EuroTel's press spokesman, Iva Taťounová - this was the award for
the Best New Talent, which was overwhelmingly won by Sexy Dancers.
EuroTel used this occasion to help young people get off to a good start in life by
contributing CZK 1,000,000 towards completion of the "Halfway House" project.
Sexy Dancers were also happy to accept the offer of becoming a patron of this project.
In addition to the Popular Music Academy Award '98, the winners of all categories received
a practical prize from EuroTel in the form of a GO HIT set, which includes a Siemens C10
mobile phone.
The climax of the Czech pop music season was a display of the best of Czech popular music
and also an opportunity to meet stars from the international music world. During the
evening there were performances from the Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli (Canto de la Terra),
the eternally youthful signer and actress Cher with her hit "Believe" and the
legendary group R.E.M.
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"We are delighted that it is EuroTel that became the
general partner of such a prestigious Czech musical project, in which stars of the
international music world also featured. The Popular Music Academy awards ceremony has
never had such a strong line-up of foreign artists. That only confirms that the
high-quality services that EuroTel provides are also linked to the highest-quality
projects taking place in the Czech Republic. EuroTel is also preparing other, equally
interesting projects for this year, and the Popular Music Academy awards was just the
first," Iva Taťounová added.
What is more, since January this year good music with high-quality sound has become a
synonym for the state-of-the-art digital technology called SuperSound. EuroTel is the
first and only operator in the Czech Republic that uses SuperSound to provide its
customers with an even higher quality of sound during telephone calls in the EuroTel GSM
Global network, and it does so for free.
Here are the winners of the individual categories:
4 March, genre awards:
| category |
winner |
| Video |
Lucie: Medvídek (Filip Renč) |
| Folk |
Jaromír Nohavica |
| Country |
Robert Křesťan |
| Pop & Rock |
Lucie |
| Dance Music |
Sexy Dancers |
| Folk and brass band music |
Šlapeto |
| Musical recording |
Noc na Karlštejně (K. Svoboda) |
| Music for children |
Zdeněk Svěrák - Jaroslav Uhlíř |
| Producer of the year |
Ivan Král |
6 March, awards not restricted to genres:
| category |
winner |
| Best female singer |
Lucie Bílá |
| Best male singer |
Dan Bárta |
| Best group |
Lucie |
| Best new talent |
Sexy Dancers |
| Best album |
Lucie: Větší než malé množství lásky |
| Best song |
Lucie: Medvídek (Oskar Petr, Robert Kodym) |
| Hall of fame |
Marta Kubišová |
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