2016 MTV VMA Nominations: Get in Formation; Bey Leads with 11

Erik Anderson July 26, 2016

Beyoncé ("Formation") — **Beyoncé (“Formation”)**

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To no one’s surprise, Beyoncé led the 2016 MTV Video Music Awards nominations on the strength of her Emmy-nominated album Lemonade with 11 mentions, including Video of the Year. If she wins just 3 of her 11 nominations she will become the most-awarded artist in the history of the show.

Adele earned eight nominations for “Hello” and “Send My Love (To Your New Lover)” and will compete with Beyoncé for Video of the Year, as well as Drake (“Hotline Bling”), Justin Bieber (“Sorry”) and Kanye West for his “star” studded, and x-rated, “Famous.” Bieber was not nominated for Best Male Video of the Year despite earning a top nod.

In what almost seems to be a deliberate move, Taylor Swift was snubbed entirely this year as her ex Calvin Harris was nominated three times and longtime “frenemy” Kanye West grabbed two.

The late David Bowie picked up four nominations, one for “Blackstar” (Best Art Direction) and three for “Lazarus” (Best Direction, Best Cinematography, Best Editing).

This year, the VMAs will be held at New York’s Madison Square Garden for the first time. The show will air on Aug. 28.

The complete list of VMA nominees:

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 – “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
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 + 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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Erik Anderson

Erik Anderson is the founder/owner and Editor-in-Chief of AwardsWatch and has always loved all things Oscar, having watched the Academy Awards since he was in single digits; making lists, rankings and predictions throughout the show. This led him down the path to obsessing about awards. Much later, he found himself in film school and the film forums of GoldDerby, and then migrated over to the former Oscarwatch (now AwardsDaily), before breaking off to create AwardsWatch in 2013.

He is a Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic, accredited by the Cannes Film Festival, Telluride Film Festival, Toronto International Film Festival and more, is a member of the International Cinephile Society (ICS), The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics (GALECA), Hollywood Critics Association (HCA) and the International Press Academy. Among his many achieved goals with AwardsWatch, he has given a platform to underrepresented writers and critics and supplied them with access to film festivals and the industry and calls the Bay Area his home where he lives with his husband and son.