The 32nd MTV Video Music Awards are tonight in L.A. and hosted by Miley Cyrus--which should be not funny nor entertaining.
Taylor Swift leads the nominations with a total of 10, followed by Ed Sheeran, who has 6 and Kendrick Lamar at 4–but is included in 14 total nominations. But here's who I think will walk away with the moon men:
Video of the Year
- Beyoncé — "7/11"
- Kendrick Lamar — "Alright"
- Mark Ronson (featuring Bruno Mars) — "Uptown Funk"
- Ed Sheeran — "Thinking Out Loud"
- *Taylor Swift (featuring Kendrick Lamar) — "Bad Blood"
*Taylor went on a terror this year. It's going to be hard for her to not win VOTY.
Best Hip Hop Video
- Big Sean (featuring E-40) — "I Don't Fuck with You"
- Fetty Wap — "Trap Queen"
- Kendrick Lamar — "Alright"
- *Nicki Minaj — "Anaconda"
- Wiz Khalifa (featuring Charlie Puth) — "See You Again"
*After complaining about not being nominated for VOTY, she may have gotten the publicity she'll need to at least win best Hip Hop video. Anaconda did rack up YouTube records and none of the other songs besides the newer Trap Queen were as big of cultural hits.
Best Male Video
- Nick Jonas — "Chains"
- Kendrick Lamar — "Alright"
- Mark Ronson (featuring Bruno Mars) — "Uptown Funk"
- *Ed Sheeran — "Thinking Out Loud"
- The Weeknd — "Earned It"
*Knowing that the fans vote for this and the ones that actually take the time to vote are not going to vote for anyone besides Nick Jonas or Ed Sheeran. But Sheeran is way ahead of Jonas in the popularity contest (although extremely behind in the good looks contest).
Best Female Video
- Beyoncé — "7/11"
- Ellie Goulding — "Love Me like You Do"
- Nicki Minaj — "Anaconda"
- Sia — "Elastic Heart"
- *Taylor Swift — "Blank Space"
*Same reasoning as my decision for Male Video -- fans voting means Taylor takes this by a landslide. If it were the Grammy's it could be close between Taylor and Sia.
Best Pop Video
- Beyoncé — "7/11"
- Maroon 5 — "Sugar"
- *Mark Ronson (featuring Bruno Mars) — "Uptown Funk"
- Ed Sheeran — "Thinking Out Loud"
- Taylor Swift — "Blank Space"
*I think Uptown Funk has to win something and this is the best category for that to happen since Ed and Taylor will be taking home Male/Female video awards.
Best Rock Video
- Arctic Monkeys — "Why'd You Only Call Me When You're High?"
- *Fall Out Boy — "Uma Thurman"
- Florence + the Machine — "Ship to Wreck"
- Hozier — "Take Me to Church"
- Walk the Moon — "Shut Up and Dance"
*A terrible category to have MTV fans vote on so I'll go with the band that's been in the pop world the longest -- FOB!
Artist To Watch Video
- James Bay — "Hold Back the River"
- George Ezra — "Budapest"
- *Fetty Wap — "Trap Queen"
- FKA twigs — "Pendulum"
- Vance Joy — "Riptide"
*I think the results here are going to be in the opposite order of who actually deserves it. James Bay has the most talent and true promise, then George Ezra and Vance Joy, FKA twigs, and finally Fetty Wap (the 2015 hit and run artist).
Best Collaboration
- Ariana Grande and The Weeknd — "Love Me Harder"
- *Jessie J, Ariana Grande, and Nicki Minaj — "Bang Bang"
- Mark Ronson (featuring Bruno Mars) — "Uptown Funk"
- Taylor Swift (featuring Kendrick Lamar) — "Bad Blood"
- Wiz Khalifa (featuring Charlie Puth) — "See You Again"
*3 pop artists > 2 pop artists. That math gets you more votes.
Song of the Summer
- *Fifth Harmony (featuring Kid Ink) – "Worth It"
- Major Lazer (featuring MØ) – "Lean On"
- Omi – "Cheerleader (Felx Jaehn Remix)"
- Taylor Swift (featuring Kendrick Lamar) – "Bad Blood"
- David Guetta (featuring Nicki Minaj, Afrojack, and Bebe Rexha) – "Hey Mama"
- Fetty Wap (featuring Drake) – "My Way"
- Skrillex and Diplo (featuring Justin Bieber) — "Where Are U Now"
- 5 Seconds of Summer – "She's Kinda Hot"
- Silento – "Watch Me"'
- Demi Lovato – "Cool For The Summer"
- The Weeknd – "Can't Feel My Face"
- Selena Gomez (featuring A$AP Rocky) – "Good For You"
*Who Should Win: Major Lazer. Who Will Win: An artist with a cult-like Twitter following since the winner is the one with the most hash tags tweeted. It should come down to Fifth Harmony, 5SOS, Taylor Swift, and maybe Jack U with the help of the Beliebers.
Best Video With a Social Message
- Big Sean (featuring Kanye West and John Legend) — "One Man Can Change the World"
- Colbie Caillat — "Try"
- Jennifer Hudson — "I Still Love You"
- *Rihanna — "American Oxygen"
- Wale — "The White Shoes"
*Going with the hometown favorite here. And by that I mean the Barbados native and her USA O2 track.
Best Cinematography
- Alt-J — "Left Hand Free" (Director of Photography: Mike Simpson)
- FKA Twigs — "Two Weeks" (Director of Photography: Justin Brown)
- Flying Lotus (featuring Kendrick Lamar) — "Never Catch Me" (Director of Photography: Larkin Sieple)
- *Ed Sheeran — "Thinking Out Loud" (Director of Photography: Daniel Pearl)
- Taylor Swift (featuring Kendrick Lamar) — "Bad Blood" (Director of Photography: Christopher Probst)
*Cinematography is the art or science of motion picture photography. It is the technique of film photography, including both the shooting and development of the film. This category should really be called "Best Music Movie" and it will likely go to Ed Sheeran this year but he could get snaked out by his BFF Taylor.
Best Editing
- *A$AP Rocky — "L$D" (Editor: Dexter Navy)
- Beyoncé — "7/11" (Editors: Beyoncé, Ed Burke and Jonathan Wing)
- Ed Sheeran — "Don't" (Editor: Jacquelyn London)
- Skrillex and Diplo (featuring Justin Bieber) — "Where Are U Now" (Editor: Brewer)
- Taylor Swift (featuring Kendrick Lamar) — "Bad Blood" (Editor: Chancler Haynes at Cosmo Street)
*Video editing includes cutting segments (trimming), re-sequencing clips, and adding transitions and other special effects. After reading that, go watch "L$D" and tell me it shouldn't win. If not that, it should go to the more popular song by Jack U & The Biebs.
Best Choreography
- *Beyoncé — "7/11" (Choreographers: Beyoncé, Chris Grant and Gabriel Valenciano)
- Chet Faker — "Gold" (Choreographer: Ryan Heffington)
- Flying Lotus (featuring Kendrick Lamar) — "Never Catch Me" (Choreographers: Keone Madrid and Mari Madrid)
- OK Go — "I Won't Let You Down" (Choreographer: OK Go, air:man and Mori Harano)
- Ed Sheeran — "Don't" (Choreographers: Nappytabs)
*OK Go always has incredible choreography and visual effects in their videos but I think doing the same type of thing every time has almost hurt them when it comes to awards. For that reason I'm going to say Beyoncé walks away with the moon man here even though Ed Sheeran could give her a fight.
Best Direction
- Childish Gambino — "Sober" (Director: Hiro Murai)
- *Hozier — "Take Me to Church" (Directors: Brendan Canty and Conal Thomson)
- Kendrick Lamar — "Alright" (Directors: Colin Tilley and the Little Homies)
- Mark Ronson (featuring Bruno Mars) — "Uptown Funk" (Directors: Bruno Mars and Cameron Duddy)
- Taylor Swift (featuring Kendrick Lamar) — "Bad Blood" (Director: Joseph Kahn)
*A toss up here between Hozier and Kendrick. I think Hozier will win based on song popularity, however Kendrick's message is most on point this year and that could give him an edge.
Best Art Direction
- The Chemical Brothers — "Go" (Art Director: Michel Gondry)
- *Skrillex and Diplo (featuring Justin Bieber) — "Where Are U Now" (Art Director: Brewer)
- Snoop Dogg — "So Many Pros" (Art Director: Jason Fijal)
- Taylor Swift (featuring Kendrick Lamar) — "Bad Blood" (Art Director: Charles Infante)
- Jack White — "Would You Fight for My Love?" (Art Director: Jeff Peterson)
*This is a tough category, but since I'm giving Taylor the award for Best Visual Effects I'll have to give my runner up the nod here: Jack U
Best Visual Effects
- Childish Gambino — "Telegraph Ave." (Visual Effects: Gloria FX)
- FKA Twigs — "Two Weeks" (Visual Effects: Gloria FX, Tomash Kuzmytskyi, and Max Chyzhevskyy)
- Skrillex and Diplo (featuring Justin Bieber) — "Where Are U Now" (Visual Effects: Brewer)
- *Taylor Swift (featuring Kendrick Lamar) — "Bad Blood" (Visual Effects: Ingenuity Studios)
- Tyler, The Creator — "Fucking Young/Death Camp" (Visual Effects: Gloria FX)
*Visual effects are the processes by which imagery is created and/or manipulated outside the context of a live action shot. Visual effects involve the integration of live-action footage and generated imagery to create environments which look realistic, but would be dangerous, expensive, impractical, or simply impossible to capture on film. With all that being said, Taylor Swift should win with her action hereo blockbuster video.