March 04, 2010

By By Wolfgang Spahr, Berlin

The German Phono Academy has announced the winners of the first five categories of the ECHO Awards, with Ke$ha added to the line-up of performers at the ceremony in Berlin.

The producers of the year honor went to Andreas Herbig, Peter "Jem" Seifert, Florian Fischer, Adel Tawil, Annette Humpe and Sebastian Kirchner for the German duo Ich+Ich (Polydor/Universal). The duo will also perform at the March 4 ceremony at Berlin fair grounds, along with Robbie Williams, Sade and Gossip. It will be broadcast live on German TV station ARD.

Schlager singer Helene Fischer won DVD of the year for "Zaubermond Live" (Electrola/EMI). A special award for social commitment went to Irish-born Rea Garvey and his German group Reamonn for their children's foundation Saving an Angel.

Amazon.de was named as the retailer of the year, while the radio station SWR 3 in Baden-Baden won the media award.

The awards were presented on a charity dinner for the foundation "Music Helps" in Berlin.

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