MTV VMAs: Ariana Grande and Taylor Swift lead race with 10 award nominations each

Fans can vote ahead of ceremony on 26 August

Ariana Grande attends Billboard's 13th Annual Women In Music event in New York City on 6 December, 2018. (ANGELA WEISS/AFP/Getty Images)

Ariana Grande and Taylor Swift are leading the race to the 2019 MTV Video Music Awards with 10 nominations each.

MTV announced on Tuesday that both stars will compete in eight of the same categories, including video of the year.

Swift’s “You Need to Calm Down” and Grande’s “thank u, next” are nominated for the top prize alongside Billie Eilish’s “Bad Guy,” Lil Nas X and Billy Ray Cyrus’ “Old Town Road,” 21 Savage and J Cole’s “A Lot,” and Jonas Brothers’ “Sucker.”

Eilish, 17, came in second with nine nominations, including artist of the year. Other nominees are Grande, Cardi B, Shawn Mendes, Halsey and the Jonas Brothers.

Lil Nas X, whose “Old Town Road” tied the record for most weeks at number one with 16 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart this week, earned eight nominations.

The 2019 VMAs will take place at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey, on 26 August.

Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper’s Oscar- and Grammy-winning hit “Shallow” picked up two nominations: song of the year and best collaboration.

Boy band BTS earned four nominations, including a bid in the new best K-pop category.

Late rapper Nipsey Hussle, who posthumously won best male hip-hop artist and the Humanitarian Award at last month’s BET Awards, picked up a nomination for best hip hop for “Higher,” his song and video with DJ Khaled and John Legend.

Swift will drop her album, “Lover,” three days before the VMAs, on 23 August making it likely that she will attend and possibly perform at the show.

Scooter Braun, who now owns Swift’s music catalogue, will likely be in attendance, too,since he manages top nominee Grande as well as Justin Bieber, who earned a nomination for best collaboration with Ed Sheeran for “I Don’t Care.”

Comedian and actor Sebastian Maniscalco will host the 2019 VMAs.

Fan-voting is opening on Tuesday online.

Additional reporting by agencies