Usher and Spider Room, Sunset Room Top the 2004 LALate Best of LA Awards

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2004 LALate Best of LA Announced

For Immediate Press Release

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Usher and Spider Room, Sunset Room Top the 2004 LALate Best of LA Awards

Westcoast's Biggest Nightlife Company, LALate, Announces the Best of LA Covering Los Angeles Nightlifestyle

JANUARY 5, 2005. LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA. Recording Artist Usher and Nightclub Spider Room top the 2004 LALate Best of LA Awards announced today in Santa Monica. The LALate Awards name the top in LA nightlifestyle in 2004 from music to venues to parties.

LALate.com, the most successful company on nightlifestyle on the westcoast, with spinoff sites NY Late.com, TeenLate.com, and scheduled MiamiLate.com, is the preeminent authority on nightlifestyle with one of the fastest growing followings of clubgoers in the United States. In a word, as Zagat's is to restaurants and Frodor's is to travelling, LALate is to nightlifestyle. LALate is the first ever one-stop websites for residents and travelers to LA to get into the most exclusive VIP-only parties listing several dozen events sometimes per night featuring top A+ celebrities, from mansion parties to top LA venues, to secret thousand person warehouse parties with acts that rival major stadium performances.

With the largest following of clubgoers in Los Angeles, and one of the fastest growing followings of clubgoers in the nation, LALate has built its nationally reported success upon the happiness its service brings its patrons night after night, publishing the most talked about weekly newsletter in Los Angeles. LALate is featured in this week's Los Angeles Times.

From its launch nearly three years ago, LALate began publishing to its readers a weekly and often bi and tri-weekly newsletter providing details never before seen in the nightlifestyle scene. But with so many events, nearly six dozen events on its calendar per week, LALate reduces in its newsletter those events to three of the most talked about charts in LA nightlifestyle: its online nationally syndicated and branded "LALate 7-Day Planner Chart" and "LALate Hot @ 9 Chart" and "LALate New2Watch Chart", giving up to the minute information about what's hot and what's not.

In January, LALate will launch L2, the highly anticipated brand new free service to all LALate clubgoers that seeks to revolutionize the technology side of nightlife. L2 BETA is currently being used by LALate clubgoers

Today's LALate Best of LA 2004 names the best in nightlifestyle in LA in 2004 out of an estimated 4,000 parties carried by LALate throughout the year. The Awards give nods not just to venues but also to events, music, clothing and automobiles that topped nightlifestyle in LA in 2004.

About LALate

With a market saturation of readers estimated at over 85% of VIP clubgoers in Los Angeles, more LA residents look to LALate for its opinion on nightlifestyle than any other authority. LALate's newsletter doesn't just review the crowd at the venue, it reviews the decore, the floorplan, the door operations, and that was just the beginning. Many have acclaimed LALate as "the Martha Stewart of the bling bling". "Ironically, nightlifestyle is a look a feel that is anything but bling bling; it is captured and embodied by the people who live it, from Hollywood A list executives to up-in-coming performance artists. Whether it's an unusual hat worn by a guy or a certain boot worn by a girl, it's a look and feel that represents an otherwise very intelligent crowd that knows what they like and know how to do it right," says LALate.com.

In 2003 LALate covered trends in nightlife fashion, featuring clothing line Von Dutch months before its recent height in LA popularity; automobiles, featuring the Porsche Cayenne months before it ever arrived in U.S. showrooms.

LALate, in short, quickly gained in popularity by having a keen eye to not only report, but also predict, trends in nightlifestyle, constantly endeavoring to capture trends, not fads, reporting on everything from Ralph Lauren accessories to men's cologne. "We didn't just tell you what went on in White Lotus; we told you how people looked, dressed, what they drove. And what readers loved is how we reported from a mass cross section of venues, from red carpet warehouse parties in the dark empty streets of Downtown LA to A+ venues in Beverly Hills, to present everything that is bursting to the forefront, not just in one scene, but across the nightlifestyle arena", says LALate.com.

Through 2003, LALate had an unmatched entry to LA's exclusive nightlife, for example carrying first number one venue White Lotus Tuesdays through Thursdays. In 2004, LALate carried Lotus' successor, Pearl, Wednesdays through Saturdays. Now, LALate carries new heavyweights, Justin Timerblake's Chi, Spider Room, and leaders Sunset Room and Forbidden City, among others.

Award Winners

This was a year in which not a single venue held the number one spot in LA for any duration, but one recording artist did. One artist was heard more in LA clubs than any other: Usher. Six weeks after its entry to the Billboard Hot 100 on Jan. 10, 2004 "Yeah!" by Usher Featuring Lil Jon and Ludacris was number one, and remained so for 12 weeks, matching two other songs for the second longest run ever ("Lose Yourself" by Eminem and "Smooth" by Santana Featuring Rob Thomas) behind Brandy and Monica for 13 weeks with "The Boy Is Mine" (1988). During the week of May 22, Usher's "Burn" took the #1 spot from "Yeah!", holding the spot for 8 weeks. In total, the two tracks gave Usher the longest consecutive run at No. 1 in the history of the Hot 100, 20 weeks, previously held by 16 week runs of Boyz II Men (twice) and Mariah Carey. Recently Usher's "Yeah!" and "Burn" finished No. 1 and No. 2 songs of 2004 on the year end Hot 100, the first time in 40 years since the Beatles in 1964 with "I Want to Hold Your Hand" and "She Loves You" that an artist held the #1 and #2 spot year end. Usher ended the year with 27 weeks at number one overall with "Confessions Part II" and "My Boo".

a) Venues

To be a #1 venue either for the year ending or overall for the year as a whole, a venue needed a combination of many factors all working at once: a) extreme exclusivity, city wide buzz and reputation, c) attendance at capacity levels, and d) high percentage of repeat patronage. This year's winners are the following:

LALATE BEST VENUES of 2004

LALate's Top 10 Current Venues in LA as January, 2005

This is based upon how venues ranked on LALate's charts ending the year 2004.

Comments: In LA, you saw 2004 start as Pearl's year with more referrals going to the former #1 spot than any other vip venue. By midyear Pearl had stiff competition from entries like El Centro and Concorde which stayed strong through summer but then fell off drastically. Other venues like Falcon and Shelter pushed along but never could get a real firm hold on the draw in town. By fall, no venue had a true hold on the top spot as Pearl had in Q1. So people returned to former hot spots Sunset Room and Forbidden City as they venues made a sharp move to the front with shockingly hot and fun crowds. Close by spots Godskitchen/Henry Fonda, especially, and Avalon had a keen chance to take the top spots but never got their hold. Meantime, mainstream favorites like Stock Exchange really came back strong by summer and never let up by the end of the year. By late winter, there was only one venue that had more draw than any other in town. And that venue, ending the year currently as the hottest venue in LA is ... Spider Room.

1. Spider Room

2. Sunset Room

3. Forbidden City

4. Godskitchen @ Henry Fonda

5. Stock Exchange

6. Pearl

7. Justin Timerblake's Chi

8. Avalon

9. Vertigos

10. Shelter

LALate's Top Overall Venues in 2004

These rankings considers all venues throughout 2004 and is based upon how they ranked on LALate's charts throughout the year.

1. Spider Room

2. Pearl

3. Sunset Room

4. Forbidden City

5. Godskitchen @ Henry Fonda

6. Stock Exchange

7. Vertigos

8. El Centro

9. Avalon

10. Shelter

Top Overall Venue in 2004: Sunset Room

Category Winners

Top Mega-Nightclub in 2004: tie - Stock Exchange & Godskitchen/Henry Fonda

Top Largescale Nightclub in 2004: Forbidden City

Top Midsize Lounge/Club for 2004: Sunset Room

City Winners

Top Hollywood Venue for 2004: Forbidden City

Top West Hollywood (Non Sunset) Venue for 2004: Pearl

Top West Hollywood (Sunset Strip) Venue for 2004: Saddleranch

Top Beverly Hills Venue for 2004: Joya

Top Downtown LA Venue for 2004: Stock Exchange

Top Southbay Venue for 2004: Club 705

Parties

LALATE BEST PARTY of 2004

LALate's Top 10 Parties of 2004

#1. Together as One, December 31 2004. This was the finest party you could imagine. With three areas of sound, a crowd numbering in the thousands, merchants, and the finest blends of trance, techno, hiphop beats over techno, and similar, this party was mindblowing. It surpassed the previous year with a better lightshow, better music, and cooler vibe.

#2 The Gucci Party - August, 2004. The Gucci Party featuring No Doubt, Dennis Rodman, Mark Walberg, Omar Epps, John Singleton, Forrest Witaker, Jamie Foxx. Followed up by two Eninem parties.

#3. Hollywood Hills Mansion Party and The Month of March, 2004. The entire month ranks on our charts. A private Mansion Party with Lingerie Girls. Then we carried Francine Dee's (#1 Asian Import Model Party) that night. Plus we had a Bikini Party on Friday @ 705 and two Warehouse Parties in Two Days. So we went to the Warehouse Party with the Open Bar - really cool. The next weekend we had a huge mansion party, open bar, in the Hollywood Hills, with a pool and over 400 girls confirmed rsvps. DJs are from the Black Eyed

#4. Armin Van Buren Party - September 2, 2004. We had DJ Collete, Armin Van Buren and Markus Schulz with a discounted, linepass list for a party that had a line down the corner and around the block. Markus was the best dj we heard all super long.

#5. Lindsaw Lohan Premiere Party - December, 2004. A great party for this killer singer hosted at the Spider Room.

#6. Francine Dee Asian Import Model Party. #1 asian import model hosted this killer party.

#7. Chingy Release Party

#8. Dozen LALate warehouse listed parties

#9. TogetherasOne NYE Dec 31, 2003-Jan 1, 2004 party

tie - #10.

- Hawaiian Theme Party @ Stock Exchange

- Downtown Standard Summer Pool Party

- Memorial Weekend, 4th of July Pool Party at Loews Santa Monica

- Gloew I and Gloew II @ Beverly Hills Loews

Honorable Mention (listed with LALate) - Mariah Carey Hosts NYE Venue Premiere Party @ Pure Las Vegas

c) Nightlifestyle

LALATE BEST NIGHTLIFESTYLE of 2004

TOP NIGHTLIFESTYLE DESIGNER FOR 2004 OVERALL - PUMA

The look was worn by both men and woman, for upscale, and contemporary

TOP NIGHTLIFESTYLE AUTOMOBILE FOR 2004 OVERALL - 2004 CHRYSLER 300

It won every award and turned every head.

d) Promotion

LALATE BEST PROMOTERS of 2004

EVENT PRODUCTION ...

TOP LARGESCALE EVENT PROMOTER FOR 2004 - GO VENTURES (TOGETHER AS ONE)

TOP MIDSCALE EVENT PROMOTER FOR 2004 - SANTA MONICA LOEWS TEAM (MEMORIAL WEEKEND POOL PARTY, 4TH OF JULY WEEKEND POOL PARTY)

TOP INTIMATE EVENT PROMOTER FOR 2004 - GLOEW (BEVERLY HILLS LOEWS, HOLLYWOOD HILLS MANSION)

WEEKLY PROMOTION ...

TOP LARGESCALE WEEKLY PROMOTION FOR 2004 - GODSKITCHEN @ THE HENRY FONDA, SATURDAYS

TOP MIDRANGE WEEKLY PROMOTION FOR 2004 - OPIUM @ FORBIDDEN CITY, FRIDAYS

TOP SMALLSCALE WEEKLY PROMOTION FOR 2004 - GOODLIFE @ ROOM 5, THURSDAYS

SPECIALIZED PROMOTION ...

TOP NETWORKING PROMOTER FOR 2004 - PLANETSHARK PRODUCTIONS (CINESPACE, ARGYLE)

TOP AFTERHOURS PROMOTER FOR 2004 - STEVE CASTRO (AFTERHOUR POWER, 705)

e) Music

LALATE TOP ARTISTS of 2004

LALate's Top 10 Most Played Artists in LA Clubs in 2003

These are the artists that got the most airplay in LA clubs, bars, and lounges in 2003 based upon individual plays and longevity throughout the year.

1. Usher

2. Nelly

3. Missy Elliot

4. Ashanti

5. Justin Timberlake

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