Catalan singer Rosalía has made history again by becoming the first female Spanish singer to win an MTV Video Music Award. At yesterday's ceremony in Newark, New Jersey, she took home the prizes for best Latin video and best choreography, both for Con altura with J Balvin feat. El Guincho, choreographed by Charm La’Donna.
Dressed all in black, she described it as an "incredible honour" to be at the ceremony: "Thank you [...] I come from Barcelona. I'm so happy to be here representing where I come from and representing my culture. [...] Thank you for allowing me to perform tonight singing in Spanish."
Rosalía performing a medley of A Ningun Hombre, Yo x Ti, Tu x Mi, and Aute Cuture.
Best Latin Video saw Rosalía up against some of the biggest names in the genre, including Daddy Yankee, Karol G and Maluma. J Balvin was nominated twice in the category thanks to his collaboration with the Catalan singer and his song I Can't Get Enough with Benny Blanco, Tainy and Selena Gomez. He said he was "super proud of being Latino right now", a clearly political message to be expressing in the US. Balvin also called for help to fight the forest fires currently ravaging the Amazon.
Compilation of moments from Rosalía's Instagram stories during the night.
As well as those she won, Rosalía was also nominated for Best New Artist and Song of Summer, the latter also for Con Altura. The song debuted at number 1 in Spain and has since broken records around the world. In the third week of June this year, it became the most-viewed music video of the week on Youtube; within three months of release it had been viewed 500 million times. It is currently the most-viewed music video by a female artist of 2019 and even earned a spot on Barack and Michelle Obama's summer playlist.
With summer winding down, here’s a sampling of what Michelle and I have been listening to — some new, some old, some fast, some slow. Hope you enjoy. pic.twitter.com/BS5ri1lvxz
— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) 24 d’agost de 2019
Other performances during the ceremony came from artists as varied as Taylor Swift, Lizzo, the Jonas Brothers, Lil Nas X and Missy Elliott. The night's big winners were Ariana Grande, Taylor Swift and Billie Eilish with three each; the first two had both been nominated for twelve apiece.
Video of the Year went to Taylor Swift for You Need to Calm Down. Ariana Grande won Artist of the Year; BTS, Group of the Year; and Old Town Road (Remix) by Lil Nas X (feat. Billy Ray Cyrus), Song of the Year. Billie Eilish pipped Rosalía to Best New Artist, and Boyfriend by Ariana Grande and Social House to Song of the Summer.