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MIAMI - MTV will take its irreverent Video Music Awards to Miami this year.
The live event, in its 21st year, will be Aug. 29 at the American Airlines Arena, the network announced Friday. It will be the first time the show wil be held outside Los Angeles or New York, which has hosted the show in recent years.
But because the Republican National Convention is Aug. 30 to Sept. 2 in New York, having the VMAs in the city would have been difficult, VMA executive producer Salli Frattini said.
"There were very, very limited venue possibilities in New York because of the RNC this year," Frattini said. "We were really excited about the reception we received from Miami."
Miami officials would not disclose how much they will spend to host the show. Memphis, Tenn., last month offered to spend about $500,000 for police, fire and emergency services to try to lure MTV.
"It was an attractive, fair package to get them here," said William Talbert, president of the Greater Miami Convention & Visitors Bureau.
Los Angeles, Chicago and Puerto Rico were also vying for the show, Talbert said.
Talbert would not estimate how much money the city stands to earn from the event, but he said 2,500 hotel rooms have already been booked.
"This really helps cement this community's position as a leader in the music industry," Miami-Dade County Mayor Alex Penelas said. "We're already the capital of Latin music in the world, we are rapidly becoming the epicenter of the hip-hop music industry, (and) we have so many hot stars and producers who already live here."
Miami last year hosted the Latin Grammys, two years after organizers moved the show to Los Angeles when some exile groups threatened to protest because artists from Cuba would have performed. Organizers said they yanked the show because of safety concerns.
The VMAs celebrate the year's best music videos, but the honors are usually upstaged by the shenanigans of the celebrity presenters and performers. Last year, the show's most talked about moment was an onstage kiss between Madonna and Britney Spears.