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Ariana Grande and Taylor Swift are the top contenders at the 2019 MTV Video Music Awards, each scoring 10 nominations.
MTV announced Tuesday that Grande and Swift will compete in eight of the same categories, including video of the year. Swift's gay pride anthem "You Need to Calm Down" and Grande's breezy hit about her breakups "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 Jonas Brothers.
This combined photo shows singers Ariana Grande (L) at the 13th annual Billboard Women in Music event in New York, December 6, 2018, and Taylor Swift at the Time 100 Gala in New York, April 23, 2019. /AP Photo
Lil Nas X, whose "Old Town Road" tied the record for most weeks at No. 1 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 August 26. Post Malone was surprisingly snubbed: He received zero nominations despite dominating on streaming services, radio and the Billboard charts in the last year.
Presenters Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga speak onstage during the 76th Annual Golden Globe Awards at The Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, California in this photo provided by NBC Universal, January 06, 2019. /VCG Photo
Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper's Oscar- and Grammy-winning hit "Shallow" picked up two nominations: song of the year and best collaboration.
Korean boy band BTS, which has led a K-pop music wave in the United States and scored three No.1 albums on the Billboard chart in the past year, got just four nods, including three in the newly created K-pop category.
"BTS outsold… EVERY SINGLE… artist in the artist of the year category but the VMAs didn't wanna see that so they made a whole new category just to not acknowledge the power and influence bts has had over the whole industry," tweeted a BTS fan called Chioma.
K-pop boy band BTS poses on the red carpet during the 61st Grammy Awards in Los Angeles in this photo provided by Big Hit Entertainment, February 10, 2019. /VCG Photo
"I am getting so sick of the westerners not giving BTS the due respect. They ignore stats, facts, achievements, charts and the people as well," a user posted on Twitter.
MTV did not return a call for comment.
And 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 August 23, making it likely that she will attend and possibly perform at the show.