Rihanna tops MTV VMA nominees list

Katy Perry was last year’s darling of music television. She copped nine nominations at the MTV Video Music Awards (VMA) and has a Video of the Year Moonman for Firework to show for her efforts. She also got to wear a yellow gift box on her head. She is up for more trophies this year. Her gothic stunner Wide Awake is in the running for the much-coveted Video of the Year. But while she is up against other strong contenders, there is nobody who was able to duplicate Perry’s staggering nine nominations in 2011. The record holder for the most number of nominations is Lady Gaga with 13 in 2002.

On top of the list this year and definitely the acts that fans will be watching closely at the Staples Center on Sept. 6 are Rihanna and Drake who have five nominations each. Three of Drake’s are for Take Care where Rihanna is a featured artist. This is up for Video of the Year, Best Art Direction and Best Cinematography. He also has a Best Hip-Hop nod for HYFR featuring Lil Wayne. 

By some strange twist that still has to be explained, Drake is also nominated for Best Male Video for Take Care. Maybe it is not really a duet as it only features Rihanna. A duet means equal partners while featuring means a guest slot, or a cameo for the other. I do not really know which is which but this makes for some confusion. If her participation in Take Care is to be credited then Rihanna will have a total of eight nominations or even more.

Come to think of it, while there are categories for Best Female Video and Best Male Video, there is none for the bands. I find this most unfair as the groups only get to compete in the general sections like Best New Artist or Best Hip-Hop. The Solo acts get to compete in all. This deprives the deserving one extra trophy to be proud about. I would really like to see a Best Group Video in future VMAs. It would have been nice to see One Direction competing here against Fun or Gym Class Heroes. 

Anyway, Rihanna is also in the running for Video of the Year, Best Female Video and Best Pop Video for her We Found Love; Best Choreography and Best Visual Effects for Where Have You Been. I do not know how the sharing works but maybe it can also be said that Rihanna is also part of the Best Direction and Best Cinematography nods that the band Coldplay got for Princess Of China where she is a featured artist. That gives her 10 nominations and that would have surpassed Perry’s feat last year.

There are interesting newcomers to the VMAs are Gotye, Lana del Rey and Fun, who were responsible for some really big hits. But I expect them and even Rihanna and Katy to take a back seat to the kids as far as fan reaction is concerned. Loud screams will surely welcome Justin Bieber who has two nominations for his song, Boyfriend, Best Male Video and Best Pop Video. Then if there are a lot of his girl fans in the audience, there might also be some boos for his girlfriend, the lovely Selena Gomez. She is nominated for Best Female Video for Love You Like A Love Song.

And not to forget. More screams. The boy bands will be there. One Direction’s What Makes You Beautiful and The Wanted’s Glad You Came are nominees in the Best New Artist category. One Direction has already agreed to perform along with Pink and Alicia Keys. 

Remember the MTV Video Music Awards on Sept. 6, to be aired live. It will be quite a show.

The other nominees this year are:

Video of the Year: Gotye, Somebody That I Used To Know; M.I.A., Bad Girls.

New Artist Video: Fun featuring Janelle Monae, We Are Young; Carly Rae Jepsen, Call Me Maybe; Frank Ocean, Swim Good;

Hip-Hop Video: Childish Gambino, Heartbeat; Kanye West featuring Pusha T. Big Sean & 2 Chainz, Mercy; Watch The Throne, Paris; Nicki Minaj feat. 2 Chainz, Beez In The Trap.

Male Video: Frank Ocean, Swim Good; Chris Brown, Turn Up The Music; Usher, Climax.

Female Video: Katy Perry, Part Of Me; Beyoncé, Love On Top; Nicki Minaj, Starships;

Pop Video: One Direction, What Makes You Beautiful; Fun, We Are Young; Maroon 5 feat. Wiz Khalifa, Payphone.

Rock Video: Coldplay, Paradise; The Black Keys, Lonely Boy; Linkin Park, Burn It Down; Jack White, Sixteen Saltines; Imagine Dragons, It’s Time.

Electronic Dance Music Video: Duck Sauce, Big Bad Wolf; Calvin Harris, Feel So Close; Skrillex, First Of The Year (Equinox); Martin Solveig, The Night Out; Avicii, Le7els.

Video With A Message: Demi Lovato, Skyscraper; Rise Against, Ballad Of Hollis Brown; Kelly Clarkson, Dark Side; Gym Class Heroes, The Fighter; K’Naan feat. Nelly Furtado; Is Anybody Out There; Lil Wayne, How To Love.

Best Art Direction: Katy Perry, Wide Awake; Lana del Rey, Born To Die; Regina Spektor, All The Rowboats; Of Monsters & Men, Little Talks.

Best Choreography: Chris Brown, Turn Up The Mask; Beyoncé, Countdown; Avicii, Le7els; Jennifer Lopez feat. Pitbull, Dance Again.

Best Cinematography: M.I.A., Bad Girls; Adele, Someone Like You; Lana del Rey, Born To Die.

Best Direction: M.I.A., Bad Girls; Duck Sauce, Big Bad Wolf; Frank Ocean, Swim Good; Watch The Throne, Otis.

Best Editing: Beyoncé, Countdown; A$AP Rocky, Goldie; Gotye, Somebody That I Used To Know; Watch The Throne, Paris; Kanye West, Mercy.

Best Visual Effects: Katy Perry, Wide Awake; David Guetta feat. Nicki Minaj, Turn Me On; Linkin Park, Burn It Down; Skrillex, First Of The Year (Equinox).