ENTRANCE :Jean-Claude Van Damme and Shilpa Shetty arrive at the IIFA Awards in Dubai (Chou Chiang/IIFA)

Yorkshire beat off stiff competition from the likes of New York and will host next year's IIFA event.

The 2007 venue was announced at the 7th Idea IIFA (International Indian Film Awards) ended in Dubai with a dazzling, all-star ceremony featuring performances and appearances from some of the hottest stars in the Indian film industry.

Zulfi Karim, Yorkshire Tourism Board director and bid leader said: "The size of this event is staggering. Although it's called the IIFA Weekend it actually takes place over four days and attracts 15,000 to 20,000 people.

"An amazing 8,000 people minimum, traditionally opt to stay on average three nights, that's 24,000 additional bed nights in Yorkshire. On top of this, thousands more flock to the individual events and to feel part of the atmosphere this incredible event creates."

At the awards themselves Black', swept the major award categories at the Indian version of the Academy Awards, picking up awards for Amitabh Bachchan as Best Actor, Rani Mukherjee for Best Actress and child star Ayesha Kapoor as Best Supporting Actress.

Director Sanjay Leela Bhansali also picked up the Best Director honor for the film, in addition to the Best Film award, presented by Jean Claude Van Damme.

In the other major award categories, Best Supporting Actor went to Abishek Bachchan for his performance in Ram Gopal Varma's film Sarkar, Best Actor in a Negative Role to veteran actor Nana Patekar for his role in Apharan, Best Actor in a Comic Role to Javed Jaffrey for Salaam Namaste, and the award for Best Story to filmmaker Nagesh Kukunoor for Iqbal.

The film Bunty Aur Babli also did well at the Idea IIFA Awards night, bagging honors for Best Playback Singer (Female) for Alisha Chinai and Best Lyricist for the well-known artiste Gulzar. Composer-turned-singer Himesh Reshammiya took home the Best Playback Singer (Male) trophy for chartbuster Aashiq Banaya Aapne from the movie of the same name.

Idea IIFA 2006 commenced with a short traditional Arabic folk dance. This was followed by a performance by Fardeen Khan, from his forthcoming movie, Kurbani. Akshay Kapoor and the stunning Dia Mirza performed on the song from their forthcoming movie Alag', produced by the ace photographer Subi Samuel. While Upen Patel rocked on songs from his debut movie 36 China Town', fresh faces, Sikander Kher and Neha Uberoi performed on the songs from Woodstock Villa', to be produced by none other than Sanjay Dutt.

Akshay Kumar made a grand entry on a camel and performed on the Garam Masala numbers. He was joined by Katrina Kaif, who performed with him on songs from the movie Humko Deewana Kar Gaye. Salman Khan's performance left his fans absolutely spellbound by moving swiftly from one song to another from his movies.

Wiz Sabbas Joseph, from Wizcraft International Entertainment, organizers for said the four-day Dubai Weekend had been an unqualified success and set a new standard for the annual extravaganza.

"We are very grateful to the city and people of Dubai for their unstinting support and excitement, who have truly represented Arabian hospitality to our A-list industry and special guests," Joseph said.

"This event could not have been as successful without their participation, and the unstinting support of our major partners Tiara Residence and Dubai Summer Surprises. We are confident that the advances made here this week will last long beyond this year and this event."

10:50am Tuesday 27th June 2006

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