Robbie Williams, Anastacia Take German Music Awards

Sat April 2, 2005 6:32 PM GMT-05:00

By Erik Kirschbaum

BERLIN (Reuters) - Britain's Robbie Williams won the German music industry's Echo award on Saturday for the fourth straight year, beating out Phil Collins, George Michael, Seal and Usher for top honors in the male pop/rock category.

American singer Anastacia won the Echo for the best international pop/rock female artist, edging out Nelly Furtado, Norah Jones, Avril Levigne and Katie Melua.

"It's been a dream year for me," said Anastacia, 31, who has long been a favorite in Germany and sold more than 1 million albums here in the last year.

Anastacia won her first Echo, which is seen as the world's most important music industry prize after the Grammys and Brits, four years ago.

Nominations for the awards were based on sales in Germany, the world's fourth largest music market behind the United States, Japan and Britain with annual sales of 1.7 billion euros. A jury then picked winners in 26 categories.

Even though the German industry has seen sales tumble by more than 40 percent since 1997 due to the internet piracy that has hit the industry worldwide, the surging popularity of German recording artists are taking a bigger share of the home market.

German albums took a record 30 percent share in 2004 and the rising demand helped prop up the home market, where overall sales fell just 3.6 percent after steeper drops in prior years.

Williams, who has appeared in person in Germany to collect Echo awards in the past, was not in Berlin this year to get his trophy even though Echo organizers tried to lure him by setting up his favorite Playstation equipment in the VIP lounge.

Eminem, who won the Echo award for best international hip hop, was also not in the German capital city but sent his regards in a videotaped message from the United States.

"Thanks for this," he said, staring at the sleek one-meter high Echo trophy. "But it's kind of long and I think I'm going to have to cut off the top so it fits on my shelf."

Melua, a native of violence-wracked Georgia who grew up in Belfast, won the Echo's international newcomer of the year award. Romanian pop rock band O-Zone won single of the year for their hit "Dragostea Din Tei" (Love in the Linden Tree.)

Anastacia and American pop diva Maria Carey were among the 14 international and German acts to perform during the Echo award ceremony, which was broadcast nationally in Germany.

But Anastacia went out of her way to dismiss claims made by a German pop star on television that she and Carey hated each other and wanted promises their paths wouldn't cross in Berlin.

"Maria rocks -- get over it, people," Anastacia said after receiving her award.

Source: http://www.reuters.ca