By Mark Kennedy, Entertainment Writer
NEW YORK (AP) --Justin Bieber leads this year's list of nominees at the 2021 MTV Video Music Awards, followed closely by Megan Thee Stallion, Billie Eilish, BTS, Doja Cat, Drake, Giveon, Lil Nas X and first-time nominee Olivia Rodrigo.
Bieber has seven nods, including video of the year and best direction for "POPSTAR," artist of the year, best cinematography for "Holy" and best pop song, best editing and best collaboration for "Peaches."
Megan Thee Stallion is right behind with six nominations, mostly from her hit song "WAP," triggering nods for video of the year, artist of the year, best collaboration and best hip-hop song. She also was nominated for a second time in the best hip-hop song category for her work on Lil Baby's "On Me (The Remix)."
Eilish, BTS, Doja Cat, Drake, Giveon, Lil Nas X and Rodrigo each have five nominations. Bieber and Megan Thee Stallion will compete with Ariana Grande, Doja Cat, Olivia Rodrigo and Taylor Swift for artist of the year.
The video of the year category is filled by "WAP" by Cardi B featuring Megan Thee Stallion; "POPSTAR" by DJ Khaled featuring Drake and Bieber; "Kiss Me More" by Doja Cat featuring SZA; Ed Sheeran's "Bad Habits"; Lil Nas X's "MONTERO (Call Me By Your Name)"; and The Weeknd's "Save Your Tears."
"WAP" is also up for song of the year, alongside "Mood" by 24kGoldn featuring iann dior; "Leave The Door Open" by Bruno Mars, Anderson .Paak and Silk Sonic; "Dynamite" by BTS; Dua Lipa's "Levitating" and Rodrigo's "drivers license."
The 2021 VMAs will return to New York City, airing from the Barclays Center in Brooklyn on Sept. 12. The show will simulcast across CMT, Comedy Central, Logo, MTV2, Nickelodeon, Paramount Network, Pop, TV Land, VH1 and The CW Network.
The best new artist nominees are: 24kGoldn, Giveon, The Kid LAROI, Olivia Rodrigo, Polo G and Saweetie. Best rock song nominees are Evanescence's "Use My Voice," Foo Fighters' "Shame Shame," John Mayer's "Last Train Home," The Killers' "My Own Soul's Warning," Kings Of Leon's "The Bandit" and Lenny Kravitz's "Raise Vibration."
Full Lineup Set For AFI Fest; Official Selections Span 44 Countries, Include 9 Best International Feature Oscar Submissions
The American Film Institute (AFI) has unveiled the full lineup for this year’s AFI Fest, taking place in Los Angeles from October 23-27. Rounding out the slate of already announced titles are such highlights as September 5 directed by Tim Fehlbaum, All We Imagine As Light directed by Payal Kapadia, The Luckiest Man in America directed by Samir Oliveros (AFI Class of 2019), Zurawski v. Texas from executive producers Hillary Clinton, Chelsea Clinton and Jennifer Lawrence and directors Maisie Crow and Abbie Perrault, and Oh, Canada directed by Paul Schrader (AFI Class of 1969). A total of 158 films are set to screen at the 38th edition of AFI Fest.
Of the official selections, 48% are directed by women and non-binary filmmakers and 26% are directed by BIPOC filmmakers.
Additional festival highlights include documentaries Architecton directed by Victor Kossakovsky; Cheech & Chong’s Last Movie directed by David Bushell; Devo directed by Chris Smith about the legendary new wave provocateurs; Gaucho Gaucho directed by Michael Dweck and Gregory Kershaw; Group Therapy directed by Neil Berkeley with Emmy® winner Neil Patrick Harris and Tig Notaro; No Other Land directed by a Palestinian-Israeli team comprised of Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor and Hamdan Ballal; Pavements directed by Alex Ross Perry; and Separated directed by Errol Morris. Notable narrative titles include Black Dog (Gou Zen) directed by Guan Hu; Bonjour Tristesse directed by Durga Chew-Bose with Academy Award® nominee Chloë Sevigny; Caught By The Tides directed by Jia Zhangke; Hard Truths directed by Mike Leigh with... Read More