Starwood Hotels' Leading-edge Aloft Brand Steps up Partnership with MTV Asia to Kick-off Second Edition of Project Aloft Star Amplified by MTV in Asia Pacific

Starwood Hotels' Leading-edge Aloft Brand Steps up Partnership with MTV Asia to Kick-off Second Edition of Project Aloft Star Amplified by MTV in Asia Pacific

Starting today through July 20, Aspiring Artists in Asia Are Invited to Showcase Their Musical Talent by Uploading An Original Video to projectaloftstar.mtvasia.com

SINGAPORE , June 17, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Designed for the evolving global traveler, Starwood Hotels & Resorts' leading-edge Aloft® brand today announced the kick-off of the second Asia Pacific edition of Project Aloft Star amplified by MTV, strengthening the collaboration with MTV, the biggest and boldest global youth brand, for a second year-running. The music talent discovery competition aims to identify and support the hottest emerging music artists throughout China, India, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand.

http://photos.prnasia.com/prnvar/20150617/0861505402

Starting today through July 20, 2015, unsigned bands and artists are invited to showcase their musical talent by uploading an original video showcasing their music to projectaloftstar.mtvasia.com for the chance to win the prestigious title and recognition as Project Aloft Star winner. Covering major Asia Pacific markets, the three contest clusters comprise of China, India, and a third cluster consisting of Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand. Shortlisted entries will have the opportunity to perform at the finals in late September in front of a panel of distinguished judges held in their respective clusters.One winner from each of the three contest clusters will emerge and all three winners will walk away with USD$10,000 and a chance to be featured on MTV.

"Music is core to the Aloft brand's DNA and we are thrilled to kick-off the second edition of Project Aloft Star -- amplified by MTV -- to identify the latest emerging music talents in the region," said Vincent Ong, Senior Brand Director, Asia Pacific Brand Management, Starwood Hotels & Resorts. "The response to last year's debut of Project Aloft Star in Asia Pacific was resoundingly successful and we're excited to continue to be the platform for supporting these great musicians with another dynamic instalment of this global competition."

"The partnership with MTV Asia has not only shown that we share the same passion for live music, pop culture and design-led initiatives, but also cements our objective to serve as platforms to be the driving force to discover great new music experiences across Asia Pacific." continued Ong.

"Project Aloft Star is an inspiring initiative that celebrates today's young generation and their creative talents. Through our second year collaboration with Aloft Hotels, we're unlocking the passion and creativity of our audience by providing them with an amazing platform to showcase their music talents and connect them with new opportunities and fans across Asia. We can't wait to see what this year's competition brings!" says Paras Sharma, Vice President, MTV and Digital Media, Asia, Viacom International Media Networks.

Public Voting Contest

From July 23 to August 13 2015, the public can head to projectaloftstar.mtvasia.com to vote for their favourite videos from a panel of curated entries posted online. Fans in each cluster who cast their votes will stand a chance to win cash prize or prizes worth up to US$1,000. Last year's winning fans walked away with an all-expense paid trip to Seoul, South Korea, including two nights at the newly opened Aloft Seoul Gangnam.

Aloft Hotels Trailblazers As The Platform For Emerging Artists

In last year's collaboration, Aloft Hotels and MTV successfully debuted the competition in Asia Pacific, receiving over 300 entries from rising music talent alongside more than 170,000 fan votes. Aloft Hotels and MTV continue to be the platform for emerging artists; with the inaugural Project Aloft Star Southeast Asia cluster winner, GTXperiment (previously known as Clinton and Ashley) from Malaysia performing at the grand opening party at Aloft Seoul Gangnam, South Korea. They are currently working on their debut album to be launched in August 2015.

Project Aloft Star's first India winner, Natania Lalwani has continued her winning streak with a series of nominations including "Best Independent Song" by the Global Indian Music Academy Award earlier this year for her single "The Letter". Since then, she has also won 3 Radio City Freedom Awards for Best Pop Artist (Jury's choice), Best Pop Artist (People's choice) and Best Young Indie Artist. This year, Lalwani is slated to release her EP titled "Gold".

Project Aloft Star's first winner from China, PandaBros were invited to compose and sing the theme song for a popular web sitcom and had the chance to record it with Xianzi, a Taiwan Golden Song Award nominee. They are currently working on their 2nd album to be released in Q3 2015. In June, they will be performing at the Strawberry Music Festival in Beijing.

While Project Aloft Star provides a platform for supporting emerging talent in music, Aloft Hotels through a soon-to-be announced partnership with Singapore-based online art platform, Art Loft Asia, will extend its support for emerging talent to local contemporary Asian artists. Project Aloft Star is the latest example of how the Aloft brand is committed to cutting-edge music programming, and leads the way as the platform for emerging talent. To attract the evolving global traveler who craves differentiated experiences, Aloft Hotels has continuously brought together live music acts from local and established talent through its Live at Aloft Hotels music program in its buzzing W XYZ bars.

Project Aloft Star is expected to launch in The Americas and across Europe later this summer. For the most up-to-date information, check out LiveAtAloftHotels.com.

About Aloft Hotels

With 100 hotels open now and coming soon in 15 countries around the world, Starwood's Aloft brand delivers a fresh approach to the traditional staid hotel landscape. For the 'always on' next generation of traveler, the Aloft brand offers a tech-forward, vibrant experience and a modern style that is different by design. For more information, please visit www.alofthotels.com. Aloft, like all brands within Starwood's portfolio, is proud to offer the Starwood Preferred Guest (SPG®) program, the industry's richest loyalty program. To learn more, please visit spg.com.

About Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc.

Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. is one of the leading hotel and leisure companies in the world with more than 1,200 properties in some 100 countries and over 180,000 employees at its owned and managed properties. Starwood is a fully integrated owner, operator and franchisor of hotels, resorts and residences with the following internationally renowned brands: St. Regis(®), The Luxury Collection(®), W(®), Westin(®), Le Meridien(®), Sheraton(®), Four Points(®) by Sheraton, Aloft(®), Element(®) and the recently introduced Tribute Portfolio(TM). The Company boasts one of the industry's leading loyalty programs, Starwood Preferred Guest (SPG(®)), allowing members to earn and redeem points for room stays, room upgrades and flights, with no blackout dates. Starwood recently announced plans to spin off its Starwood Vacation Ownership, Inc. business, a premier provider of world-class vacation experiences through villa-style resorts and privileged access to Starwood brands, into a standalone public company by the end of 2015. For more information, please visit www.starwoodhotels.com.

About MTV

MTV is the world's premier youth entertainment brand. With a global reach of more than a half-billion households, MTV is the cultural home of the millennial generation, music fans and artists, and a pioneer in creating innovative programming for young people. MTV reflects and creates pop culture with its award-winning content built around compelling storytelling, music discovery and activism across TV, online and mobile. Outside of the United States, MTV is part of Viacom International Media Networks, a division of Viacom Inc. (NYSE: VIA, VIA.B), one of the world's leading creators of programming and content across all media platforms. For more information about MTV in Asia, visit www.mtvasia.com.

Photo - http://photos.prnasia.com/prnh/20150617/0861505402



SOURCE Starwood Hotels & Resorts

Starwood Hotels & Resorts

CONTACT: Starwood Hotels & Resorts, Asia Pacific, Daryl Pan, +65 6335 4879, Daryl.pan@starwoodhotels.com; Viacom International Media Networks Asia, Loh Bi Feng, (65) 6420 7154, loh.bifeng@vimn.com

Web Site: www.starwoodhotels.com


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