Six countries win Intl Emmies

MUMBAI: The International Academy of Television Arts and Sciences announced the winners of the 39th International Emmy Awards at a Gala event held at the New York Hilton, hosted by actor Jason Priestley.

Winners span six countries: Chile (first time) Belgium, Canada, Portugal, Sweden and The United Kingdom.

Lady Gaga surprised the audience of over 1,000 international entertainment and media executives by opening the show and presenting The International Emmy Founders Award to Nigel Lythgoe, the executive producer of ‘American Idol‘ and the co-creator and executive producer of ‘So You Think You Can Dance‘.

The International Emmy Directorate Award was presented to Subhash Chandra by actress Archie Panjabi ‘The Good Wife‘ and Citigroup Chairman Richard Parsons.

The 10 International Emmy Award Winning programmes and performances are:

Gareth Malone Goes to Glyndebourne (Arts Programming), Benidorm Bastards (Comedy), Life with Murder (Documentary), Con que Suenas (Children and Young People), Lacos de Sangre (Telenovela), Millennium (TV Movie/Mini-Series), The World‘s Strictest Parents (Non-Scripted Entertainment), Accused (Drama Series), Julie Walters (Best Performance by an Actress) and Christopher Eccleston (Best Performance by an Actor). Complete winners information follows this release.

Academy president, CEO Bruce Paisner said, "We congratulate tonight‘s winners for their outstanding achievements as they enter into Emmy history. The Academy is proud to be the preeminent global showcase for excellence in television programming and performances."