CANNES: International Academy of Television Arts and Science announced 37 nominees in nine categories for the 33rd International Emmy Awards at Mipcom.
Award-winning British talk show personality, Graham Norton, best known for his irreverent Channel 4 chat show V Graham Norton, will host of the 33rd International Emmy Awards Gala, which will be held in New York on 21 November.
The nominations have extended to over 10 countries this year, including Russia in the Drama Series Category, for the very first time. With Argentina, Brazil, and Chile constituting the nominations from Latin America, the Academy also announced the nominees for the new Best Performance by an actor (male and female) category, which acquired a high number of entries from Brazil, China, France, Norway and UK.
There were three rounds of judging over a period of six months, with participation from over 500 judges in 35 countries.
"This is solid proof, if any more is needed, that television professionalism is spreading around the world, and that the television industries of many countries are able to meet the Academy's high standards of excellence. We congratulate all of the nominees for their outstanding achievement," said Academy President and CEO and Hearst Entertainment president Bruce Paisner.
This year, in addition to the International Emmy Awards for programming, the Academy will present two special awards. The International Emmy Founders Award will be presented to Oprah Winfrey for her philanthropic initiatives in international broadcasting career. The International Emmy Directorate Award is bagged by ITV plc for 50 years of excellence in commercial broadcasting in UK.
Along with this, the Academy has also announced the nominees for the International Children's Day of Broadcasting (ICDB) Award, which was launched in 1994 to encourage broadcasters worldwide to create awareness for children's issues co-presented yearly with Unicef.
Unicef Ambassador Danny Glover will present this award to the winner at the 33rd International Emmy Awards Gala among the eight nominees who are from Bangladesh, Brazil, China, Denmark, Egypt, Ethiopia, Nigeria and Uzbekistan.
The 33rd International Emmy Awards have been sponsored by Phoenix TV, Sun Media Investment, Microsoft, CBS Paramount International Television, NBC Universal, Ascent Media, Savvis, Reed Midem, Sofitel Hotels, and Variety.