How the 2024 MTV VMA Nominations Surprised Us – GoldDerby

The 2024 MTV Video Music Awards nominations included major recognition for artists like Taylor Swift, Post Malone, Eminem, and Ariana Grande. But like every year, the nominations had their batch of unexpected outcomes, from artists missing key nominations to some welcome (and other not-so-welcome) surprises in certain categories.

Strangely, VMA favorite Eilish, who routinely gets significant nominations from the awards show, was relegated to two categories this year: Video of the Year for “Lunch” and Video for Good for “What Was I Made For?” Her absence in other categories is odd considering she’s been easily one of the most popular artists of the last 12 months. One would’ve imagined her smash hit “Birds of a Feather” or her Oscar-winning “What Was I Made For?” getting into Song of the Year.

Even weirder, she missed a nomination for Best Pop, despite being in Video of the Year. On top of that, Eilish received no technical nominations, which is quite bizarre considering the “What Was I Made For?” music video was nominated for a Grammy. Plus, if “Lunch” was truly one of the best videos of the year, why is it absent throughout the whole rest of the list? Head scratch.

Alternative band Bleachers, led by superstar producer and Taylor Swift collaborator Jack Antonoff, got three nominations, including the prestigious Best Direction. This was a welcome surprise as their video for “Tiny Moves” features amazing choreography from Emmy-nominated actress and director Margaret Qualley, who is also Antonoff’s wife. The Direction nom is a big deal since it could signal a possible Best Music Video Grammy nomination. It’s also up for Best Choreography and Best Alternative. Let’s see if Antonoff can pick up at least one award, perhaps with the help of devoted Swifties.

Grande’s “We Can’t Be Friends (Wait For Your Love)” is one of the biggest hits of the year, topping the Billboard Hot 100 and helped by its acclaimed, viral music video. So it was a shock to see the artist miss both Best Pop and Song of the Year, especially when the former features artists who haven’t necessarily had career highs this year. Grande is still nominated in six categories overall, though, including Video of the Year and Best Direction for “We Can’t Be Friends,” and for “The Boy Is Mine” in Best Visual Effects. Plus, she extended her record as the most nominated artist in the Artist of the Year category (five), only missing in 2020, 2022 and 2023.

The VMAs, like other awards shows, are guilty of weird genre designations, and this year was no exception. Perhaps the most strange were in the Best Alternative category, where pop stars Benson Boone and Teddy Swims got nominations for their hits “Beautiful Things” and “Lose Control (Live),” respectively.

If not in pop, Boone would’ve been a much better fit in the Best Rock category, as the song breaks into a rock ballad midway through, but it’s not anything remotely alternative. Swims’s case is even stranger, as “Lose Control” is very obviously a pop song and has no alternative genre appeal; it’s closer to a soul or rock track if anything. The VMAs might’ve just wanted to nominate the two smash hits without compromising a spot in Best Pop, but regardless, these are odd placements.

One of the biggest breakouts of the year (if not the biggest) has been pop star Chappell Roan, who has taken the world by storm with her album “The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess” and hit single “Good Luck, Babe!” Despite this, Roan had a pretty underwhelming showing this year, only receiving noms for Best New Artist and Push Performance of the Year (also for breakthrough acts).

It’s likely that Roan wins Best New Artist, but still, it would’ve been cool to see her in more categories. They could’ve nominated her in Best Pop, or for some tech awards like Best Art Direction, Best Choreography or Best Direction. Plus, “Good Luck, Babe!” would’ve been a worthy Song of the Year nominee, and Roan herself had a strong enough year to be in Artist of the Year. All in all, the snubs read as MTV being out of touch again.

Can a video represent two genres at once? Seems so, as Tyla’s “Water” got noms in both Best R&B and Best Afrobeats. The starlet straddles genres, so it’s not really a surprise that she herself is in both races. But for the same video? It’s especially baffling considering Tyla had many other videos to choose from including “Jump,” which had viral success, as well as “Art” and “Truth or Dare.” It’ll be interesting to see if this leads to more crossover artists and videos being nominated in multiple genres.

Source: Gold Derby