MUMBAI: Multiple Grammy Award-winning artist, Christina Aguilera, will be making her debut appearance in Asia as a host for the 2005 MTV Asia Awards, which are to be held in Bangkok on 3 February, 2005.

Aguilera will join performers Maroon 5 and Namie Amuro, on stage to mesmerise the crowd with her star prowess. More artists and celebrities will be announced in the weeks leading up to the event.

Aguilera shot to fame with her self-titled album Genie in a Bottle in 1999. The album stayed on top of the charts for over five weeks and made sales of over 16 million copies. With a string of chart toppers under her belt, Aguilera earned numerous accolades including a Grammy award from Best New Artist.

The following year, Aguilera earned her second Grammy for her Spanish language album Mi Reflejo.

Declared as Favourite Female Artist at the 2004 MTV Asia Awards by young people across Asia, Aguilera 's appetite in trying new kinds of music has affirmed her as one of the most popular female singers of her time. Constantly pushing the envelope, she co-wrote and co-produced her latest album Stripped, which has already sold over 10 million albums worldwide.

The MTV Asia Awards is the only pan-regional event of its kind in Asia that brings together the largest gathering of international and local talent ever seen in the region. Filmed before a live audience of over 7000 music lovers, the event will be broadcast to over 180 million homes across the region. Viewers can cast their votes for their favourites from 15 November to 15 January 2005 through various ways including voting on the official website at www.mtvasiaawards.com and via short message service (SMS) for vote collation.

The official sponsors for the MTV Asia Award 2005 are Toyota Motor Corporation, HP and Samsung. Local sponsors include Sinyal Kuat Indosat in Indonesia, 5425 in Korea, DiGi Telecommunications Sdn Bhd in Malaysia, Addict Mobile in the Philippines, StarHub in Singapore and Heineken in Thailand. The awards are also supported by the Tourism Authority of Thailand.