Ariana Grande, Taylor Swift are leading nominees for VMAs awards show in Newark

by JAY LUSTIG
VMA nominees

Ariana Grande and Taylor Swift are the leading nominees for MTV’s 2019 VMA awards.

Ariana Grande and Taylor Swift will be among the leading nominees at MTV’s 2019 Video Music Awards (VMA) show, which will take place at the Prudential Center in Newark, Aug. 26. Grande will be touring in Europe that week, though, so it would seem unlikely that she’ll attend (on the other hand, she doesn’t have a show on the 26th, so it may be possible for her to get there).

(AUG. 9 UPDATE: Swift has been confirmed as one of the show’s performers.)

Grande and Swift have 10 nominations each. They’re followed by Billie Ellish, with nine nominations, Lil Nas X, with eight, Halsey, with six; Shawn Mendes, with five; and Camila Cabello, Cardi B, The Jonas Brothers, BTS and J Balvin, with four each.

There are two new categories this year: K-Pop and Video for Good.

Comedian Sebastian Maniscalco will host the show.

From today to Aug. 15, fans can cast votes at vma.mtv.com.

Here is the complete list of nominees:

VIDEO OF THE YEAR
21 Savage featuring J. Cole, “a lot”
Billie Eilish, “Bad Guy”
Ariana Grande, “thank u, next”
Jonas Brothers, “Sucker”
Lil Nas X featuring Billy Ray Cyrus, “Old Town Road (Remix)”
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 and Bradley Cooper, “Shallow”
Lil Nas X featuring Billy Ray Cyrus, “Old Town Road (Remix)”
Taylor Swift, “You Need to Calm Down”

NEW ARTIST
Ava Max
Billie Eilish
H.E.R.
Lil Nas X
Lizzo
Rosalía

COLLABORATION
Lil Nas X featuring Billy Ray Cyrus, “Old Town Road (Remix)”
Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper, “Shallow”
Shawn Mendes and Camila Cabello, “Señorita”
Taylor Swift featuring Brendon Urie of Panic! At the Disco, “ME!”
Ed Sheeran and Justin Bieber, “I Don’t Care”
BTS featuring Halsey, “Boy With Luv”

PUSH ARTIST OF THE YEAR (emerging artist)
Bazzi
CNCO
Billie Eilish
H.E.R.
Lauv
Lizzo

POP
5 Seconds of Summer, “Easier”
Cardi B and 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”

HIP-HOP
2 Chainz featuring Ariana Grande, “Rule the World”
21 Savage featuring J. Cole, “a lot”
Cardi B, “Money”
DJ Khaled featuring Nipsey Hussle & John Legend, “Higher”
Lil Nas X featuring Billy Ray Cyrus, “Old Town Road (Remix)”
Travis Scott featuring Drake, “Sicko Mode”

R&B
Anderson .Paak featuring Smokey Robinson, “Make It Better”
Childish Gambino, “Feels Like Summer”
H.E.R. featuring Bryson Tiller, “Could’ve Been”
Alicia Keys, “Raise a Man”
Ella Mai, “Trip”
Normani featuring 6lack, “Waves”

K-POP
BTS featuring Halsey, “Boy With Luv”
Blackpink, “Kill This Love”
Monsta X featuring French Montana, “Who Do You Love”
Tomorrow X Together, “Cat & Dog”
NCT 127, “Regular”
EXO, “Tempo”

LATIN
Anuel AA, Karol G, “Secreto”
Bad Bunny featuring Drake, “MIA”
Benny Blanco, Tainy, Selena Gomez, J Balvin, “I Can’t Get Enough”
Daddy Yankee featuring. Snow, “Con Calma”
Maluma, “Mala Mía”
Rosalía and J Balvin featuring El Guincho, “Con Altura”

DANCE
The Chainsmokers featuring Bebe Rexha, “Call You Mine”
Clean Bandit featuring Demi Lovato, “Solo”
DJ Snake featuring Selena Gomez, Ozuna and Cardi B, “Taki Taki”
David Guetta, Bebe Rexha and J Balvin, “Say My Name”
Marshmello and Bastille, “Happier”
Silk City and Dua Lipa, “Electricity”

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 featuring Gallant, “Runaway Train”
John Legend, “Preach”
Lil Dicky, “Earth”
Taylor Swift, “You Need to Calm Down”

DIRECTION
Billie Eilish, “Bad Guy” (directed by Dave Meyers)
FKA Twigs, “Cellophane” (directed by Andrew Thomas Huang)
Ariana Grande, “thank you, next” (directed by Hannah Lux Davis)
Lil Nas X featuring Billy Ray Cyrus, “Old Town Road (Remix)” (directed by Calmatic)
LSD featuring Labrinth, Sia, Diplo, “No New Friends” (directed by Dano Cerny)
Taylor Swift, “You Need to Calm Down” (directed by Drew Kirsch and Taylor Swift)

VISUAL EFFECTS
Billie Eilish, “when the party’s over,” (visual effects by Ryan Ross, Andres Jaramillo)
FKA Twigs, “Cellophane” (visual effects by Matt Chandler, Fabio Zaveti for Analog)
Ariana Grande, “God Is a Woman” (visual effects by Fabrice Lagayette, Kristina Prilukova and Rebecca Rice for Mathematic)
DJ Khaled featuring SZA, “Just Us” (visual effects by Sergii Mashevskyi)
LSD featuring Labrinth, Sia, Diplo, “No New Friends” (visual effects by Ethan Chancer)
Taylor Swift featuring Brendon Urie of Panic! At the Disco, “ME!” (visual effects by Loris Paillier & Lucas Salton for BUF VFX)

EDITING
Anderson .Paak featuring Kendrick Lamar, “Tints” (editing by Elias Talbot)
Lil Nas X featuring Billy Ray Cyrus, “Old Town Road (Remix)” (editing by Calmatic)
Billie Eilish, “Bad Guy” (editing by Billie Eilish)
Ariana Grande, “7 Rings” (editing by Hannah Lux Davis and Taylor Walsh)
Solange, “Almeda” (editing by Solange Knowles, Vinnie Hobbs, Jonathon Proctor)
Taylor Swift,“You Need to Calm Down” (editing by Jarrett Fijal)

ART DIRECTION
BTS featuring Halsey, “Boy With Luv” (art direction by JinSil Park, BoNa Kim)
Ariana Grande, “7 Rings” (art direction by John Richoux)
Lil Nas X featuring Billy Ray Cyrus, “Old Town Road (Remix)” (art direction by Itaru Dela Vegas)
Shawn Mendes and Camila Cabello, “Señorita” (art direction by Tatiana Van Sauter)
Taylor Swift, “You Need to Calm Down,” (art direction by Brittany Porter)
Kanye West and Lil’ Pump featruing Adele Givens, “I Love It” (art direction by Tino Schaedler)

CHOREOGRAPHY
FKA Twigs, “Cellophane” (choreography by Kelly Yvonne)
Rosalía and J Balvin featuring El Guincho, “Con Altura” (choreography by Charm La’Donna)
LSD featuring Labrinth, Sia, Diplo, “No New Friends” (choreography by Ryan Heffington)
Shawn Mendes and Camila Cabello, “Señorita” (choreography by Calvit Hodge, Sara Biv)
Solange, “Almeda” (choreography by Maya Taylor, Solange Knowles)
BTS featuring Halsey, “Boy With Luv”(choreography by Rie Hata)

CINEMATOGRAPHY
Anderson .Paak featuring Kendrick Lamar, “Tints” (cinematography by Elias Talbot)
Billie Eilish, “hostage” (cinematography by Pau Castejon)
Ariana Grande, “thank you, next” (cinematography by Christopher Probst)
Shawn Mendes and Camila Cabello, “Señorita” (cinematography by Scott Cunningham)
Solange, “Almeda” (cinematography by Chayse Irvin, Ryan Marie Helfant, Justin Hamilton)
Taylor Swift featuring Brendon Urie of Panic! At the Disco, “ME!” (cinematography by Starr Whitesides)

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