On Monday evening it was that time again! Before the start of the Musikmesse, the PRG Live Entertainment Award, LEA for short, was once again presented to some outstanding concert promoters, venue operators, agents and managers. In Frankfurt's Festhalle, the more than 1,400 visitors, including many prominent guests such as Frida Gold, Nena and Mark Forster, were treated to a glamorous show, during which not only the 15 awards in total were presented. The stage program was also absolutely first class. Udo Lindenberg, whose current tour is once again one of this year's winners, provided a great atmosphere, as did Schiller with the Berlin Show Orchestra. Soul singer Oleta Adams, who sang "In Memoriam", then provided a proper goosebumps, while the audience could say goodbye to some great personalities of the business who have passed away in the past year.
But the focus of the evening, hosted by Ingo Nommsen, was of course the awards. The LEA AWARD honours all the people who make sure that we can enjoy great live entertainment on our stages year after year. Laudators included Max Giesinger, who himself received an award for the best club tour, Tom Gerhardt as caretaker Krause, "Bibi" star Lina Larissa Strahl, Daniel Wirtz, who lives in Frankfurt, cabaret artist Alfons and Nena. They all ensured that there were many beaming winners in Frankfurt's Festhalle. For example, before his performance, Udo Lindenberg was able to celebrate with promoter Roland "Balou" Temme, who received the award for Stadium Tour of the Year with his agency Think Big for Lindenberg's "Keine Panik!´concert tour.
As Promoter of the Year, the LEA judges awarded FKP Scorpio Konzertproduktionen. The Hamburg-based agency led by founder Folkert Koopmans, which received the award in this category for the first time, had hosted 220 tours with more than 1,000 concerts in Germany alone last season.
The only two-time winner at the 2017 PRG LEA was Semmel Concerts Entertainment. The promoter received a trophy together with Fetsum and its association P x P Embassy for the PxP Festival at Berlin's Waldbühne. In addition, an LEA in the Indoor Tour of the Year category went to Dieter Semmelmann and his team. The award went to the concert tour for the 40th band anniversary of Niedecken's BAP. In the Arena Tour of the Year category, Wizard Promotions received the award for Zucchero's concerts in Germany. In the opinion of the LEA jury, the concert of the year 2016 was delivered by Barracuda Music, with David Gilmour in front of Schönbrunn Palace in Vienna. Singer Matthias Reim did not miss the opportunity to congratulate his manager Dieter Weidenfeld on stage for the LEA. Weidenfeld, longtime manager of Howard Carpendale and acting president of the supporting association LEA Committee e.V., received the award for his life's work.
The Frankfurt Commerzbank Arena was awarded as best hall/arena! The jury was particularly enthusiastic about the concept of the stadium summer, which attracted hundreds of thousands to the arena even in the non-football season with concerts of pop, rock and classical music. Highlights in 2016 included the only German concert by Billy Joel and the BigCityBeats WORLD CLUB DOME Festival. Visibly delighted with the award, Patrick Meyer accepted the LEA Award. And in 2017, the Commerzbank Arena will once again be the venue for many great events, such as the family festival Festival4Family, the concert by Hans Zimmer, the Wireless Festival with stars like Justin Bieber and The Weekend, and once again the World Club Dome.
Congratulations to Stadion Frankfurt Management GmbH, but of course also to all the other winners of the evening!
The 2017 winners:
Club Tour of the Year: Max Giesinger
Club of the Year: Capitol, Hannover
Local Promoter of the Year: Handwerker Promotion, Unna
Festival of the Year: Open Air St. Gallen, Switzerland
Hall Tour of the Year: Niedeckens BAP - Jubiläumstour 2016, Semmel Concerts
Arena Tour of the Year: Zucchero, Wizard Promotions
Stadium Tour of the Year: Udo Lindenberg, Think Big Event- und Veranstaltungsgesellschaft
Artist Manager of the Year: Esteban de Alcázar for Mark Forster
Promotion of Young Talent: Popakademie Baden-Württemberg
Hall/Arena of the Year: Commerzbank Arena
Show of the Year: Kaltenberger Ritterturnier
Concert of the Year: David Gilmour at Schönbrunn Palace (Austria), Barracuda Music
Jury Award: PxP Festival at the Berlin Waldbühne/ PxP Embassy e.V. and Semmel Concerts
Promoter of the Year: FKP Scorpio Konzertproduktionen GmbH
Lifetime Achievement Award in the Event Industry: Dieter Weidenfeld
You can find all further info at: <link http: lea-verleihung.de _blank>
