Premios MTV Latinoamérica
Awarded for	Best in music
Presented by	MTV
First awarded	2002
Last awarded	2009
Website	http://mtvla.com

The Premios MTV Latinoamérica (previously known as MTV Video Music Awards Latin America or VMALAs) were the Latin American version of the Video Music Awards. They were established in 2002 to celebrate the top music videos of the year in Latin America and the world. They are presented annually and broadcast live on MTV Networks Latin America. Until 2004, all the VMALAs were held in Miami. The 2005 edition was the first one planned to be held outside the United States, but the show was cancelled (see below). The 2006 VMALAs (Premios MTV Latinoamérica) were held in Mexico City, and therefore were the first ones to actually be celebrated in Latin America. In 2010 the awards were permanently cancelled.

The statues given to winners of the award are called "Lenguas" because the statue is of a tongue. This is because, according to MTV, "the tongue (Spanish language) is what brings all Latin America together as a whole".

History

Created in 2002, the VMALAs were held in the Jackie Gleason Theatre in Miami Beach, Florida until 2004. Sylvia Villagran was the live announcer. In 2005 the awards were to be held Wednesday, October 19 at the Xcaret Park's Great Tlachco Theater in Playa del Carmen (close to Cancún), Quintana Roo, Mexico, for the first time in a different location since their creation. However, due to the approach of Hurricane Wilma towards the Mexican Riviera Maya, the show was moved from October 20 to the 19th, but it was eventually postponed. The date was then moved again, this time to December 22. A couple of months later, MTV decided that it was not feasible to have the show on the aforementioned scheduled date. Instead, the awards were given out on a 1/2 hour special where the winners received their awards after having practical jokes played on them (in a Punk'd style). Would-be hosts Molotov hosted this special and played live on a public concert in Playa del Carmen. Another special aired that same day with some of the winners performing. Miranda! played from their studio in Argentina. Two songs from Juanes's concert in Buenos Aires were also filmed by MTV for this special, and Panda and Reik also performed from MTV's studios in Mexico City. Another half-hour special was broadcast that day showing how the show was supposed to happen and the reaction of the artists and MTV's workers after they found out about its cancellation. The 2005 edition would have included performances by Shakira, Sean Paul, My Chemical Romance, Foo Fighters, Ricky Martin, Simple Plan, Miranda!, Babasónicos, Belinda, and Good Charlotte.

On July 21 MTV Latin America announced that the 2006 ceremonies would be held on 19 October 2006 in Palacio de los Deportes indoor arena in Mexico City. Also, MTV announced that the name of the awards would be changed from Video Music Awards Latin America to Premios MTV Latinoamérica (MTV Awards Latin America). The nominees for this year's awards were announced on September 4, introducing 3 new categories: Promising Artist, Breakthrough Artist, and Song of the Year (the only category with nominees in both English and Spanish). Also, Best Solo Artist again replaced Best Male and Female, while the award for Best International Hip-Hop/R&B Artist will not be handed out. It also appeared that the ceremony returned in style after the previous year's ceremony was cancelled in 2005 due to Hurricane Wilma and all of the presenters for the 2006 ceremony apologized to viewers during the broadcast for such, and, for the first time, viewers would be able to vote for the Best Independent Artist award, but a few days later, the category was taken completely off the voting list, which meant that its inclusion on it was an error by MTV. Also, MTV Tr3s will be handing out for the first time ever its own Viewer's Choice Award during their U.S. simulcast of the event. The following years the event was held in Mexico too (Mexico City in 2007 and Guadalajara, Jalisco in 2008).

In 2009 the event was held in three cities in different dates (September 30 in Buenos Aires, Argentina; October 5 in Mexico City, Mexico; October 11 in Bogotá, Colombia) and broadcast live in Los Angeles on October 15. In 2010 the awards were permanently cancelled and replaced by the MTV World Stage Mexico.

Premios MTV Host Cities

Award Categories

• Artist of the Year (2002–2009)
• Video of the Year (2002–2009)
• Song of the Year (2006–2009)
• Best Solo Artist (2003–2004, 2006–2009)
• Best Group or Duet (2002–2009)
• Best Pop Artist (2002–2009)
• Best Rock Artist (2002–2009)
• Best Alternative Artist (2002–2009)
• Best Urban Artist (2007, 2009)
• Best Pop Artist — International
• Best Rock Artist — International
• Best New Artist — International
• Best Artist — North
• Best New Artist — North
• Best Artist — Central
• Best New Artist — Central
• Best Artist — South
• Best New Artist — South
• Breakthrough Artist
• "La Zona" Award
• Fashionista — Female
• Fashionista — Male
• Best Fan Club
• Best Video Game Soundtrack
• Best Ringtone
• Best Movie
• Best MTV Tr3́s Artist
• Agent of Change
• MTV Legend

Winners and nominees

Records

MTV Latin America's Regions

Like the MTV Europe Music Awards and the MTV Asia Awards, the VMALAs also hand out its regional categories. These regions, however, have been under constant changes and renaming. Here's how each region was perceived year by year:

2002:

• North: Mexico, Central America, Dominican Republic, Venezuela, and Colombia
• Southwest: Chile, Peru, Bolivia, and Ecuador
• Southeast: Argentina, Paraguay, and Uruguay

2003 — 2009:

• North (Mexico in 2004): Mexico
• Central: Colombia, Chile, Peru, Ecuador, Central America, Dominican Republic, Venezuela and Bolivia
• South (Argentina in 2004): Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay

External links

• MTVLA.com Site
• Music videos and commentary on the MTVLA 2009 Nominees