Weekly North American agenda: People's Choice Awards, CES

(AFP PHOTO/Stan HONDA)

As the New Year starts off, the awards season honors the best of 2010, the NFL's best football team, and even the Best in Show dog. Looking ahead at 2011, trade shows, beginning with International CES, display the newest toys, cars and electronics.

37th People's Choice Awards
January 5
Los Angeles, California

Queen Latifah hosts the 37th anniversary of the People's Choice Awards, honoring film, television and music, voted on by fans as an alternative to the upcoming Golden Globes, Grammys and Oscars. With 44 categories that include Favorite Movie ( Alice in Wonderland, Inception, Iron Man 2, Toy Story 3, The Twilight Saga: Eclipse), plus actors an actresses in a variety of genres, from dramas to comedies. The music category also cover several genres like Rock, Pop and Hip-Hop. Similar to the American Music Awards and Nickelodeon's Kids Awards, and Australia's People's Choice Awards.
http://www.peopleschoice.com/


44th International CES
January 6-9
Las Vegas Convention Center/Las Vegas Hilton
Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

The International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) is one of the world's largest consumer technology trade shows. Exhibitors include high-profile tech companies with the launches of groundbreaking gadgets and state-of-the-art products. Begun in 1967, this event has grown into an annual "must-see" event attracting 127,000 technology enthusiasts. Similar to SINOCES in China, GITEX in Dubai, Computex Taipei and more.
http://www.cesweb.org/

105th North American International Auto Show
January 15-23
Cobo Center
Detroit, Michigan

NAIAS is the biggest auto event in the US and one of the key shows in the industry, drawing 800,000 visitors and exhibitors from around the world. Vehicle unveilings, concept cars and design awards add to the attraction. This year finds the Big Three US automakers and all vehicle manufacturers showcasing green innovations. Annual shows are growing in NYC and Los Angeles, and worldwide from Frankfurt to Shanghai.
http://www.naias.com

68th Golden Globe Awards
January 16, 5 pm PT/8 pm ET
Beverly Hills, California

The Golden Globes, presented by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, recognizes outstanding achievements in film and television. The show is telecast live to 150 countries from the Beverly Hills Hotel. The voting body consists of journalists, not peers like the Academy Awards, and instead of formal seats like the Oscars, which follows on March 7, the ceremony is a dinner party for nominees.
http://www.goldenglobes.org

27th Sundance Film Festival
January 20-30
Park City, Utah

Founded by Robert Redford, Sundance is a premier showcase for US and international independent films. Up to 200 dramatic and documentary films by international filmmakers are screened in competitive and non-competitive sections. Attracting 40,000 attendees, it draws Hollywood stars and execs seeking tomorrow's Oscar wins. Tribeca and SXSW also focus on indie films, unlike major fests at Berlin, Cannes and Toronto.
http://www.sundance.org/festival

45th Super Bowl
February 6
Cowboys Stadium, Arlington, Texas

The championship game of the major American football league is the most watched program on US television. With 106.5 million viewers, tuning in on the day, Super Bowl Sunday is a de facto holiday. Custom-made commercials are as anticipated as the halftime show, which the Black Eyed Peas will perform in 2011. On Fox-TV in the US, Sky in the UK, ESPN in Brazil and Italy and other local networks around the world. For American football fans, the SUper Bowl is the equivalent to the FIFA World Cup for soccer. The Rose Bowl, meanwhile, is the biggest game for US college teams.
http://www.nfl.com/superbowl/45

108th Toy Fair
February, 13-16
Jacob K. Javits Convention Center
New York City, New York

One of the largest annual toy fairs, the Toy Fair New York attracts over 1,000 exhibitors and 25,000 attendees and is home to around 7,000 new product launches each year. The event is also home to the Toy of the Year (TOTY) Awards; billed as the "Oscars of the toy industry," these awards honor the most outstanding new products in twelve categories and crown one the overall toy of the year. Though the event attracts less visitors than the Nuremberg event, the Toy Fair New York, where Barbie first appeared, is widely respected and the TOTY awards are generally recognized as the industry standard.
http://www.toyassociation.org

53rd Grammy Awards
February 13
Los Angeles, California

This celebrated award for musical artists is voted on by the recording industry, covering a wide spectrum of genres, from classical and jazz to pop, rock, hip-hop, country and Latin. The Grammy's televised live event features performances by nominees. The top awards crossing all genres are Album of the Year, Record of the Year for the best song, Song of the Year to the writer/composer and Best New Artist. Other music awards include the AMA and People's Choice, which fans vote for. The UK equivalent is the Brit Awards.
http://www.grammy.com

135th Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show
February 14-15
New York, New York

The Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show, the second longest-running sports event in the US, judges 2,500 purebred dogs, culminating in the Best in Show championship of hounds, toys, terriers, sporting and non-sporting breeds. The sold-out shows are held at New York City's Madison Square Garden and telecast live at night on USA Network, with highlights streamed on the website. The most important of three American dog shows, including the popular National Dog Show on the Thanksgiving holiday, and the equivalent to Crufts in Birmingham, England, the largest and most prestigious in the world with 22,973 dogs shown over four days.
http://www.westminsterkennelclub.org

RC