Washington, D.C., May 11, 2009 - Winners of Indonesia's 2009 Panasonic Awards, given annually to the country's most popular television performers and shows, entertained more than 300 people at the Voice of America (VOA) during a lively performance.
"I didn't expect this kind of event. This is a wonderful opportunity for us. And, we really appreciate VOA for putting this together," said Tantowi Yahya, a well-known country singer who won a Panasonic in a people's choice polling.
VOA's Indonesia broadcasters organized late last week a two-hour program, Jumpa Bintang TV dan Film (Meet the TV and Film Stars), a mix of performances, interviews and a game show.
Emceed by VOA's Vivit Kavi, the program included Indonesian singers Shakila and Maya Utomo; comedian Eko Patrio; actors Olga Syahputra, Anjasmara, Jeremy Thoma, Indra Bekti and Nirina Zubir; news anchor Rosiana Silalahi and producer Avida Virya.
VOA will produce a one-hour TV special on the Jumpa Bintang TV dan Film show and the Panasonic winners' visit to the United States. Excerpts from the show and interviews with the celebrities will also appear in several of VOA Indonesian's TV and radio programs.
VOA's Indonesian Service (www.voanews.com/Indonesian) broadcasts on radio, television and the Internet to a weekly audience of over 25 million people.
The Voice of America, which first went on the air in 1942, is a multimedia international broadcasting service funded by the U.S. government through the Broadcasting Board of Governors. VOA broadcasts approximately 1,500 hours of news, information, educational, and cultural programming every week to an estimated worldwide audience of more than 134 million people. Programs are produced in 45 languages.
For more information, call VOA Public Relations at (202) 203-4959, or e-mail askvoa@voanews.com.
