Awards for Tom Cruise, Queen Rania, Sophia Loren and other stars

Yesterday night, an average of 5.8 million viewers watched the live gala BAMBI 2007 on national public TV (20.5 % market share); at peak times, a total of over 7.4 million people followed the event on TV. This makes the 196-minute show the market leader among viewers 3 and older. The first-ever special live broadcast of the stars’ arrival on the red carpet at 06:50 p.m. attracted an audience of 1.4 million people.

For the 59th time, Germany’s most important media award—sponsored by publisher Dr. Hubert Burda—was presented to outstanding personalities. Welcoming 1,300 celebrity guests from business, politics, society, showbiz and media circles, the event was staged in Duesseldorf, the capital of North Rhine-Westphalia, and—just like last year—hosted by entertainer Harald Schmidt. The award ceremony was produced by Werner Kimmig and broadcast live by national public TV (ARD/MDR) from the Duesseldorf Congress Center.

The event’s 16 award winners included Queen Rania of Jordan who received the Honorary BAMBI for her commitment to the cause of Jordanian women and children. Dr. Maria Furtwängler presented the Lifetime Award to actress Sophia Loren. Further awards went to Eva Longoria (“TV Series International”), Armin Mueller-Stahl (“Acting”), and Hollywood star Tom Cruise (“Courage”) for his willingness to take a risk if a project requires it. The two-part TV film “Contergan”, a portrayal of the biggest pharmaceutical scandal in German history, won the jury’s special award. The night’s program was complemented by top performers such as Rihanna, Ricky Martin and Eros Ramazzotti with a duet, Andrea Bocelli and Sarah Brightman as well as James Blunt.

An overview of all 2007 BAMBI award winners:

Honorary BAMBI: Queen Rania of Jordan
Lifetime Award: Sophia Loren
Music International: Bon Jovi
Courage: Tom Cruise
Comeback: Henry Maske
Arts: Hape Kerkeling
Acting National: Armin Mueller-Stahl
Information: Maybrit Illner
Fashion: Christopher Bailey
Sports: German Women’s National Football Team
Commitment: Dr. oec. Dr. h.c. Markus Dewender and Dr. med. Matthias Angrés as the representatives of “Kinder brauchen uns e.V.”, a children’s association
TV Series International: Eva Longoria
Actress National Film: Katja Riemann
Actor National Film: Matthias Schweighoefer
Audience Award for TV Sensation of the Year: “Die Flucht” (“Refugees”)
Special Award of the Jury: Two-part TV film “Contergan” (Benjamin Sadler, Katharina Wackernagel, Denise Marko)
Surprise Bambi: Johannes Heesters

Images, radio interviews as well as further information on award winners and celebrity guests are available under www.burda.de/bambi/

For further information, please contact:
Susanne Boemmel
Hubert Burda Media
Media Communications
E-mail: presse@burda.com
Phone: +49 - 89 - 9250 - 2575