MTV’s 2019 VMAs have been announced with Ariana Grande and Taylor Swift being the top contenders at the MTV Video Music Awards, each scoring 10 nominations. Billie Eilish received 9 nominations while Lil Nas X captured 8 nominations. Kanye West, Travis Scott, Cardi B, Solange, ROSALÍA, Drake, FKA twigs, Lizzo, BTS, J Balvin, Anderson .Paak, Lady Gaga also received noms along with many more. The full list is below.
MTV announced Tuesday that Grande and Swift will compete in eight of the same categories, including video of the year. Swift’s gay pride anthem “You Need to Calm Down” and Grande’s breezy hit about her breakups “thank u, next” are nominated for the top prize alongside Billie Eilish’s “Bad Guy,” Lil Nas X and Billy Ray Cyrus’ “Old Town Road,” 21 Savage and J. Cole’s “A Lot,” and Jonas Brothers’ “Sucker.”
Eilish, 17, came in second with nine nominations, including artist of the year. Other nominees are Grande, Cardi B, Shawn Mendes, Halsey and Jonas Brothers.
Lil Nas X, whose “Old Town Road” tied the record for most weeks at No. 1 with 16 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart this week, earned eight nominations.
The 2019 VMAs will take place at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey, on Aug. 26. Post Malone was surprisingly snubbed: He received zero nominations despite dominating on streaming services, radio and the Billboard charts in the last year.
Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper’s Oscar- and Grammy-winning hit “Shallow” picked up two nominations: song of the year and best collaboration. Boy band BTS earned four nominations, including a bid in the new best K-pop category.
And late rapper Nipsey Hussle, who posthumously won best male hip-hop artist and the Humanitarian Award at last month’s BET Awards, picked up a nomination for best hip hop for “Higher,” his song and video with DJ Khaled and John Legend.
Swift will drop her album, “Lover,” three days before the VMAs on Aug. 23, making it likely that she will attend and possibly perform at the show. Scooter Braun, who now owns Swift’s music catalog, will likely be in attendance, too: He manages top nominee Grande as well as Justin Bieber, who earned a nomination for best collaboration with Ed Sheeran for “I Don’t Care.”
Comedian and actor Sebastian Maniscalco will host the 2019 VMAs. Fan-voting begins Tuesday at vma.mtv.com.
2019 MTV VMA Full Nominations List
Video of the Year
21
Savage: “a lot” [ft. J. Cole]
Billie Eilish: “bad guy”
Ariana Grande: thank u, next”
Jonas Brothers: “Sucker”
Lil Nas X: “Old Town Road (Remix)” [ft. Billy Ray Cyrus]
Taylor Swift: “You Need to Calm Down”
Artist of the Year
Cardi B
Billie Eilish
Ariana Grande
Halsey
Jonas Brothers
Shawn Mendes
Song of the Year
Drake:
“In My Feelings”
Ariana Grande: “thank u, next”
Jonas Brothers: “Sucker”
Lady Gaga / Bradley Cooper: “Shallow”
Lil Nas X: “Old Town Road (Remix)” [ft. Billy Ray Cyrus]
Taylor Swift: “You Need to Calm Down”
Best New Artist presented by Taco Bell
Ava Max
Billie Eilish
H.E.R.
Lil Nas X
Lizzo
ROSALÍA
Best Collaboration
Lil Nas
X: “Old Town Road (Remix)” [ft. Billy Ray Cyrus]
Lady Gaga / Bradley Cooper: “Shallow”
Shawn Mendes / Camila Cabello: “Señorita”
Taylor Swift: “ME!” [ft. ft. Brendon Urie]
Ed Sheeran / Justin Bieber: “I Don’t Care”
BTS: “Boy With Luv” [ft. Halsey]
Push Artist of the Year
Bazzi
CNCO
Billie Eilish
H.E.R.
Lauv
Lizzo
Best Pop
5
Seconds of Summer: “Easier”
Cardi B / Bruno Mars: “Please Me”
Billie Eilish: “bad guy”
Khalid: “Talk”
Ariana Grande: “thank u, next”
Jonas Brothers: “Sucker”
Taylor Swift: “You Need to Calm Down”
Best Hip-Hop
2
Chainz: “Rule the World”[ft. Ariana Grande]
21 Savage: “a lot” [ft. J. Cole]
Cardi B: “Money”
DJ Khaled: “Higher” [ft. Nipsey Hussle and John Legend]
Lil Nas X: “Old Town Road (Remix)” [ft. Billy Ray Cyrus]
Travis Scott: “SICKO MODE” [ft. Drake]
Best R&B
Anderson
.Paak: “Make It Better” [ft. Smokey Robinson]
Childish Gambino: “Feels Like Summer”
H.E.R.: “Could’ve Been” [ft. Bryson Tiller]
Alicia Keys: “Raise a Man”
Ella Mai: “Trip”
Normani: “Waves” [ft. 6LACK]
Best K-Pop
BTS:
“Boy With Luv” [ft. Halsey]
BLACKPINK: “Kill This Love”
Monsta X: “Who Do You Love” [ft. French Montana]
TOMORROW X TOGETHER: “Cat & Dog”
NCT 127: “Regular”
EXO: “Tempo”
Best Latin
Anuel
AA / Karol G: “Secreto”
Bad Bunny: “MIA” [ft. Drake]
benny blanco / Tainy / Selena Gomez / J Balvin: “I Can’t Get Enough”
Daddy Yankee: “Con Calma” [ft. Snow]
Maluma: “Mala Mía”
ROSALÍA / J Balvin: “Con Altura” [ft. El Guincho]
Best Dance
The
Chainsmokers: “Call You Mine” [ft. Bebe Rexha]
Clean Bandit: “Solo” [ft. Demi Lovato]
DJ Snake: “Taki Taki” [ft. Selena Gomez, Ozuna and Cardi B]
David Guetta / Bebe Rexha / J Balvin: “Say My Name”
Marshmello / Bastille: “Happier”
Silk City / Dua Lipa: “Electricity”
Best Rock
The
1975: “Love It If We Made It”
Fall Out Boy: “Bishops Knife Trick”
Imagine Dragons: “Natural”
Lenny Kravitz: “Low”
Panic! At the Disco: “High Hopes”
twenty one pilots: “My Blood”
Video for Good
Halsey:
“Nightmare”
The Killers: “Land of the Free”
Jamie N Commons / Skylar Grey: “Runaway Train” [ft. Gallant]
John Legend: “Preach”
Lil Dicky: “Earth”
Taylor Swift: “You Need to Calm Down”
Best Direction
Billie
Eilish: “bad Guy” (dir. Dave Meyers)
FKA twigs: “Cellophane” (dir. Andrew Thomas Huang)
Ariana Grande: “thank u, next” (dir. Hannah Lux Davis)
Lil Nas X: “Old Town Road (Remix)” [ft. Billy Ray Cyrus] (dir. Calmatic)
LSD: “No New Friends” (dir. Dano Cerny)
Taylor Swift: “You Need to Calm Down” (dir. Drew Kirsch and Taylor Swift)
Best Visual Effects
Billie
Eilish: “when the party’s over” (visual effects: Ryan Ross, Andres Jaramillo)
FKA twigs: “Cellophane” (visual effects: Matt Chandler, Fabio Zaveti for
Analog)
Ariana Grande: “God is a woman” (visual effects: Fabrice Lagayette, Kristina
Prilukova & Rebecca Rice for Mathematic)
DJ Khaled: “Just Us” [ft. SZA] (visual effects: Sergii Mashevskyi)
LSD: “No New Friends” (visual effects: Ethan Chancer)
Taylor Swift: “ME!” [ft. Brendon Urie] (visual effects: Loris Paillier &
Lucas Salton for BUF VFX)
Best Editing
Anderson
.Paak: “Tints” [ft. Kendrick Lamar] (editing: Elias Talbot)
Lil Nas X ft. Billy Ray Cyrus – “Old Town Road (Remix)” (editing: Calmatic)
Billie Eilish: “bad guy” (editing: Billie Eilish)
Ariana Grande: “7 rings” (editing: Hannah Lux Davis & Taylor Walsh)
Solange: “Almeda” (editing: Solange Knowles, Vinnie Hobbs, Jonathon Proctor)
Taylor Swift: “You Need to Calm Down” (editing: Jarrett Fijal)
Best Art Direction
BTS:
“Boy With Luv” [ft. Halsey] (art direction: JinSil Park, BoNa Kim (MU:E))
Ariana Grande: “7 rings” (art direction: John Richoux)
Lil Nas X: “Old Town Road (Remix)” [ft. Billy Ray Cyrus] (art direction: Itaru
Dela Vegas)
Shawn Mendes / Camila Cabello: “Señorita” (art direction: Tatiana Van Sauter)
Taylor Swift: “You Need to Calm Down” (art direction: Brittany Porter)
Kanye West / Lil Pump: “I Love It” [ft. Adele Givens] (art direction: Tino
Schaedler)
Best Choreography
FKA
twigs: “Cellophane” (choreography: Kelly Yvonne)
ROSALÍA / J Balvin: “Con Altura” [ft. El Guincho] (choreography: Charm
La’Donna)
LSD: “No New Friends” (choreography: Ryan Heffington)
Shawn Mendes / Camila Cabello: “Señorita” (choreography: Calvit Hodge, Sara
Biv)
Solange: “Almeda” (choreography: Maya Taylor, Solange Knowles)
BTS: “Boy With Luv” [ft. Halsey] (choreography: Rie Hata)
Best Cinematography
Anderson
.Paak: “Tints” [ft. Kendrick Lamar] (cinematography: Elias Talbot)
Billie Eilish: “hostage” (cinematography: Pau Castejon)
Ariana Grande: “thank u, next” (cinematography: Christopher Probst)
Shawn Mendes / Camila Cabello: “Señorita” (cinematography: Scott Cunningham)
Solange: “Almeda” (cinematography: Chayse Irvin, Ryan Marie Helfant, Justin
Hamilton)
Taylor Swift: “ME!” [ft. Brendon Urie] (cinematography: Starr Whitesides)