MTV VMA's 2020 - Who's Performing and How to Vote

Written by: Megan Vercruysse

Get excited people, we are almost 3 weeks out from the MTV Video Music Awards!!  2020 has without a doubt presented challenges when coming to maintaining normalcy for any annual events. The VMA’s announced that they would be moving forward with their awards show virtually on August 30th, hosted by Keke Palmer. Nominations for the show were revealed on July 30th, and fans have until August 23rd to submit their vote for each category. However, voting for best new artist will be open until the night of. You can cast your vote here to help your favorite artists win! 

The VMAs will be live from New York City's Barclays Center on Sunday, August 30th at 8 p.m. ET. This will be the first LIVE awards show since COVID, and we are PUMPED! The award show will include a much-anticipated performance from BTS singing their new English single “Dynamite.”  We will get to see other performances from the TikTok famous Doja Cat (~why don’t you say so~) and J Balvin. Check out some of the nominations below! 

Video of the Year:

Billie Eilish – “everything i wanted”

Eminem ft. Juice WRLD – “Godzilla”

Future ft. Drake – “Life Is Good”

Lady Gaga with Ariana Grande – “Rain On Me”

Taylor Swift – “The Man”

The Weeknd – “Blinding Lights”

Artist of the Year: 

DaBaby

Justin Bieber

Lady Gaga

Megan Thee Stallion

Post Malone

The Weeknd

Song of the Year: 

Billie Eilish – “everything i wanted”

Doja Cat – “Say So”

Lady Gaga with Ariana Grande – “Rain On Me”

Megan Thee Stallion – “Savage”

Post Malone – “Circles”

Roddy Ricch – “The Box”

Best Collaboration: 

Ariana Grande & Justin Bieber – “Stuck with U”

Black Eyed Peas ft. J Balvin – “RITMO (Bad Boys For Life)”

Ed Sheeran ft. Khalid – “Beautiful People”

Future ft. Drake – “Life Is Good”

Karol G ft. Nicki Minaj – “Tusa”

Lady Gaga with Ariana Grande – “Rain On Me”

Best Pop Video: 

BTS – “On”

Halsey – “You should be sad”

Jonas Brothers – “What a Man Gotta Do”

Justin Bieber ft. Quavo – “Intentions”

Lady Gaga with Ariana Grande – “Rain On Me”

Taylor Swift – “Lover”

Best Music Video From Home:

5 Seconds of Summer – “Wildflower”

Ariana Grande & Justin Bieber – “Stuck with U”

blink-182 – “Happy Days”

Drake – “Toosie Slide”

John Legend – “Bigger Love”

twenty one pilots – “Level of Concern”

Best Direction: 

Billie Eilish – “xanny” – Directed by Billie Eilish

Doja Cat – “Say So” – Directed by Hannah Lux Davis

Dua Lipa – “Don’t Start Now” – Directed by Nabil

Harry Styles – “Adore You” – Directed by Dave Meyers

Taylor Swift – “The Man” – Directed by Taylor Swift

The Weeknd – “Blinding Lights” – Directed by Anton Tammi

Best Cinematography: 

5 Seconds of Summer – “Old Me” – Cinematography by Kieran Fowler

Camila Cabello ft. DaBaby – “My Oh My” – Cinematography by Dave Meyers

Billie Eilish – “all the good girls go to hell” – Cinematography by Christopher Probst

Katy Perry – “Harleys In Hawaii” – Cinematography by Arnau Valls

Lady Gaga with Ariana Grande – “Rain On Me” – Cinematography by Thomas Kloss

Best Choreography: 

BTS – “On” – Choreography by Son Sung Deuk, Lee Ga Hun, Lee Byung Eun

CNCO & Natti Natasha – “Honey Boo” – Choreography by Kyle Hanagami

DaBaby – “BOP” – Choreography by Dani Leigh and Cherry

Dua Lipa – “Physical” – Choreography by Charm La’Donna

Lady Gaga with Ariana Grande – “Rain On Me” – Choreography by Richy Jackson

Normani – “Motivation” – Choreography by Sean Bankhead

Best Quarantine Performance:

Chloe & Halle – “Do It” from MTV’s Prom-athon

CNCO – Unplugged At Home

DJ D-Nice – Club MTV presents #DanceTogether

John Legend – #togetherathome Concert Series

Lady Gaga – “Smile” from One World: Together At Home

Post Malone – Nirvana Tribute

There are a few artists taking home more than a handful of nominations this year.  While Billie Eilish and The Weeknd were both nominated in 6 categories, Lady Gaga and Ariana Grande (the top nominees) were both nominated in 9 categories. Though, a virtual VMA’s will be vastly different from what we are all used to, we are all very excited to see this historic first! You can watch the award show on MTV.com and the MTV app (available on Google Play, iTunes, Roku). We hope you enjoy the show!!! 🎉

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