BTS, Doja Cat and J Balvin to Perform at 2020 MTV VMA

The 2020 MTV Video Music Awards already have us at the edge of our seats! On Tuesday, MTV announced that BTS, Doja Cat and J Balvin are among the first batch of artists slated to perform at the annual fan-voted awards. The three acts, who are all nominees, are the first in a list of additional musical acts to follow.

BTS

The show will also mark BTS’ first-ever VMAs performance. For the event, the K-pop superstars, RM, Suga, V, J-Hope, Jin, Jungkook and Jimin will give the live TV debut of their new single Dynamite. Which is scheduled for an August 21 release. The septet is nominated for awards in three categories this year for their epic “On” visual. Which includes Best choreography as well as nominations in both the Best Pop and Best K-Pop categories this year. The latter of which BTS won in 2019, in their inaugural year.

Last year, the VMAs were subject to a wave of controversy for introducing the Best K-Pop category. Variety writer Jae-Ha Kim called the move, “suspicious at best and borderline racist”. This is because some saw it as an attempt for the fan-voted awards to utilize Korean artists. Who have famously passionate fan bases while barring them in main categories.

Doja Cat

Another popular artist, slated to perform at the video music awards, is Doja Cat. The popular singer catapulted into mainstream stardom this year with her viral hit “Say So.” She is nominated in three categories as well, including Song of the year, Best new artist and Best direction.

J Balvin

Meanwhile, J Balvin returns to the VMA stage for the second year in a row. The Colombian superstar performed alongside Bad Bunny for their “Qué Pretendes”collaboration in 2019.

This year, Balvin has four nominations in total. The talented artist is nominated three times in the Best Latin category for his work on songs “China” and “Amarillo” as well as “Qué Pena.” He’s also up for Best Collaboration for his song with the Black Eyed Peas, “RITMO (Bad Boys For Life).” Additional performers are expected to be announced soon.

The 2020 Nominations

Ariana Grande and Lady Gaga are leading this year’s nominations with nine nods each. Closely followed by Billie Eilish and The Weeknd with six nominations.

New Categories?

Apart from the usual awards going out that night, this year marks the introduction of two new honors that recognizes work produced during the pandemic. Best Music Video From Home and Best Quarantine Performance.

Those competing for Best Music Video From Home include, Grande and Justin Bieber’s Stuck with U, 5 Seconds of Summer’s Wildflower, blink-182’s Happy Days. Drake’s Toosie Slide, John Legend’s Bigger Love and Twenty One Pilots’ Level of Concern.

The nominations for Best Quarantine Performance include Chloe & Halle’s Do It from MTV’s Prom-athon, CNCO’s Unplugged At Home, DJ D-Nice’s Club MTV #DanceTogether. Legend’s #togetherathome Concert Series, Lady Gaga’s “Smile” from One World: Together at Home and Post Malone’s Nirvana Tribute.

The Video For Good category will also be recognizing protest tracks reflecting the Black experience, made in the wake of the deaths of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor. Such as R&B star H.E.R. ‘s I Can’t Breathe and Anderson Paak’s Lockdown. Taylor Swift, who scored five nominations, will also be competing for the category with, The Man.

All that we know about the 2020 VMAs

The 2020 VMAs is set to air live from New York City’s Barclays Center on Sunday, Aug. 30 at 8 p.m. ET/PT. Thereby marking the first live awards show since COVID-19 shut down Hollywood in March. The show will feature performances from iconic locations in each of New York’s five boroughs. Designed “to honor the spirit and resilience” of the city. New York governor, Andrew Cuomo announced in June the event would take place with ‘limited or no audience’. There has been no news on who will be hosting the show this year.

Fans will be able to vote for VMA winners across 15 gender-neutral categories until August 23.

To ensure the health and safety of everyone involved, producers and venue staff will work with local officials. To facilitate “extensive social distancing procedures, meaningful capacity limitations. The virtualization of components where possible, and limited capacity or no audience.”

The VMAs will be the first event of its kind to take place at the Brooklyn arena. Since the spread of COVID-19 forced live-entertainment venues to close in New York.