Beyoncé & Adele Dominate 2016 MTV Video Music Awards Nominations; Taylor Swift Probably Won’t Attend
The nominees for the 2016 MTV Video Music Awards have been announced, and following her four Emmy nominations for Lemonade, Beyoncé has nabbed 11 VMAs noms — a career best — for various videos from that groundbreaking visual album. Beyoncé’s politically charged “Formation” is up for Video of the Year and Best Pop Video, while “Sorry,” “Hold Up,” and “Freedom” are also recognized in multiple categories.
Trailing Beyoncé, with an also impressive eight nods, is Adele. Her “Hello” is nominated in seven of those categories, including Video of the Year. Adele fans who hope the British diva can beat Beyoncé can vote, starting today, at vma.mtv.com — but unfortunately, they probably won’t be able to vote using a “Hello”-inspired, clamshell-style, old-school cell phone.
The other contenders in the Video of the Year race are Drake’s meme-inspiring “Hotline Bling,” Justin Bieber’s “Sorry,” and Kanye West’s NSFW “Famous, ” the latter of which ironically probably would never get past network censors, even for late-night airplay. “Famous,” which West directed, famously features nude lookalikes of assorted controversial celebrities, including Kanye’s old 2009 VMAs nemesis, Taylor Swift. “Famous” is also up for Best Male Video — alongside “This Is What You Came For” by Swift’s ex-boyfriend, Calvin Harris.
Swift appeared at last year’s VMAs, where her “Bad Blood” took home top honors, to introduce West when he received the Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award. However, considering her recent social media feuds with both West and Harris over “Famous” and “This Is What You Came For,” we have a feeling she will sit out this year’s VMAs ceremony, which airs live from New York’s Madison Square Garden on Aug. 28.
Below is the full list of 2016 MTV Video Music Awards nominations, which, it should be noted, includes four technical nods for the late David Bowie — three for his haunting swan-song video, “Lazarus.”
VIDEO OF THE YEAR
Adele – “Hello” (Director: Xavier Dolan)
Beyoncé – “Formation” (Director: Melina Matsoukas)
Drake – “Hotline Bling” (Director: Director X)
Justin Bieber – “Sorry” (Director: Parris Goebel)
Kanye West – “Famous” (Director: Kanye West)
BEST FEMALE VIDEO
Adele – “Hello”
Beyoncé – “Hold Up” (Directors: Jonas Åkerlund, Beyoncé Knowles Carter)
Sia – “Cheap Thrills” (Director: Lior Molcho)
Ariana Grande – “Into You” (Director: Hannah Lux Davis)
Rihanna ft. Drake – “Work,” short version (Director: Director X)
BEST MALE VIDEO
Drake – “Hotline Bling”
Bryson Tiller – “Don’t” (Director: Cris)
Calvin Harris ft. Rihanna – “This Is What You Came For” (Director: Emil Nava)
Kanye West – “Famous”
The Weeknd – “Can’t Feel My Face” (Director: Grant Singer)
BEST COLLABORATION
Beyoncé ft. Kendrick Lamar – “Freedom” (Directors: Beyoncé Knowles Carter, Kahlil Joseph)
Fifth Harmony ft. Ty Dolla $ign – “Work From Home” (Director: Director X)
Ariana Grande ft. Lil Wayne – “Let Me Love You” (Director: Grant Singer)
Calvin Harris ft. Rihanna – “This Is What You Came For”
Rihanna ft. Drake – “Work,” short version
BEST HIP-HOP VIDEO
Drake – “Hotline Bling”
Desiigner – “Panda” (Director: Paul Geusebroek)
Bryson Tiller – “Don’t”
Chance the Rapper ft. Saba – “Angels” (Director: Austin Vesely)
2 Chainz – “Watch Out” (Director: Motion Family)
BEST POP VIDEO
Adele – “Hello”
Beyoncé – “Formation”
Justin Bieber – “Sorry”
Alessia Cara – “Wild Things” (Director: Aaron A)
Ariana Grande – “Into You”
BEST ROCK VIDEO
All Time Low – “Missing You” (Director: Patrick Tracy)
Coldplay – “Adventure of a Lifetime” (Director: Mat Whitecross)
Fall Out Boy ft. Demi Lovato – “Irresistible” (Director: Wayne Isham)
twenty one pilots – “Heathens” (Director: Andrew Donoho)
Panic! At the Disco – “Victorious” (Director: Brandon Dermer)
BEST ELECTRONIC VIDEO
Calvin Harris & Disciples – “How Deep Is Your Love” (Director: Emil Nava)
99 Souls ft. Destiny’s Child & Brandy – “The Girl Is Mine” (Directors: Ludovic Zuili, Simon Bouisson)
Mike Posner – “I Took a Pill in Ibiza” (Director: Jon Jon Augustavo)
Afrojack – “SummerThing!” (Director: Sam Sneed)
The Chainsmokers ft. Daya – “Don’t Let Me Down” (Director: Marcus Kuhne)
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 DIRECTION
Beyoncé – “Formation” (Director: Melina Matsoukas)
Coldplay – “Up&Up” (Director: Vania Heymann, Gal Muggia)
Adele – “Hello” (Director: Xavier Dolan)
David Bowie – “Lazarus” (Director: Johan Renck)
Tame Impala – “The Less I Know the Better” (Director: Canada)
BEST ART DIRECTION
Beyoncé – “Hold Up” (Production Designer: Jason Hougaard)
Fergie – “M.I.L.F. $” (Production Designer: Alexander Delgado)
Drake – “Hotline Bling” (Production Designer: Jeremy MacFarlane)
David Bowie – “Blackstar” (Production Designer: Jan Houllevigue)
Adele – “Hello” (Production Designer: Colombe Raby)
BEST CHOREOGRAPHY
Beyoncé – “Formation” (Choreographers: Chris Grant, JaQuel Knight, Dana Foglia)
Missy Elliott ft. Pharrell – “WTF (Where They From)” (Choreographer: Hi-Hat)
Beyoncé – “Sorry” (Choreographers: Chris Grant, JaQuel Knight, Dana Foglia, Anthony Burrell, Beyoncé Knowles Carter(
FKA Twigs – “M3LL155X” (Choreographer: FKA Twigs)
Florence + The Machine – “Delilah” (Choreographer: Holly Blakey)
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Beyoncé – “Formation” (Cinematographer: Malik Sayeed)
Adele – “Hello” (Cinematographer: André Turpin)
David Bowie – “Lazarus” (Cinematographer: Crille Forsberg)
Alesso – “I Wanna Know” (Cinematographer: Corey Jennings)
Ariana Grande – “Into You” (Cinematographer: Paul Laufer)
BEST EDITING
Beyoncé – “Formation” (Editor: Jeff Selis)
Adele – “Hello” (Editor: Xavier Dolan)
Fergie – “M.I.L.F. $” (Editor: Vinnie Hobbs)
David Bowie – “Lazarus” (Editor: Johan Söderberg)
Ariana Grande – “Into You” (Editor: Hannah Lux Davis)
BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
Coldplay – “Up&Up” (VFX Editor: Vania Heymann)
FKA Twigs – “M3LL155X” (VFX Editors: Lewis Saunders, Jihoon Yoo)
Adele – “Send My Love (To Your New Lover)” (VFX Editor: Sam Sneade)
The Weeknd – “Can’t Feel My Face” (VFX Editor: Bryan Smaller)
Zayn – “Pillowtalk” (VFX Editor: David Smith)
