Beyonce, Lady Gaga top MTV Music Award Nominees

When MTV announced the nominees for its 2009 Video Music Awards show, two artists came out clearly on top. Beyonce and Lady Gaga lead the pack with 9 nominations each. The next closest artist is Britney Spears, with 7 nominations.

Beyonce, wife of super producer and rapper Jay-Z, is nominated in the following categories: Best Female Video, Best Pop Video, Video of the Year, Best Art Direction, Best Choreography, Best Cinematography, Best Direction, Best Editing, and Best Special Effects. All of Beyonce’s nominations are for the video for her song “Single Ladies (Put a Ring On It)”.

Lady Gaga is going up against Beyonce in most of the same categories. The video for her song “Poker Face” is nominated for Best Female Video, Best New Artist, Best Pop Video, and Video of the Year. The video for her song “Paparazzi” is up for Best Art Direction, Best Cinematography, Best Direction, Best Editing, and Best Special Effects.

Lady Gaga is also scheduled to perform at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards, which airs live on September 13, 2009 at 9 PM Eastern time. Russell Brand will be hosting the show again. This year’s show is the 26th since MTV began airing the Video Music Awards in 1984. This is also the 14th year that the show is being held live in New York City. But this year the live performances will be televised from all over Manhattan, including Radio City Music Hall, where the very first Video Music Awards took place.