Swift leads MTV award nods
POP queen Taylor Swift led the nominations for the MTV Europe Music Awards yesterday after she caused a stir with her vengeful new persona on her Look What You Made Me Do video.
The US star was up for six prizes, including Best Artist and Best Video at the international edition of MTV’s awards gala, to take place in London on November 12.
Look What You Made Me Do, the lead single from Swift’s upcoming Reputation album broke the record for first-day views on YouTube as Swift showed a sinister new side to herself.
The video opens in a graveyard where a tombstone reads, “Here Lies Taylor Swift’s Reputation”, and then takes subtle jabs at her ex-boyfriends, as well as US rapper Kanye West, with whom she has a simmering feud. Young Canadian sensation Shawn Mendes was second with five nominations, followed at four nods each for British songwriter Ed Sheeran and rapper Kendrick Lamar, the big winner at MTV Music Awards in Los Angeles in August.
Nominees for the Best World Stage category, which recognises international performances, include Los Angeles DJ Steve Aoki, for an MTV special in Malta, and the Foo Fighters, for a live show aired from Barcelona.
The Europe Music Awards differ from the US award show by recognising international impact – and featuring non-English categories.
But as in the US, the awards are generally watched more for its pop culture moments, both scripted and unscripted, than for the winners.