Leighton Levy, Gleaner Writer

Before they are honoured for their outstanding accomplishments for the year 2012 on Saturday, the nominees for the 2013 Youth View Awards (YVAs) will be preening themselves at a very special nominees party to be held at Usain Bolt Track & Records come Thursday.

The nominees which include people like Olympic medallists Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, Warren Weir and Usain Bolt, entertainment veterans Lady Saw and Beenie Man and current stars like Tifa, Konshens and I-Octane, as well as media personalities like Miss Kitty, will rub shoulders with specially invited guests and invited members of the media all courtesy of title sponsor Pepsi.

"We will have Tracks & Records to ourselves! It's a celebration of the nominees for their hard work in 2012," said Carla Hollingsworth, brand manager for Pepsi Jamaica.

"So we're doing this nice blue-carpet thing in true Pepsi style at Tracks & Records. It will be an exclusive one-night-only event where they can revel in their own success."

Also on the guest list will be the winners of the YVA Pepsi Star Competition.

Hollingsworth, while not wanting to reveal what will be in store for the nominees on Thursday night, said that in addition to celebrating with the nominees, the event, which will feature the excellent deejay skills of DJ Narrity and where videos of the nominees will be shown, also serves as a precursor to the launch of the brand's latest campaign being launched here in Jamaica.

"It will also be a prelude to our Live for Now campaign," she said, highlighting that recording star Nicki Minaj is currently being featured in commercials worldwide for the campaign.

Rallying cry

Last year, Pepsi launched its first global campaign around the theme of 'Live for Now', both a rallying cry and a spirit the company hopes to embody with a pop culture-focused campaign.

Based on extensive global research with thousands of fans, 'Live for Now', launched in the United States on May 7, will centre on a major new social and content curation platform, Pepsi Pulse.

The Pepsi brand manager expects the nominees, stars on the Jamaican landscape, will come dressed to the hilt which will be a perfect lead-in for the YVAs set for the National Indoor Sports Centre on Saturday night.

"The swag tun up," she said laughing, excited by the anticipation of this super-exclusive night at Tracks & Records. It's going to be "pure niceness."