Who run the world? Girls! (See what we did there?)
2016 is certainly shaping up to be an outstanding year for female artists as Beyoncé and Adele collect 19 VMA nominations between them.
Beyoncé’s endearing album Lemonade, released 23rd April, gained Queen B a career-best 11 nominations for videos from her visual album. Despite releasing her record-breaking single last year, Adele has received seven nominations for Hello, and eight nominations in total. Ariana Grande, even though she is only twenty-three, has gained five nominations for just one music video, Into You.
Kanye West, known for his 2009 VMA blunder in which he stole the microphone off Taylor Swift to announce that Beyoncé should have won video of the year, has received two nominations. His controversial video for song Famous, in which a selection of naked celebrities lay in bed – including rival Taylor Swift – amazingly picked up nominations for Video of the Year and Best Male Video.
Nominations by category:
Video of the Year
Adele, “Hello”
Beyoncé, “Formation”
Drake, “Hotline Bling”
Justin Bieber, “Sorry”
Kanye West, “Famous”
Best Female Video
Adele, “Hello”
Beyoncé, “Hold Up”
Sia, “Cheap Thrills”
Ariana Grande, “Into You”
Rihanna feat. Drake, “Work”
Best Male Video
Drake, “Hotline Bling”
Bryson Tiller, “Don’t”
Calvin Harris feat. Rihanna, “This Is What You Came For”
Kanye West, “Famous”
The Weeknd, “Can’t Feel My Face”
Best Collaboration
Beyoncé feat. Kendrick Lamar, “Freedom”
Fifth Harmony feat. Ty Dolla $ign, “Work From Home”
Ariana Grande feat. Lil Wayne, “Let Me Love You”
Calvin Harris feat. Rihanna, “This Is What You Came For”
Rihanna feat. Drake, “Work”
Best Hip Hop Video
Drake, “Hotline Bling”
Desiigner, “Panda”
Bryson Tiller, “Don’t”
Chance The Rapper feat. Saba, “Angels”
2 Chainz, “Watch Out”
Best Pop Video
Adele, “Hello”
Beyoncé, “Formation”
Justin Bieber, “Sorry”
Alessia Cara, “Wild Things”
Ariana Grande, “Into You”
Best Rock Video
All Time Low, “Missing You”
Coldplay, “Adventure Of A Lifetime”
Fall Out Boy feat. Demi Lovato, “Irresistible”
twenty one pilots, “Heathens”
Panic! At The Disco, “Victorious”
Best Electronic Video
Calvin Harris & Disciples, “How Deep Is Your Love”
99 Souls ft. Destiny’s Child & Brandy, “The Girl Is Mine”
Mike Posner, “I Took A Pill In Ibiza”
Afrojack, “SummerThing!”
The Chainsmokers feat. Daya, “Don’t Let Me Down”
Breakthrough Long Form Video
Florence + The Machine, The Odyssey
Beyoncé, Lemonade
Justin Bieber, PURPOSE: The Movement
Chris Brown, Royalty
Troye Sivan, Blue Neighbourhood Trilogy
Best New Artist
Bryson Tiller
Desiigner
Zara Larsson
Lukas Graham
DNCE
Best Art Direction
Beyoncé, “Hold Up”
Fergie, “M.I.L.F. $”
Drake, “Hotline Bling”
David Bowie, “Blackstar”
Adele, “Hello”
Best Choreography
Beyoncé, “Formation” (Chris Grant, JaQuel Knight, and Dana Foglia)
Missy Elliott feat. Pharrell, “WTF (Where They From)” (Hi-Hat)
Beyoncé, “Sorry” (Chris Grant, JaQuel Knight, Dana Foglia, Anthony Burrell, and Beyoncé Knowles Carter)
FKA Twigs, “M3LL155X” (FKA Twigs)
Florence + The Machine, “Delilah” (Holly Blakey)
Best Direction
Beyoncé, “Formation” (Melina Matsoukas)
Coldplay, “Up&Up” (Vania Heymann and Gal Muggia)
Adele, “Hello” (Xavier Dolan)
David Bowie, “Lazarus” (Johan Renck)
Tame Impala, “The Less I Know The Better” (Canada)
Best Cinematography
Beyoncé, “Formation” (Malik Sayeed)
Adele, “Hello” (André Turpin)
David Bowie, “Lazarus” (Crille Forsberg)
Alesso, “I Wanna Know” (Corey Jennings)
Ariana Grande, “Into You” (Paul Laufer)
Best Editing
Beyoncé, “Formation” (Jeff Selis)
Adele, “Hello” (Xavier Dolan)
Fergie, “M.I.L.F. $” (Vinnie Hobbs)
David Bowie, “Lazarus” (Johan Söderberg)
Ariana Grande, “Into You” (Hannah Lux Davis)
Best Visual Effects
Coldplay, “Up&Up” (Vania Heymann, Gloria FX and VFX House)
FKA Twigs, “M3LL155X” (Lewis Saunders and Jihoon Yoo)
Adele, “Send My Love (To Your New Lover)” (Sam Sneade)
The Weeknd, “Can’t Feel My Face” (Brewster Parsons and Bryan Smaller)
Zayn, “PILLOWTALK” (Studio Private, David Smith)
We can’t wait to see Beyoncé and Adele battle it out at this years VMAs, which takes place on 28th August at 9pm live from Madison Square Garden NYC.
In the meantime let’s rewatch Adele’s record-thrashing music video:
Let us know who you think will take home the most awards on the night @CelebMix via Twitter.