Justin Timberlake gets most Noms for VMAs

MTV today revealed the nominations for the 30th annual MTV “Video Music Awards” taking place at the Barclays Center, Brooklyn, USA on Sunday 25 August.

Today, at 2pm CAT, the VMA’s most coveted award, “Video of the Year”, was unveiled via the @MTV Instagram and Vine video accounts – making the VMAs the first awards show to announce nominations via these social media video platforms.

Justin Timberlake’s “Mirrors”,Macklemore & Ryan Lewis’ “Thrift Shop”, Bruno Mars’ “Locked Out of Heaven”, Robin Thicke’s “Blurred Lines” featuring T.I. and Pharrell, andTaylor Swift’s “I Knew You Were Trouble”, are set for an epic battle to take home “Video of the Year”.

Previous “Video of the Year” winners have included R.E.M’s “Losing My Religion”, Pearl Jam’s “Jeremy”, Madonna’s “Ray of Light”, Eminem’s “Without Me”, Lady Gaga’s “Bad Romance” and Beyoncé’s “Single Ladies (Put a Ring On It)”.

Justin Timberlake and Macklemore & Ryan Lewis lead this year’s VMA pack with six overall nominations each.

Timberlake’s nominations include “Video of the Year”, “Best Male Video”, “Best Pop Video” and “Best Editing” for “Mirrors”, while his “Suit & Tie” featuring JAY Z, scored nods for “Best Collaboration” and “Best Direction”.

Previously, Timberlake has taken home seven Video Music Awards, including “Best Pop Video” for “Cry Me A River”.

Fresh off their show-stopping performance at the MTV Movie Awards, Macklemore & Ryan Lewis score their first-ever Video Music Award nominations with six nods (tying Timberlake in total nods) including “Video of the Year” for their smash hit “Thrift Shop”, “Best Hip-Hop Video”, “Best Cinematography”, “Best Direction” and “Best Editing” for “Can’t Hold Us featuring Ray Dalton”, while “Same Love” received a nod for "Best Video with a Social Message".

As a previous performer at the 2011 “Video Music Awards,” Bruno Mars continues his hugely successful VMA run by garnering four nominations this year including “Video of the Year”, “Best Pop Video”, and “Best Male Video” for “Locked Out of Heaven”, and “Best Choreography” for the smooth summer groove, “Treasure”.

P!nk, Robin Thicke, Miley Cyrus and Thirty Seconds to Mars are each up for three Video Music Awards. P!nk’s powerful “Just Give Me A Reason” featuring Nate Ruess garnered multiple nominations for “Best Female Video”, “Best Collaboration” and “Best Editing”.

Robin Thicke’ssexy video for “Blurred Lines” feat T.I. and Pharrell received VMA nods for “Video of the Year”, “Best Male Video” and “Best Collaboration”.Miley Cyrus’ millennial anthem “We Can’t Stop” is up for “Best Female Video”, “Best Pop Video” and “Best Editing” while Thirty Seconds To Mars’ “Up In The Air” received nominations for “Best Rock Video”, “Best Art Direction” and “Best Cinematography”.

Other notable nominees receiving multiple 2013 Video Music Award nods range from the worlds of Pop, Hip-Hop, EDM, R&B and Rock and include previously nominated artists such as Taylor Swift, Drake, fun., Calvin Harris, and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs as well as first-time VMA nominees Kendrick Lamar, Lana Del Rey, The Weeknd and Capital Cities.

This year, the VMA for “Best New Artist” has been re-named “Artist to Watch”. This change was inspired by the positive response to MTV'sArtist to Watch campaign, a new music discovery initiative across all of MTV's television channels, websites and social networks.

The nominees for “Artist to Watch” are: Twenty One Pilots for “Holding On To You”, Zedd featuring Foxes for “Clarity”, Austin Mahone for “What About Love”, The Weeknd for “Wicked Games” and Iggy Azalea for “Work”.

Previous “Best New Artist” VMA winners have included iconic names in music such as Eurythmics, Guns N’ Roses, Nirvana, Eminem, Alicia Keys, Lady Gaga, Justin Bieber and One Direction. Celebrating the union between music and social activism, the nominees for this year’s “Best Video with a Social Message” include Kelly Clarkson’s “People Like Us”, Macklemore & Ryan Lewis’ “Same Love”, Snoop Lion’s “No Guns Allowed”, Miguel’s “Candles in the Sun” andBeyoncé’s “I Was Here”.

First debuting in 2011, this category is presented in conjunction with MTV Act, which spotlights young people and celebrities who are taking positive action. Every artist who wins a 2013 Video Music Award will take home a limited-edition KAWS Moonman, created exclusively for this year’s historic show set to take place in Brooklyn for the first time ever.

Beginning today, fans can vote in general VMA categories, including “Video of the Year”, “Artist to Watch”, and more by visiting mtv.co.za. In addition, “Artist to Watch” is available for voting via MTV’s official Facebook page, www.facebook.com/MTV.

The show will air on MTV Base (DStv Channel 322) at 16:00 CAT on Tuesday 27 August.