MTV VMA’s: Kanye West, Rihanna and Brittany Spears anticipated showing

mtv vmas kanye west rihanna featured and britney spears back again 2016 images

MTV VMA's: Kanye West, Rihanna and Brittany Spears anticipated showing 2016 images

The MTV Video Music Awards aka MTV VMA’s are back again, and we know what that means.

Who’s going to make the biggest spectacle of themselves this year? What will Kanye West do without Taylor Swift in attendance? Will Beyoncé serve up some “Lemonade” for a surprise? It’s been the worst-kept secret that she’ll be showing up as she’s been reportedly seen at the rehearsal studio many times this past week. I personally would love to see her do “Sorry” as that’s my favorite on the “Lemonade” album. I can’t resist putting it on repeat.

Or could Taylor Swift man up to face Kanye and Kim Kardashian in a surprise showing?

That’s the beauty of the MTV VMA’s; you never know what is going to happen. Even if some of the shocks were well rehearsed like Sasha Baren Cohen’s lap dance for Eminem, they always feel spontaneous.

The show is returning to New York City on Sunday, where Beyoncé is the leading nominee with 11, though it’s not confirmed if she will or won’t attend the show. She outshined her peers at the 2014 VMAs, closing the show with a 16-minute medley of songs from her self-titled surprise album that dominated that night.

kanye west steals spotlight from taylor swift

West has had even more history with the awards show: He famously jumped onstage and stole Taylor Swift’s microphone at the 2009 show and last year gave an 11-minute speech onstage – after being introduced by Swift – and announced he was going to run for president in 2020.

He’ll have another chance to own the night since his controversial “Famous” music video – featuring what appears to be naked images of West, Swift, Kim Kardashian and Donald Trump – is nominated for best male video and video of the year.

kanye west featured at mtv vmas 2016

Beyoncé’s “Formation,” Justin Bieber‘s “Sorry,” Drake‘s “Hotline Bling” and Adele’s “Hello” are also up for the top prize. Adele, though, won’t attend the show at Madison Square Garden, her representative said. Reps for Drake and Bieber didn’t return emails asking if they would or would not attend the show.

Rihanna will receive the Michael Jackson Video Vanguard award and kick off the show with a performance. The VMAs will air live on MTV at 9 p.m.

Other performers include Britney Spears, Ariana Grande with Nicki Minaj, Future, Nick Jonas and The Chainsmokers.

Everyone is excited as it’s being called Britney Spears VMA comeback. The pop princess, 34, will deliver her first VMA performance in nearly a decade on Sunday night. Spears will be joined on stage by rapperG-Eazy to perform their collaboration “Make Me…” from her recently released album Glory. The “I’m a Slave 4 U” songstress, who has been a VMA staple since kicking off her career in 1998, admitted earlier this week that she’s nervous to make her return.

Presenters include Jimmy Fallon, Alicia Keys, Puff Daddy and the recent Olympian gold medalists Michael Phelps and the Final Five gymnasts – Simone Biles, Gabby Douglas, Laurie Hernandez, Madison Kocian and Aly Raisman.

Nominees for best female video include Beyoncé, Adele, Rihanna, Sia and Grande. The best male video nominees are West, Drake, the Weeknd, Bryson Tiller and Calvin Harris, whose nomination is for “This is What You Came For,” which he co-wrote with former girlfriend Swift.

Coldplay, Desiigner, Fergie and Alessia Cara earned multiple nominations, while David Bowie – who died from cancer earlier this year – is nominated for best direction, cinematography, art direction and editing for “Lazarus.” The music video, which shows him looking frail in bed with bandaged eyes, was released just days before the icon’s Jan. 10 death.