Smirnoff Vodka Nightlife Exchange Project Has Opera Theme

"Last night Smirnoff, the world's number one vodka, together with Madonna and millions of international revelers spanning five continents, celebrated The Smirnoff Nightlife Exchange Project in New York. Madonna along with choreographers Rich & Tone Talauega watched the final dancers perform and selected the winner of Smirnoff's exclusive high-profile global dance competition. With art direction and choreography by Shay Normann, the 11 finalists battled it out in front of over one thousand guests. Lil Buck from Memphis, TN was the designated winner and now becomes an official member of Madonna's dance crew. The thrilling evening included Madonna's personal selection to headline the event -- DJ and Producer Martin Solveig. Solveig has been collaborating with Madonna on her upcoming album. Hardy 'Indigo' Muanza and Vikter Duplaix were also at the event spinning custom mixes. Traversing time zones, borders and language barriers, the Smirnoff Nightlife Exchange Project saw countries world-wide create one-of-a-kind global events that

DJ Kid Creme played Australia's opera party

encouraged the sharing and swapping of the most extraordinary nightlife ideas. Events across the world featured a diverse line-up of superstar talent including Kelis, CSS, Basement Jaxx, Alex Gaudino and more -- collectively performing 200 hours of music. Over 117,000 carefully crafted Smirnoff cocktails were enjoyed, partygoers grooved to over 3000 tracks, 'liked' Smirnoff cocktails 5000 times and uploaded over 8000 photos to Facebook using onsite RFID technology. 'The Smirnoff Nightlife Exchange Project has uncovered amazing dance talent from all over the world,' said Madonna. Each of the participating countries showcased its own "Be There" moments through a melding of fashion, drinks, music, entertainment, technology and more. In Australia, which swapped nightlife with Italy, the event took the shape of Giuseppe Verdi's three act opera Un Ballo in Maschera ('A Masked Ball'). The event was brought to life with three key 'Acts,' Una Discoteca in Maschera, and at midnight all guests wore silver masquerade masks as fireworks fell from the stage and Opera singers, Aerial performers and dancers wearing Venetian masquerade costumes kicked off the global event while DJ Alex Gaudino spun 'Nessun Dorma.' In the UK, which swapped nightlife with Jamaica, multi-award winning dance super group Basement Jaxx collaborated with Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter Janelle Monáe. They were joined on the main stage by legendary Jamaican band The Jolly Boys who performed a special never-been-seen-before collaboration of Bob Marley's 'One Love' with acclaimed hip-hop artist, Ms. Dynamite." [Source] More images of the festivities after the jump.

Left to right: Oscar, Amelia, Renato (unmasked) and Riccardo at Smirnoff's Australian opera event.