On August 27, 2017, MTV will air its 34th Annual Video Music Awards or what we of the MTV generation affectionately refer to as the “VMAs.” This year’s show will be hosted by Katy Perry and will feature performances by Miley Cyrus, Fifth Harmony and Kendrick Lamar, who is this year’s most nominated artist for his video, “Humble.” Host Katy Perry and artist/producer The Weeknd are tied for second place behind Lamar, each with five VMA nominations to their credit.
This year’s VMAs are just as monumental as ever, marking two firsts in the show’s history. First, MTV has eliminated all gendered categories in favor of combining the best male and best female categories into one Artist of the Year category instead. Next, MTV has created an entirely new award category, Best Fight Against the System, that will honor the artist who best uses their platform to fight social injustice. Rather than having a committee of industry professionals select the winners in each category, as is the case with The Grammy’s, MTV’s viewers vote on winners in all nine categories by visiting the network’s website. The show’s most prestigious award, the Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award, will be bestowed upon P!nk, who is also scheduled to perform. Past Video Vanguard winners include David Bowie (who won the first award in 1984 under its former title of Vanguard Award before it was renamed for Michael Jackson in 1991), Beyonce, Britney Spears, Rihanna, The Beatles, George Michael, Janet Jackson, The Rolling Stones (given as a Lifetime Achievement Award), Peter Gabriel, Kanye West and Madonna.
This week, BookTrib.com is celebrating VMA week by featuring articles about books related to different aspects of the show’s 34 year history starting tomorrow with a piece on the 2009 VMAs followed by a piece on the first show in 1984 Wednesday, an article about the Michael Jackson Vanguard Video Award winners Thursday, and ending on Friday with one that will commemorate the 30th Anniversary of MTV icon Prince’s first VMA performance. Not only will you be able to get great recommendations for your next awesome read, but you will also be able to enter an exclusive book giveaway by becoming a BookTrib ‘I Am A Book Lover’ Ambassador and signing up for our newsletter. We are very excited about this week and we are looking to sharing our favorite music bios, past, present and forthcoming.
What was your favorite VMA year and/or performance? Leave us note in the comments section below and read about VMA Week at BookTrib.com on HuffPost.
