MTV’s Video Music Awards, usually abbreviated as the VMAs, has recently announced the nominees for the lively award show.  Sometimes called the “Oscars for youth” and owning similarities to the Grammys, the VMAs bestows a simple statue of an astronaut on the moon upon winning artist; the moon man acts as one of the earliest symbols of MTV.

But before an artist can even dream of gripping their own space figurine, a VMA victory will only be a potential achievement with a marked nomination.

A list of potential winners of the music networks coveted honor include the likes of pop artists such as Lady Gaga and Beyonce (all in the run for the “Best Female Video” award) to Cee lo Green who is nominated. Katy Perry, who nabbed a whopping 9 nominations, leads with the highest number of nominations followed by soulful British singer who was named a nominee for 7 awards.   Awards up for grabs also include “Best Collaboration”, “Best New Artist” and “Best Rock Video”.

With the first VMA ceremony held in 1984 at New York City’s Radio City Music Hall, an expanding group of winners within an array of awards has been rising for some time. In 1984 style icon and entertainer Madonna performed “Like a Virgin” while Cyndi Lauper won the “Best Female Video” award for “Girls just wanna have fun”.

The long-standing award ceremony was and continues to be, home for a multitude of memorable moments such as Michael Jackson’s first VMA performance in 1988 with “Bad”.  The VMA awards have even hosted its fair share of fashion faux pas like when Lil Kim showed up to the 1999 VMA award grounds with very little fabric to cover her petite body and with pasties instead to act as attire.

While the ceremony is typically broadcasted live in mid-September, the 2011 MTV VMAs will be held on August 28, 2011 in the Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles, California.  You can find a complete reading of this year’s VMA nominees on MTV’s website. Additionally, voting is now open on the music channel’s site- so go and vote for who you believe deserves their very own moon man.

Image Courtesy of  http://www.mtv.com/ontv/vma/2011/

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