The nominees for the first ever YouTube Music Awards were announced and they include Lady Gaga, One Direction, Eminem and many others. Voting for the awards, which will be presented live on Nov. 3, has already started.
There are six categories, with the top prize being Video of the Year. The others are Artist of the Year, Response Video of the Year, YouTube Phenomenon, YouTube Breakthrough and innovation of the Year, notes Entertainment Weekly.
Response of the Year honors the best fan-made response to a professionally-produced video, while YouTube Phenomenon is for the trend that earned the most responses and fan videos. YouTube Breakthrough goes to an artist who saw an increase in attention thanks to the video sharing site.
Eminem, Justin Bieber, Katy Perry, Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, Nicki Minaj, PSY, One Direction, Rihanna, Taylor Swift and Epic Rap Battles of History earned Artist of the Year nodes.
The nominees for Video of the Year are:
Epic Rap Battles of History, “Barack Obama vs. Mitt Romney”
Demi Lovato, “Heart Attack”
Girls Generation, “I Got a Boy”
Justin Bieber feat. Nicki Minaj, “Beauty and a Beat”
Lady Gaga, “Applause”
Macklemore & Ryan Lewis feat. Mary Lambert, “Same Love”
Miley Cyrus, “We Can’t Stop”
One Direction, “Best Song Ever”
PSY, “Gentleman”
Selena Gomez, “Come & Get It”
Fans can start voting now and here’s Reggie Watts explaining how to vote:
The awards have been criticized by Tyler The Creator and Flying Lotus, reports NME. Tyler The Creator trashed the show for sticking with mostly well-known, awards show favorites instead of highlighting lesser known artists. “YouTube Awards could've f**ing had nominations on cool creative videos sh*t but noooo again it's the most teeny bopper pop shit. You are butt,” Tyler tweeted.
Tyler is actually slated to perform during the live ceremony on Nov. 3 in New York. Jason Schwartzman and Watts are hosting.
image: Amazon