2008 MTV Video Music Awards | |
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Date | Sunday, September 7, 2008 |
Location | Paramount Pictures Studios (Los Angeles, California) |
Country | United States |
Hosted by | Russell Brand |
Most awards | Britney Spears (3) |
Most nominations | The Pussycat Dolls (6) |
Website | http://www.mtv.com/ontv/vma/past-vmas/2008/ ![]() |
Television/radio coverage | |
Network | MTV |
Produced by | Jesse Ignjatovic Dave Sirulnick |
Directed by | Joe DeMaio |
The 2008 MTV Video Music Awards took place on September 7, 2008, live from Paramount Pictures Studios (which, like MTV, is owned by Viacom), honoring the best music videos from the previous year. Nominations for a majority of the categories were announced on the MTV program FNMTV after being selected through viewer online voting at MTV.com. The remaining, professional categories were chosen by a panel of music industry professionals and announced via press release on August 27.[1] When the nomination process was first announced, it mentioned a previously-unheard professional category named "Best Story;"[2] however, this award did not come to fruition when the list of professional nominees was revealed the following month.
Unlike previous editions of the show, MTV announced the winners to the professional categories three days before the ceremony (September 4) via a press release, rather than on the pre-show or main show.[3] The rest of the winners were announced during the ceremony. Comedian Russell Brand hosted the event.[4]
This year's awards were a huge improvement ratings-wise, seeing a 19% rise on last year with 8.4 million viewers. It was also a 23% advance over the 5.76 million who saw the 2006 ceremony. Although ratings improved, this year's video music awards was hosted at its smallest venue of its 25-year history. Britney Spears became the main winner of the night, walking away with her first three Moonmen: Video of the Year, Best Female Video, and Best Pop Video all for "Piece of Me".
The Pussycat Dolls received the most nominations (6), followed by Chris Brown and Katy Perry (5).