MTV’s annual Video Music Awards is set to air Sunday night and promises to highlight some of the biggest acts in music today.
Aug. 24 (UPI) — MTV’s annual Video Music Awards is set to air Sunday night and promises to highlight some of the biggest acts in music today.
Katy Perry will host the star-studded event and Pink is set to receive the Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award .
Kendrick Lamar leads the pack in VMA nominations with eight including Video of the Year, Best Hip Hop, Best Cinematography, Best Direction, Best Art Direction, Best Visual Effects and Best Choreography for his video for “HUMBLE.” Behind Lamar is Perry and The Weeknd who both scored five nominations each.
The VMAs have also added a new award category titled Best Fight Against the System that celebrates videos that inspire viewers to stand up against injustice. The nominees in the new section include Logic ft. Damian Lemar Hudson for “Black SpiderMan, ” The Hamilton Mixtape for “Immigrants (We Get the Job Done) , ” Big Sean for “Light, ” Cara for “Scars to your Beautiful, ” Taboo ft. Shailene Woodley for “Stand Up/Stand N Rock #NoDAPL and John Legend for “Surefire.”
Taylor Swift is rumored to be making an appearance following the announcement of her sixth studio album Reputation that arrives in November.
How to watch
Time: Red carpet coverage begins Sunday at 6: 15 p.m. EST on MTV with a pre-show hosted by rapper Lil Yachty and MTV’s Charlamagne Tha God, Terrence J and Gaby Wilson, with performances from Bleachers, Khalid and Cardi B. Users can stream the event starting at 7 p.m. EST before the festivities begin at 8 p.m. EST.
Where: The Forum in Inglewood, Calif.
Network: MTV
Online, live: Red Carpet on mtv.com/vma; the full show on MTV Live
Musical performances: Perry is pulling double-duty and will also be performing along with Pink, Miley Cyrus, Ed Sheeran, Lorde, Lamar, Fifth Harmony, The Weeknd, Shawn Mendes, Thirty Seconds to Mars, Khalid, Post Malone, Gucci Mane, Julia Michaels, Logic; and Rod Stewart with DNCE to perform a remade version of Stewart’s 1978 hit “Da Ya Think I’m Sexy.”
Nominees: Kendrick Lamar, The Weeknd, Bruno Mars, Sheeran, Ariana Grande and Lorde are up for Artist of the Year as the VMAs take a page from the MTV Movie & TV Awards and has eliminated gendered categories. Video of the Year nominees include Mars for “24K Magic, ” Alessia Cara for “Scars To Your Beautiful, ” DJ Khaled ft. Rihanna & Bryson Tiller for “Wild Thoughts, ” and The Weeknd for “Reminder.”
