Internet Stars Lele Pons, Juanpa Zurita to Host 2017 MTV Latin America Millennial Awards

Todd Spangler

Lele Pons and Juanpa Zurita, digital superstars who together reach 50 million followers across platforms, will host MTV Latin America’s 2017 MTV MIAW awards.

The duo — dubbed “#ZuriPons” online — will take over the stage at the MTV Millennial Awards (better known as MTV MIAW) next month. The fifth annual awards show will be held in Mexico City at Palacio de los Deportes arena, airing Sunday, June 4, on TV on MTV Latin America and online at MTV Play.

The MTV MIAW awards are a celebration of Latin America’s hottest trends and top influencers in pop culture, digital, music, viral videos and social media. The show will feature live performances, LatAm’s most-liked digital influencers of the moment, and appearances by socialites and celebrities. Fans worldwide can cast their votes for the winners at miaw.mtvla.com, as well as via Twitter and Facebook.

Said Pons, “I grew up watching MTV and to now be able to be part of a show where they award and celebrate the best and most successful talent of our generation is truly exciting! I’m counting down the days until I get to meet with my fans across Mexico and Latin America!”

Zurita said he’s attended every MIAW since its inception, “but as this year’s host, it’s a dream come true and I hope you’re all ready for what’s about to go down. You’re about to witness the craziest awards show in history!”

Eleonora “Lele” Pons, who counts over 25 million fans, was born in Caracas, Venezuela. She rose to fame with her comedic Vine videos, topping 1 billion views on the now-defunct platform. Pons has crossed over to other platforms including Instagram, where her videos garner between 7 million and 12 million views on average.

The 20-year-old Pons walked the runway for Dolce & Gabbana during Milan Fashion Week in February, and last year starred in her first movie, “We Love You,” on YouTube Red. Pons also scored the cover of Seventeen México and co-wrote her first book, “Surviving High School,” a novel about her experiences with bullying in school. For the 2017 MTV MIAW awards, she is nominated in the categories for “Global Instagrammer” and “Super Collab.”

Zurita, 21, a native of Mexico City, also got his start on Vine and is now one of the biggest Latin American personalities on Facebook, YouTube and Snapchat. He has four 2017 MTV MIAW nominations, including in the top category, “MIAW Icon of the Year.”

Along with Pons, Zurita also strutted the D&G runway at this year’s Milan Fashion Week. In 2016, he was recognized by GQ Mexico as the male digital star of the year and won “Mexican Snapchatter of the Year” at last year’s MTV MIAW awards. Zurita co-stars in the forthcoming film “Airplane Mode,” written by and starring Logan Paul, and appears in YouTube Red original movie “Alexander IRL” released earlier this year.

Pons is repped by UTA and managed by Shots Studios, a digital content network whose investors include Justin Bieber. Zurita signed with CAA earlier this year.

The 2016 edition of MTV MIAW registered over 106 million votes, more than 77 million impressions on social media and over 62 million page views. On MTV Latin America, the telecast ranked as one of the top 10 rated shows across pay-TV channels in Mexico and Colombia among young audiences.

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