Beyoncé's Low-Budget '7/11' and Taylor's Big-Budget 'Bad Blood' Will Battle at 2015 VMAs
The 2015 MTV Video Music Awards nominations are in, and unsurprisingly, Beyoncé is one of the frontrunners, with five nods, including one for Video of the Year. What is surprising is Beyoncé’s nominations are for “7/11,” her most lo-fi, most un-MTV video ever.
Shot YouTube-style through a fisheye lens, with Bey cavorting in a “Kale” sweatshirt with her Y-fronted backup dancers, singing into a hair dryer, and sipping from a red Solo cup at a hotel pajama party, “7/11” is a far cry from her previous big-budget VMA nominees, like “Run the World (Girls)” and the Lady Gaga duet “Telephone.” It’s also the polar opposite of Taylor Swift’s reported $1 million all-star extravaganza “Bad Blood,” one of this year’s other big VMA darlings. (Beyoncé vs. Taylor? We wonder how Kanye “Imma Let You Finish” West will react at this year’s VMAs, if Taylor prevails again.)
The lavish “Bad Blood” actually leads the 2015 VMA pack with seven nominations (five in the professional/technical categories); Swift also picked up two noms, for Best Pop Video and Best Female Video, for “Blank Space.” She’ll go up against her pal Ed Sheeran in the Video of the Year category; Sheeran’s ballroom-themed “Thinking Out Loud” is up for four Moonmen, while his equally dance-tastic “Don’t,” starring So You Think You Can Dance alumnus Phillip Chbeeb and choreographed by SYTYCD’s Tabitha and Napoleon D'umo (aka Nappytabs), picked up nominations for editing and choreography.
Kendrick Lamar is another major contender this year, thanks to his many collaborations. He’ll compete against himself in the Video of the Year category, since his “Bad Blood” feature with Swift is up against his own solo video, “Alright.” Between “Bad Blood,” “Alright,” and another collaboration with Flying Lotus on “Never Catch Me,” Lamar is represented in a whopping 13 categories.
The other standout nominee of the year is Mark Ronson feat. Bruno Mars’s “Uptown Funk,” with five nods, including Best Male Video, Best Pop Video, and Video of the Year.
The 2015 MTV Video Music Awards nominations were announced Tuesday morning on Apple Music’s Beats 1 chart show. The ceremony, hosted by Miley Cyrus, will take place Sunday, Aug. 30 at 9 p.m. ET/PT at Los Angeles’s Microsoft Theater. We’re sure whatever happens, Beyoncé will throw an epic hotel party that night.
Below is the full list of nominations:
VIDEO OF THE YEAR
Beyoncé – “7/11”
Ed Sheeran – “Thinking Out Loud”
Taylor Swift ft. Kendrick Lamar – “Bad Blood”
Mark Ronson ft. Bruno Mars – “Uptown Funk”
Kendrick Lamar – “Alright”
BEST MALE VIDEO
Ed Sheeran – “Thinking Out Loud”
Mark Ronson ft. Bruno Mars – “Uptown Funk”
Kendrick Lamar – “Alright”
The Weeknd – “Earned It”
Nick Jonas – “Chains”
BEST FEMALE VIDEO
Beyoncé – “7/11”
Taylor Swift – “Blank Space”
Nicki Minaj – “Anaconda”
Sia – “Elastic Heart”
Ellie Goulding – “Love Me Like You Do”
BEST HIP-HOP VIDEO
Fetty Wap – “Trap Queen”
Nicki Minaj – “Anaconda”
Kendrick Lamar – “Alright”
Wiz Khalifa ft. Charlie Puth – “See You Again”
Big Sean ft. E-40 – “IDFWU”
BEST POP VIDEO
Beyoncé – “7/11”
Ed Sheeran – “Thinking Out Loud”
Taylor Swift – “Blank Space”
Mark Ronson ft. Bruno Mars – “Uptown Funk”
Maroon 5 – “Sugar”
BEST ROCK VIDEO
Hozier – “Take Me to Church”
Fall Out Boy – “Uma Thurman”
Florence + The Machine – “Ship to Wreck”
Walk the Moon – “Shut Up and Dance”
Arctic Monkeys – “Why’d You Only Call Me When You’re High?”
ARTIST TO WATCH
Fetty Wap – “Trap Queen”
Vance Joy – “Riptide”
George Ezra – “Budapest”
James Bay – “Hold Back the River”
FKA Twigs – “Pendulum”
BEST COLLABORATION
Taylor Swift ft. Kendrick Lamar – “Bad Blood”
Mark Ronson ft. Bruno Mars – “Uptown Funk”
Wiz Khalifa ft. Charlie Puth – “See You Again”
Ariana Grande & The Weeknd – “Love Me Harder”
Jessie J, Ariana Grande, Nicki Minaj – “Bang Bang"
VIDEO WITH A SOCIAL MESSAGE
Jennifer Hudson – “I Still Love You”
Colbie Caillat – “Try”
Big Sean ft. Kanye West and John Legend – “One Man Can Change the World”
Rihanna – “American Oxygen”
Wale – “The White Shoes”
PROFESSIONAL CATEGORIES
BEST ART DIRECTION
Taylor Swift ft. Kendrick Lamar – “Bad Blood” (Charles Infante)
Snoop Dogg – “So Many Pros” (Jason Fijal)
Jack White – “Would You Fight For My Love” (Jeff Peterson)
The Chemical Brothers – “Go” (Michel Gondry)
Skrillex & Diplo – “Where Are U Now" with Justin Bieber (Brewer)
BEST CHOREOGRAPHY
Beyoncé – “7/11” (Beyoncé, Chris Grant, Additional choreography: Gabriel Valenciano)
OK Go – “I Won’t Let You Down” (OK Go, air:man and Mori Harano)
Chet Faker – “Gold” (Ryan Heffington)
Ed Sheeran – “Don’t” (Nappytabs)
Flying Lotus ft. Kendrick Lamar – “Never Catch Me” (Keone and Mari Madrid)
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Flying Lotus ft. Kendrick Lamar – “Never Catch Me” (Larkin Sieple)
Ed Sheeran – “Thinking Out Loud” (Daniel Pearl)
Taylor Swift ft. Kendrick Lamar – “Bad Blood” (Christopher Probst)
FKA Twigs – “Two Weeks” (Justin Brown)
Alt-J – “Left Hand Free” (Mike Simpson)
BEST DIRECTION
Taylor Swift ft. Kendrick Lamar – “Bad Blood” (Joseph Kahn)
Mark Ronson ft. Bruno Mars – “Uptown Funk” (Bruno Mars and Cameron Duddy)
Kendrick Lamar – “Alright” (Colin Tilley & The Little Homies)
Hozier – “Take Me To Church” (Brendan Canty, Conal Thomson)
Childish Gambino – “Sober” (Hiro Murai)
BEST EDITING
Beyoncé – “7/11” (Beyoncé, Ed Burke, Jonathan Wing)
Ed Sheeran – “Don’t” (Jacquelyn London)
Taylor Swift ft. Kendrick Lamar – “Bad Blood” (Chancler Haynes at Cosmo Street)
A$AP Rocky – “L$D” (Dexter Navy)
Skrillex & Diplo – “Where Are U Now" with Justin Bieber (Brewer)
BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
Taylor Swift ft. Kendrick Lamar – “Bad Blood” (Ingenuity Studios)
FKA Twigs – “Two Weeks” (Gloria FX, Tomash Kuzmytskyi, and Max Chyzhevskyy)
Childish Gambino – “Telegraph Ave.” (Gloria FX)
Skrillex & Diplo – “Where Are U Now" with Justin Bieber (Brewer)
Tyler, The Creator – “F****** Young/Death Camp” (Gloria FX)
