Video of the Year
Drake ft. Rihanna – “Take Care”
Gotye ft. Kimbra – “Somebody That I Used to Know”
M.I.A. – “Bad Girls”
Katy Perry – “Wide Awake”
Rihanna ft. Calvin Harris – “We Found Love”
This is the best overall set of Video of the Year nominees I can remember in my lifetime. I would be happy with any of these videos winning, but Gotye definitely deserves it the most. Lately, there’s been one oddball Video of the Year nominee each year, and eight months ago, I would have thought that oddball nominee would have been “Somebody That I Used to Know,” but then that inexplicably became a hit, so M.I.A. was slotted in as the alternative choice. I hadn’t heard or seen “Bad Girls” until I saw these nominations, and now I’ve been listening to it every day. But still, “Somebody That I Used to Know” deserves it by a mile – it was #3 in my list for best music videos of 2011 (#1 – Tyler, the Creator’s “Yonkers” – was up last year and #2 – Duck Sauce’s “Big Bad Wolf” – was perhaps a bit much for Video of the Year, but did manage a spot in the Electronic category).
Best Male Video
Justin Bieber — “Boyfriend”
Chris Brown — “Turn Up the Music”
Drake ft. Rihanna — “Take Care”
Frank Ocean — “Swim Good”
Usher — “Climax”
Umm … where is Gotye? Drake – by far – is the only one here with a signficantly memorable video.
Best Female Video
Beyoncé — “Love on Top”
Selena Gomez & the Scene — “Love You Like a Love Song”
Nicki Minaj — “Starships”
Katy Perry — “Part of Me”
Rihanna ft. Calvin Harris — “We Found Love”
Oh, VMA inconsistency! If “Wide Awake” is up for Video of the Year, then why is “Part of Me” the Katy Perry selection for Female Video? This is a tough call between Rihanna and Selena – RiRi had the more indelible images, but I think I prefer Selena with the more interesting idea.
Best New Artist
fun. – ft. Janelle Monáe — “We Are Young”
Carly Rae Jepsen — “Call Me Maybe”
Frank Ocean — “Swim Good”
One Direction — “What Makes You Beautiful”
The Wanted — “Glad You Came”
Gotye is the only new artist up for Video of the Year, but he’s not up for Best New Artist… Frank Ocean may have had the best music of the newbies, but his video for “Swim Good” doesn’t do much for me. I think I’ll actually give the edge to Carly Rae over fun. on this one.
Best Pop Video
Justin Bieber — “Boyfriend”
fun. ft. Janelle Monáe — “We Are Young”
Maroon 5 ft. Wiz Khalifa — “Payphone”
One Direction — “What Makes You Beautiful”
Rihanna ft. Calvin Harris — “We Found Love”
“We Found Love” seems a little out of place in the pop category, but it is certainly the best of this bunch.
Best Rock Video
The Black Keys — “Lonely Boy”
Coldplay — “Paradise”
Imagine Dragons — “It’s Time”
Linkin Park — “Burn It Down”
Jack White — “Sixteen Saltines”
You can always count on Best Rock Video to not be completely screwed up. Please, please, let’s recognize the Black Keys, who have had on average the best videos of any band the past two years.
Best Hip-Hop Video
Childish Gambino — “Heartbeat”
Drake ft. Lil Wayne — “HYFR”
Jay-Z and Kanye West — “Paris”
Nicki Minaj ft. 2 Chainz — “Beez in the Trap”
Kanye West ft. Pusha T, Big Sean and 2 Chainz — “Mercy”
I would really love to see Childish Gambino win something, because it could in a way be considered a win for Community. “Heartbeat” is a great song, though its video isn’t all that special, but nor are any of the other nominees, so … go, Donald Glover!
Best Electronic Dance Music Video
Avicii — “Levels”
Duck Sauce — “Big Bad Wolf”
Calvin Harris — “Feel So Close”
Skrillex — “First of the Year (Equinox)’
Martin Solveig — “The Night Out”
Good call by the VMAs to restrict the Dance category to Electronic Dance this year, as it resulted in a group of nominees that is overall even better than the Video of the Year nominees. I would love to see all of these videos win something, but “Big Bad Wolf” is the most impressive, in a lot of ways.
Best Director
Coldplay ft. Rihanna — “Princess of China” (Director: Adria Petty and Alan Bibby)
Duck Sauce — “Big Bad Wolf” (Director: Keith Schofield)
Jay-Z and Kanye West ft. Otis Redding — “Otis” (Director: Spike Jonze)
M.I.A. — “Bad Girls” (Director: Romain Gavras)
Frank Ocean — “Swim Good” (Director: Nabil Elderkin)
It’s usually a good call to award Spike Jonze, but “Otis” is nowhere near the level of “Sabotage,” “Buddy Holly,” or “Weapon of Choice.” Romain Gavras has now directed a couple of great videos for M.I.A., and that collaboration deserves recognition, but I have to give it to Keith Schofield, who deserves plenty of credit for doing whatever he did to make “Big Bad Wolf” happen.
Best Choreography
Avicii — “Levels” (Choreographers: Richy Greenfield and Petro Papahadjopoulos)
Beyoncé — “Countdown” (Choreographers: Danielle Polanco, Frank Gatson Jr., Beyoncé and Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker)
Chris Brown — “Turn Up the Music” (Choreographer: Anwar “Flii” Burton)
Jennifer Lopez ft. Pitbull — “Dance Again” (Choreographer: JR Taylor)
Rihanna — “Where Have You Been” (Choreographer: Hi-Hat)
In a traditional sense of understanding dance, the choreography of “Where Have You Been” was the most impressive, but when one considers that something like “Praise You” is considered one of the best dance videos of all time, “Levels” must then surely be recognized for being so wackadoodly memorable.
Best Visual Effects
David Guetta ft. Nicki Minaj — “Turn Me On” (Visual Effects: Alex Frisch, Joe Harkins, Scott Metzger and Vico Sharabani)
Linkin Park — “Burn It Down” (Visual Effects: Ghost Town Media)
Katy Perry — “Wide Awake” (Visual Effects: Ingenuity Engine)
Rihanna — “Where Have You Been” (Visual Effects: BAKED FX)
Skrillex — “First of the Year (Equinox)” (Visual Effects: Deka Brothers and Tony “Truand” Datis)
“Wide Awake” and “First of the Year” had cool-looking effects, but those of “Turn Me On” were more all-encompassing.
Best Art Direction
Lana Del Rey — “Born to Die” (Art Directors: Anna Brun and Audrey Malecot)
Drake ft. Rihanna — “Take Care” (Art Director: Charles Infante)
Of Monsters and Men — “Little Talks” (Art Director: Mihai Wilson)
Katy Perry — “Wide Awake” (Art Director: Benji Bamps)
Regina Spektor — “All the Rowboats” (Art Director: Anthony Henderson)
Lana Del Rey may get a lot of guff for being overhyped by bloggers and for her super strange live performances, but she has made some excellent, often beautiful music videos, and “Born to Die” was the most beautiful video of the year.
Best Editing
A$AP Rocky — “Goldie” (Editor: Samantha Lecca)
Beyoncé — “Countdown” (Editors: Alexander Hammer and Jeremiah Shuff)
Gotye ft. Kimbra — “Somebody That I Used to Know” (Editor: Natasha Pincus)
Jay-Z and Kanye West — “Niggas in Paris” (Editors: Alexander Hammer, Peter Johnson and Derek Lee)
Kanye West ft Pusha T, Big Sean and 2 Chainz — “Mercy” (Editor: Eric Greenburg)
Why is this the only other category that “Somebody That I Used to Know” is up for? Anyway, it should definitely win here – the editing played a big part in making it as good as it was.
Best Cinematography
Adele — “Someone Like You” (Director of Photography: David Johnson)
Coldplay ft. Rihanna — “Princess of China” (Director of Photography: Stéphane Vallée)
Lana Del Rey — “Born to Die” (Director of Photography: André Chemetoff)
Drake ft. Rihanna — “Take Care” (Director of Photography: Kasper Tuxen)
M.I.A. — “Bad Girls” (Director of Photography: André Chemetoff)
Following Adele with the camera was a neat trick, but the panoramic shots of riding through the desert in “Bad Girls” trump it.
Best Video with a Message
Kelly Clarkson — “Dark Side”
Gym Class Heroes ft. Ryan Tedder — “The Fighter”
K’naan ft. Nelly Furtado — “Is Anybody Out There?”
Lil Wayne — “How to Love”
Demi Lovato — “Skyscraper”
Rise Against — “Ballad of Hollis Brown”
Why not nominate “Bad Girls” here? That video’s all about supporting the right to drive for Saudi women. Anyway, none of these nominees are doing much for me, except maybe Rise Against, who managed a decent Bob Dylan cover.
Best Latino Artist
Juanes
Jennifer Lopez
Pitbull
Romeo Santos
Wisin & Yandel
I’m not sure what the point of this category is.
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