MUMBAI: US broadcaster MTV has announced the nominees for the 2005 MTV Video Music Awards (VMAs). Rock group Green Day topped the list with eight nominations, six nods for Boulevard of Broken Dreams and two for the album American Idiot.
Gwen Stefani and Missy Elliott follow with six nods each and U2 nabbed five nominations. The 2005 VMAs will take place at the American Airlines Arena in Miami, Florida on 28 August 28 2005.
Entertainment powerhouse Puff Daddy will host the show. In addition, Kanye West, the first winner of American Idol Kelly Clarkson, and Green Day will perform. Hip-hop master West will debut a single from his highly anticipated sophomore album Late Registration. Clarkson will perform a song from her multi-platinum album Breakaway. This is the first in a rapidly growing list of performers and celebrity guests to be announced for the star-studded event.
Also, for first-time, the VMAs will be scored with original music composed by hip-hop superstar producer Lil Jon and producer Mike Shinoda, of 3 time VMA winner Linkin Park, whose side project Fort Minor is being released this winter. Viewers will get a chance to download the original music as ringtones exclusively on *MTV on their Virgin Mobile phones.
With water as an underlying theme, the most massive and elaborate water effects ever produced in an awards show will be engineered in the arena by the same production company that erected the fountain in front of the Bellagio Hotel in Las Vegas. Also, there will be live performances staged at remote locations to showcase key locales around Miami. In the center of the arena, five performance stages will be built and will be surrounded by over 1000 audience members made up of South Floridians. A limited number of tickets to the VMAs will go on sale to the public sometime in August. Comcast Cable will be promoting the one-day only ticket sales opportunity.
Similar to last year, celebrities will arrive in their extravagant yachts, and will also pull up in their personally owned tricked out cars staging the first ever car show extravaganza on the red carpet. As the celebrities arrive, viewers will get tours of these cars from the talent themselves. The pre-show has been extended to two hours to fit in all the anticipated action. Moreover, the VMAs will be presented on multiple MTV platforms this year giving viewers new ways to experience the show. Exclusively through MTV Overdrive, the network’s hybrid broadband channel, MTV viewers will also have access to the VMAs, beyond the TV screen.
MTV president Christina Norman says, “Every year we have to out do ourselves and this year is no exception - the VMAs will be experienced in more places and on more platforms than ever before in our history. Between Diddy, who is the ultimate showman & entertainer, and the diverse roster of performers already locked in, this show is already shaping up to be an unforgettable end of summer bash.”
Ballots for the event were sent out to an industry group and viewers who determined the nominees for the telecast. 500 viewers and individuals including record labels, music journalists and video producers selected the nominees for awards categories encompassing wide-ranging contemporary music forms rap, dance, R&B and rock.
MTV.com will be the ultimate online stop for the latest VMA news and content. Viewers get to choose nominees in the "Viewer's Choice Videodome" daily head-to-head matchups. Each week, viewers via MTV.com will keep artists in play via head-to-head video battles until one video is named official nominee at the end of the week. Green Day's American Idiot and rap star's Snoop Dogg’s (featuring Pharrell) Drop It Like It’s Hot are the first two official Viewer's Choice nominees. An official nominee is named at the end of which week until 15 August when the final five viewer’s choice nominee spots will be filled.
Viewers will then be able to cast votes amongst those five final music videos right up until moments before the winner will be announced.
