Gaga, Bruno, Rose & Kendrick Top the 2025 VMAs Nominations

It is the middle of summer in the U.S. of A., and just like what had happened during most of the past 40 years, we now have news of the 2025 MTV Video Music Awards (VMAs).

- BABY A. GIL

This year's VMAs will be held at the UBS Arena in Elmont, New York on Sept. 7.

I look forward to another fun, entertaining, star-studded event. I enjoy how the VMAs honor the best of music releases and their accompanying videos from the past 12 months.

Admit it, music video productions just keep getting better every year and I love how these video makers can say so much within a scant three or four minutes than most feature filmmakers can in almost two hours.

I am also glad that several of my favorites made the grade. Lady Gaga got 12 nods and Bruno Mars, her duet partner for Die with a Smile, bagged 11, some of them for APT, his collab with K-Pop star Rose of the group BLACKPINK. She got eight nods. There are also Kendrick Lamar with 10, Sabrina Carpenter, also with eight, Ariana Grande with seven and Billie Eilish with six. Why even Miley Cyrus, Ed Sheeran and Lorde are in the running.

Taylor Swift is not among them. She was so busy being in love and was not able to put together a new album. Which is just as well, since she brought home seven Moonpersons from last year's VMAs.

It's time to give others chances to bring home the trophies and save the VMAs from becoming too predictable.

However, there is still a chance that the head Swiftie might win another Moonman this year. She is once more in the running for Artist of the Year, a prize she won last year.

She is competing against Bad Bunny, Beyoncé, Kendrick Lamar, Lady Gaga, Morgan Wallen and The Weeknd.

Now, my only beef against that category list is that it does not include Bruno Mars. He got a total of 11 nominations, while Taylor and Beyoncé did not get any.