VMAS 2021 NOMINATIONS ARE HERE!

 A few days ago the MTV Video Music Awards nominations were revealed. This year's ceremony will take place on September the 12th in New York.

It feels like 2021 didn't have a lot of big music videos... Only having memorable moments with Olivia Rodrigo's Drivers License and Lil Nas X's 'Call Me By Your Name'. 

Let's get into the nominations!

BEST POP:On the one hand, Har

ry Styles earns a nomination for TPWK. It seems like MTV is trying to balance out after last year he only received nominations in the technical categories. On the other hand, Justin Bieber, who leads the nominations with seven, is nominated here for Peaches. It's surprising when the song is included on Spotify's 'Are and Be' playlist...Guess this is another attempt of Justin Bieber trying to do R&B and so could tell Ariana with positions, which is also nominated. Olivia Rodrigo and Taylor Swift receive the expectable nominations and Shawn Mendes gets a nomination for a worked video, but not in accordance to the success of the song . Maybe, The Weeknd's Save Your Tears could have been included here or Dua Lipa's Levitating.

Ariana Grande -- "positions"

Billie Eilish -- "Therefore I Am"

BTS -- "Butter" -- BIGHIT MUSIC

Harry Styles -- "Treat People With Kindness"

Justin Bieber ft. Daniel Caesar, Giveon -- "Peaches"

Olivia Rodrigo -- "good 4 u"

Shawn Mendes -- "Wonder"

Taylor Swift -- "willow"

VIDEO OF THE YEAR:Cardi B gets a nomination with the crafted and expensive video for WAP, while DJ Khaled gets an unexpected nomination for POPSTAR. I wonder who remembers this video as a significant video of the year 2020. Unexpected again is the Ed Sheeran nomination, that included a great digital-vampire-transformation. Ed's big comeback hasn't been as big as his return in 2017. It surprises me because I would have expected it to appear on the pop category. Even if Doja Cat and SZA's Kiss Me More is a hit for the rapper, I would have expected it to appear in the pop or R&B category. At least, Lil  Nas X and The Weeknd get nominations here. The MTV support to Lil Nas X could symbolise a rejection to homophobia in the hip-hop culture, even more if we consider that the ceremony will be on NYC, hometown of the VMAS and part of  the Hip-hop culture. 

Cardi B ft. Megan Thee Stallion -- "WAP"

DJ Khaled ft. Drake -- "POPSTAR" (Starring Justin Bieber)

Doja Cat ft. SZA -- "Kiss Me More"

Ed Sheeran -- "Bad Habits"

Lil Nas X -- "MONTERO (Call Me By Your Name)"

The Weeknd -- "Save Your Tears"

ARTIST OF THE YEAR:The nominees here, except from Olivia Rodrigo, seem not to fill the name of the category. Even if Ariana Grande had a number one with 'positions', this era hasn't been as successful as the Thank u next one. Nominating Justin Bieber here feels like the MTV wants to give him back his past splendour with Purpose. The Megan Thee Stallion nom would have seemed more proper last year ...The same happens with Doja Cat.

Ariana Grande

Doja Cat

Justin Bieber

Megan Thee Stallion

Olivia Rodrigo

Taylor Swift

SONG OF THE YEAR:Somebody remembers 24kgoldn!! and his late summer success with Mood. Dua gets a nomination here to compensate last year's snub (Fast how they've eliminated DaBaby of every nomination). Like it or not, Olivia gets a deserved nomination on this one. Kind of surprising is the Silk Sonic nomination here. It would have fit better on the R&B category. 

24kGoldn ft. iann dior -- "Mood"

Bruno Mars, Anderson .Paak, Silk Sonic -- "Leave The Door Open"

BTS -- "Dynamite"

Cardi B ft. Megan Thee Stallion -- "WAP"

Dua Lipa -- "Levitating"

Olivia Rodrigo -- "drivers license"

BEST NEW ARTIST: Giveon gets a nomination here... Let's see if he can have another on on the Grammys too. I'm pretty satisfied with the nominees on this one, even Saweetie has been around for a few years.

24kGoldn 

Giveon 

The Kid LAROI 

Olivia Rodrigo 

Polo G 

Saweetie 

BEST COLLABORATION: Again, someone has remembers Mood and Drake's Laugh Now Cry Later. Fortunately, they decided to nominate the 80s-inspired (and underrated) Dua and Miley collaboration.

24kGoldn ft. iann dior -- "Mood"

Cardi B ft. Megan Thee Stallion -- "WAP"

Doja Cat ft. SZA -- "Kiss Me More"

Drake ft. Lil Durk -- "Laugh Now Cry Later"

Justin Bieber ft. Daniel Caesar, Giveon -- "Peaches"

Miley Cyrus ft. Dua Lipa -- "Prisoner"

BEST ROCK:There are some good surprises in this category:John Mayer gets a nomination for the first single of his project Sob Rock, Last Train Home (directed by Midland's Cameron Duddy). The Killers also get a deserved nomination for MOSW (We don't know which one is nominated. There are two versions of this video).

Evanescence -- "Use My Voice"

Foo Fighters -- "Shame Shame"

John Mayer -- "Last Train Home"

The Killers -- "My Own Soul's Warning"

Kings Of Leon -- "The Bandit"

Lenny Kravitz -- "Raise Vibration"

BEST LATIN: Someone has remembered Maluma's success with Hawái. Even he ruled Billboard's Hot Latin Songs for several weeks, it seems quite far. The nominees seem like the MTV is awarding the song and not the video. Maybe we could highlight the scene of Bad Bunny in the mirror room, the powerful shots on Bichota, to make her look like a queen or the Úrsula Corberó starred video of ONE DAY. 

The MTV seems to be pulling for Rosalía and Billie Eilish collaboration, even if it was a little bit disappointing. I wonder if this rain of nominations benefit their careers.

Bad Bunny x Jhay Cortez -- "Dákiti"

Billie Eilish & ROSALÍA -- "Lo Vas A Olvidar"

Black Eyed Peas and Shakira -- "GIRL LIKE ME"

J. Balvin, Dua Lipa, Bad Bunny, Tainy -- "UN DIA (ONE DAY)"

Karol G -- "Bichota"

Maluma -- "Hawái"

BEST R&B: It looks like Beyoncé's The Lion King Soundtrack is still around for third year in a row and might be for a forth because Beyoncé has uploaded a video for MOOD 4 EVA (with Jay-Z, Childish Gambino and Oumou Sangaré). Deserved nominations come to SZA, Silk Sonic (as I've said before here is where it fits) and Giveon, but I don't understand the nominations for H.E.R (another artist sunk in that rain of awards )and Chris Brown & Young Thug (It was a hit, but in the video I only see a wild party with fireworks and women objectification).

Beyoncé, Blue Ivy, SAINt JHN, WizKid -- "BROWN SKIN GIRL"

Bruno Mars, Anderson .Paak, Silk Sonic -- "Leave The Door Open"

Chris Brown and Young Thug -- "Go Crazy"

Giveon -- "HEARTBREAK ANNIVERSARY"

H.E.R. ft. Chris Brown -- "Come Through"

SZA -- "Good Days"

BEST K-POP:BTS is nominated here, apart from the main categories, obtaining five nominations.

(G)I-DLE -- "DUMDi DUMDi"

BLACKPINK and Selena Gomez -- "Ice Cream"

BTS -- "Butter" -- 

BIGHIT MUSIC Monsta X -- "Gambler"

SEVENTEEN -- "Ready to love"

TWICE -- "Alcohol-Free"

VIDEO FOR GOOD:Billie Eilish gets a nomination for 'Your Power', which talks about a toxic and abusive relationship. The nomination is kind of surprising when there are so many songs about toxic relationships nowadays. Demi Lovato is nominated for second year in a row and the same happens to H.E.R. 

Billie Eilish -- "Your Power"

Demi Lovato -- "Dancing With The Devil"

H.E.R. -- "Fight For You"

Kane Brown -- "Worldwide Beautiful"

Lil Nas X -- "MONTERO (Call Me By Your Name)"

Pharrell Williams ft. JAY-Z -- "Entrepreneur"

BEST DIRECTION: As I said on Twitter, only one of this (POPSTAR) nominates a professional director. Last year's winner was Taylor Swift. 

This is a technical category and most of the nominees are artists. I don't deny their involvement on the videos. I understand they imagined how they would like the video when , for example, they wrote the song, but I think that these nominations marginalize true professional and qualified directors, who had spent years working and studying to get to work with important artists.

Billie Eilish -- "Your Power" -- Directed by: Billie Eilish

DJ Khaled ft. Drake -- "POPSTAR (Starring Justin Bieber)" -- Directed by: Julien Christian Lutz aka Director X

Lil Nas X -- "MONTERO (Call Me By Your Name)" -- Directed by: Lil Nas X and Tanu Muino

Taylor Swift -- "willow" -- Directed by: Taylor Swift

Travis Scott ft. Young Thug & M.I.A -- "Franchise" -- Directed by: Travis Scott

Tyler, The Creator -- "LUMBERJACK" -- Directed by: Wolf Haley

In conclusion, VMAS unveil the nominations with some mistakes and over-nominated-artists. However, they point out two of the biggest moments on music videos this year: Lil Nas X's Call Me By Your Name and Olivia Rodrigo's music videos , with careful aesthetics, which have been  protagonist of the year in music.