The VMA 2016 Nominations: The Taylor Snub And The Massive Talking Points

The VMAs has snubbed before, and will snub again. Know this, be wary of this. Given half the chance, The VMAs will snub you and everyone you love.

In 2009 the awards ceremony snubbed Beyoncé’s video for ‘Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It)’ and instead gave Best Female Video to young Taylor Swift’s ‘You Belong With Me’. Kanye West, famously, took umbrage at this snub. Well, perhaps he will take solace in the knowledge that it is now the turn of Taylor Swift to be snubbed. The snubber becomes the snubbee, the world continues to turn, a butterfly breaks free of its pupa and flaps its wings for the very first time, Richard Madeley does his Ali G impression at the kitchen table for his daughter’s new boyfriend, ashes to ashes and dust to dust.

Yes, Taylor has NO nominations, despite releasing no less than eligible six videos. But that’s not the only talking point at this year’s VMAs…

Bey is in the lead

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Eleven nominations for Beyoncé, including ‘Video Of The Year’ for ‘Formation’ and Best Female Video for ‘Hold Up’. When she said, “I slay”, she was not fucking with you.

Adele is saying “Hello” to a lot of nominations

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Eight, to be precise. Hello, Video Of The Year. Hello, Best Female Video, Hello, Best Pop Video. Hello, Best Art Direction. Hello, Best Direction. Hello, Best Cinematography. Hello, Best Editing. Hello, Best Visual Effects. Hello, repetitive strain injury from writing down all these nominations.

The Taylor snub is not a konspiracy

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It has been suggested on social media that the VMAs have sided with Kimye in their war against Taylor, which is obviously ridiculous. Tay was nominated for 10 gongs last year and won four, so maybe the ceremony thought they’d give someone else a go?

That said, Kanye’s nomination seems unwise

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Kanye’s video for ‘Famous’, a 10-minute gag-fest that sees the camera linger uncomfortably on nude waxworks of famous people including Taylor and Donald Trump, is clearly highly morally objectionable and never should have been acknowledged. And beside that, Aziz Ansari’s version is way better.

‘Hotline Bling’ is still hot

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Drake The Human Meme knew what he was doing when he made the endlessly bloggable video for ‘Hotline Bling’ but it seems we still haven’t wrung all the fun out of it yet: the clip’s up for six nominations.

David Bowie lives!

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The late genius is up for some gongs for his ‘Lazarus’ video: Best Direction, Best Cinematography, Best Editing. Let’s hope they do the right thing.

The VMAs will be held on August 28 at Madison Square Garden in New York. And here are the nominations in full:

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 [ft. Drake] – ‘Work’ (short version)

Best Male Video:

Drake – ‘Hotline Bling’
Bryson Tiller – ‘Don’t’
Calvin Harris [ft. Rihanna] – ‘This Is What You Came For’
Kanye West – ‘Famous’
The Weeknd – ‘Can’t Feel My Face’

Best Collaboration:

Beyoncé [ft. Kendrick Lamar] – ‘Freedom’
Fifth Harmony [ft. Ty Dolla $ign] – ‘Work From Home’
Ariana Grande [ft. Lil Wayne] – ‘Let Me Love You’
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’
Bryson Tiller – ‘Don’t’
Chance the Rapper – ‘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 [ft. Demi Lovato] – ‘Irresistable’
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 [ft. Daya] – ‘Don’t Let Me Down’

Breakthrough Long Form Video:

Florence and the Machine – The Odyssey
Beyoncé – Lemonade
Justin Bieber – PURPOSE – The Movement
Chris Brown – Royalty
Troye Sivan – Blue Neighborhood 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’
Missy Elliott [ft. Pharrell] – ‘WTF (Where They From)’
Beyoncé – ‘Sorry’
FKA twigs – ‘M3LL155X’
Florence and the Machine – ‘Delilah’

Best Direction:

Beyoncé – ‘Formation’
Coldplay – ‘Up&Up’
Adele – ‘Hello’
David Bowie – ‘Lazarus’
Tame Impala – ‘The Less I Know the Better’

Best Cinematography:

Beyoncé – ‘Formation’
Adele – ‘Hello’
David Bowie – ‘Lazarus’
Alesso – ‘I Wanna Know’
Ariana Grande – ‘Into You’

Best Editing:

Beyoncé – ‘Formation’
Adele – ‘Hello’
Fergie – ‘M.I.L.F.$’
David Bowie – ‘Lazarus’
Ariana Grande – ‘Into You’

Best Visual Effects:

Coldplay – ‘Up&Up’
FKA twigs – ‘M3LL155X’
Adele – ‘Send My Love (To Your New Lover)’
The Weeknd – ‘Can’t Feel My Face’
Zayn – ‘PILLOWTALK’

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