The Teen Choice Award was conceived by Fox executive producers Michael Burg and Bob Bain. They wanted to create an award show geared toward a teen demographic, similar to the Nickelodeon Kids’ Choice Awards in terms of determining winners and to the MTV award shows in terms of style and format of the award ceremony.
The first Teen Choice Awards ceremony took place in 1999 at the Barker Hangar at Santa Monica Airport. The inaugural show was introduced by Britney Spears and featured performances by Christina Aguilera, Blink-182, NSYNC and Gloria Estefan, and Britney Spears. The ceremony has been held every summer since then, typically in late July or early August. The show has changed several venues over the years. As of 2017, it is held at the Galen Center in Los Angeles, California.
Originally, teens voted using ballots printed in teen-oriented magazines or cast their votes online via Fox.com. In 2008, Fox launched Teenchoiceawards.com as the official website for the TCA. Votes are now cast online through teenchoice.com, Twitter, or mobile app. Voting is open to the 50 US states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the US Virgin Islands.
All nominations are divided into several large categories: Movies, Television, Movies and Television, Music, Digital, Fashion, Sports, and Miscellaneous. Some years, special awards are given for certain achievements. They have included Extraordinary Achievement, Courage Award, Ultimate Choice Award, Visionary Award, Acuvue Inspire Award, Candie’s Style Icon, and Decade Award.
Instead of a traditional trophy, individual winners receive genuine custom-made surfboards, with a new design created each year. The surfboard was chosen as a symbol of the summer vacation for teenagers. Some winners have actually used their TCA surfboards to surf.
Photo: teenchoice.com
