MUMBAI: MTV has announced the list of nominees for this year’s Video Music Awards (VMAs), and leading the pack with nine nominations is pop superstar Taylor Swift. The ‘Shake It Off’ singer has been nominated in several categories for her two latest tracks.
Swift’s ‘Blank Space’ has been nominated in two categories- Best Female Video and Best Pop Video. Meanwhile, ‘Bad Blood’, which features rapper Kendrick Lamar, has been nominated for Video of the Year, Best Collaboration, Best Art Direction, Best Cinematography, Best Direction, Best Editing and Best Visual Effects.
Coming in second with six VMA nominations is British singer/songwriter- Ed Sheeran. The BRIT award winner’s chart topping track ‘Thinking Out Loud’ has been nominated for Video of the Year, Best Male Video, Best Pop Video and Best Cinematography. Sheeran’s other track ‘Don’t’ has also found a way into the nominations for Best Choreography and Best Editing.
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Along with being nominated for his collaboration with Swift (Bad Blood), Lamar has earned three solo nominations for his track ‘Alright’. The track’s music video has been nominated for Video of the Year, Best Hip Hop Video and Best Male Video.
Mark Ronson and Bruno Mars’ track ‘Uptown Funk’ has earned a total of five VMA nominations for Video of the Year, Best Male Video, Best Pop Video, Best Collaboration and Best Direction.
Beyonce’s ‘7/11’ has received for nominations for Video of the Year, Best Pop Video, Best Choreography and Best Female Video, where she faces competition from Swift, Nicki Minaj (Anaconda), Sia (Elastic Heart) and Ellie Goulding (Love Me Like You Do). Minaj’s ‘Anaconda’ has also been nominated for Best Hip Hop Video, competing against Lamar, Fetty Wap (Trap Queen), Wiz Khalifa ft. Charlie Puth (See You Again) and Big Sean ft. E-40 (I Don’t F**k With You).
Irish singer/songwriter Hozier has two VMA nominations for his track ‘Take Me To Church). The video has been picked up for Best Direction and Best Rock Video, where it has been pitted against Florence and the Machine’s ‘Ship To Wreck’, Arctic Monkeys’ ‘Why’d You Only Call Me When You’re High?’, Fall Out Boy’s ‘Uma Thurman’ and Walk the Moon’s ‘Shut Up and Dance’.
Three other British artists- George Ezra (Budapest), James Bay (Hold Back the River) and FKA Twigs (Pendulum) have found their way into the Artist to Watch category. They take on Vance Joy (Riptide) and Fetty Wap (Trap Queen).
The nominations were first announced on Apple’s Beats 1 radio show. MTV has also put out a 30-second video which features all of the nominees.
While performances for the award function are yet to be revealed, pop singer Miley Cyrus has been announced as the host for the VMAs.
Check out the full list of nominees here.
