giants Nokia are claiming to have organized the biggest 2006 New Year’s Eve celebration in the world, with more than 2 million people in 5 locations joined by 150 million television and Internet viewers. Fittingly enough, Nokia was delivering on its promise to connect the world through five spectacular events that combined to make this the most technologically advanced New Year yet.
Five capital cities, which could also be said to be party capitals of the world, played their part in the celebrations: Hong Kong, Mumbai, Berlin, Rio and New York in that order. Things kicked off at Hong Kong's Ocean Terminal when Atomic Kitten played their first international gig since officially splitting in 2004, including such hits as Whole Again and The Tide Is High. Local mobile operators ensured that despite the challenges created by the recent earthquake in Taiwan, Hong Kong music fans could stream the live concert footage to their cellphones. Going west, Mumbai was next on the party list with another star-studded concert taking place at the Andheri Stadium and featuring Nelly Furtado as well as Indian music maestro A.R. Rahman with Bollywood legends Priyanka Chopra, Shahid Kapoor and Koena Mitra. Furtado wooed the crowd by singing two Hindi ballads, Kabhi Kabhi and Yeh Sama, alongside her usual repertoire. Rahman, the "Mozart from Madras", performed his mega-hit Humma Humma as the bells rang out at midnight.