Good morning my friends and let me start your morning coffee off properly with the rundown of the recently announced nominations for the 2020 MTV VMA’s (that’s the video music awards for those not paying attention). I didn’t watch any streams of this or bothered to do a play by play kind of Twitter blast and instead opted to just present the list that is now making the rounds across the Internet. Take a look at them all and then we can briefly discuss at the close.

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”

PUSH BEST NEW ARTIST:
Doja Cat
Jack Harlow
Lewis Capaldi
Roddy Ricch
Tate McRae
YUNGBLUD

BEST POP:
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 HIP-HOP:
DaBaby — “BOP”
Eminem ft. Juice WRLD — “Godzilla”
Future ft. Drake — “Life Is Good”
Megan Thee Stallion — “Savage”
Roddy Ricch — “The Box”
Travis Scott — “HIGHEST IN THE ROOM”

BEST ROCK:
blink-182 — “Happy Days”
Coldplay — “Orphans”
Evanescence — “Wasted On You”
Fall Out Boy ft. Wyclef Jean — “Dear Future Self (Hands Up)”
Green Day — “Oh Yeah!”
The Killers — “Caution”

BEST ALTERNATIVE:
The 1975 — “If You’re Too Shy (Let Me Know)”
All Time Low — “Some Kind Of Disaster”
FINNEAS — “Let’s Fall in Love for the Night”
Lana Del Rey — “Doin’ Time”
Machine Gun Kelly — “Bloody Valentine”
twenty one pilots — “Level of Concern”

BEST LATIN:
Anuel AA ft. Daddy Yankee, Ozuna, Karol G & J Balvin — “China”
Bad Bunny — “Yo Perreo Sola”
Black Eyed Peas ft. Ozuna & J. Rey Soul — “MAMACITA”
J Balvin — “Amarillo”
Karol G ft. Nicki Minaj — “Tusa”
Maluma ft. J Balvin — “Qué Pena”

BEST R&B:
Alicia Keys — “Underdog”
Chloe x Halle — “Do It”
H.E.R. ft. YG — “Slide”
Khalid ft. Summer Walker — “Eleven”
Lizzo — “Cuz I Love You”
The Weeknd — “Blinding Lights”

BEST K-POP:
(G)I-DLE — “Oh My God”
BTS — “On”
EXO — “Obsession”
Monsta X — “SOMEONE’S SOMEONE”
Tomorrow X Together — “9 and Three Quarters (Run Away)”
Red Velvet — “Psycho”

VIDEO FOR GOOD:
Anderson .Paak — “Lockdown”
Billie Eilish — “all the good girls go to hell”
Demi Lovato — “I Love Me”
H.E.R. – “I Can’t Breathe”
Lil Baby — “The Bigger Picture”
Taylor Swift — “The Man”

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 QUARANTINE PERFORMANCE:
Chloe x Halle — “Do It” from MTV’s Prom-Athon
CNCO — MTV 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

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 Scott Cunningham
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
The Weeknd — “Blinding Lights” — Cinematography by Oliver Millar

BEST ART DIRECTION:
A$AP Rocky — “Babushka Boi” — Art Direction by A$AP Rocky & Nadia Lee Cohen
Dua Lipa — “Physical” — Art Direction by Anna Colomé Nogu ?
Harry Styles — “Adore You” — Art Direction by Laura Ellis Cricks
Miley Cyrus — “Mother’s Daughter” — Art Direction by Christian Stone
Selena Gomez — “Boyfriend” — Art Direction by Tatiana Van Sauter
Taylor Swift — “Lover” — Art Direction by Ethan Tobman

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS:
Billie Eilish — “all the good girls go to hell” — Darkroom / Interscope Records — Visual Effects by Drive Studios
Demi Lovato — “I Love Me” — Island Records — Visual Effects by Hoody FX
Dua Lipa — “Physical” — Warner Records — Visual Effects by EIGHTY4
Harry Styles — “Adore You” — Columbia Records — Visual Effects by Mathematic
Lady Gaga with Ariana Grande — “Rain On Me” — Streamline / Interscope Records — Visual Effects by Ingenuity Studios
Travis Scott — “HIGHEST IN THE ROOM” — Epic Records / Cactus Jack — Visual Effects by ARTJAIL, SCISSOR FILMS & FRENDER

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 EDITING:
Halsey — “Graveyard” — Edited by Emilie Aubry, Janne Vartia & Tim Montana
James Blake — “Can’t Believe the Way We Flow” — Edited by Frank Lebon
Lizzo — “Good As Hell” — Edited by Russell Santos & Sofia Kerpan
Miley Cyrus — “Mother’s Daughter” — Edited by Alexandre Moors, Nuno Xico
ROSALÍA — “A Palé” — Edited by Andre Jones
The Weeknd — “Blinding Lights” — Edited by Janne Vartia & Tim Montana

*** end of list ***

Piercing Ken Thoughts: Now I won’t lie and say that I am glued to the MTV network at this point in my life because I am not. There sure was a time when that was the case though and I guess this is a late eighties and early nineties kind of vibe for me. Back then they used to show a LOT of Hard Rock and Metal videos and not only did you have the countdown shows but you had the 1000% dedicated to Metal “Headbanger’s Ball” which in its originally run was something very special. The later versions of it couldn’t keep my attention but with my being a scribe and man about town in the Metal scene I am a lot more judgemental I guess. It happens. We listed the rundown here because “The Chronicles” are much more broad in scope of the music I am willing to support here but I will admit that I am only personally invested in the “Best Rock” and “Best Alternative” categories. That’s all I have for now and you can chime in down below if you like since it’s always nice to hear from you. Stay safe out there and mind your surroundings, follow the regional guidelines and for gosh sake WEAR A MASK!!! See you next time.

Official Website: http://www.mtv.com