Beyonce, Adele lead 2016 MTV VMA nominations

Beyonce and Adele lead the 2016 MTV Video Music Awards (VMA) nominations. The nominations were revealed Tuesday (July 26th) on Facebook Live, and the Video of the Year noms were even painted onto a panoramic mural in New York’s East Village.

Beyonce is up for 11 awards, including Video of the Year for “Formation” and the newest VMA category, Breakthrough Long Form Video, for her groundbreaking HBO special Lemonade. Eleven is the most nominations the singer has ever gotten in a single year.

Adele comes in second with a total of eight nominations, seven of which are for her iconic “Hello” visual, including Video of the Year. Drake’s “Hotline Bling,” Justin Bieber’s “Sorry,” and Kanye West’s “Famous” are also up for Video of the Year.

The 2016 MTV Video Music Awards will air live from Madison Square Garden on Sunday, August 28th at 9 p.m. ET/PT.

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 ft. 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 ft. 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 ft. 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

Presented by Taco Bell

Bryson Tiller
Desiigner
Zara Larsson
Lukas Graham
DNCE

PROFESSIONAL CATEGORIES

Presented by Orbit Gum

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” (Choreographer: Chris Grant, JaQuel Knight, Dana Foglia)
Missy Elliott ft. Pharrell – “WTF (Where They From)” (Choreographer: Hi-Hat)
Beyoncé – “Sorry” (Choreographer: 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 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 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 Editor: 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)

Buddy Iahn
Buddy Iahn

Buddy Iahn founded The Music Universe when he decided to juxtapose his love of web design and music. As a lifelong drummer, he decided to take a hiatus from playing music to report it. The website began as a fun project in 2013 to one of the top independent news sites. Email: info@themusicuniverse.com