Girl Power Lives On: Katy Perry, Adele Lead the VMA Nominees

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REUTERS/Mike Cassese

No wonder Katy Perry sings about being a “California Gurl.” This year’s MTV Video Music Awards not only take place in Los Angeles, but Perry may well also dominate the night due to her nine nominations.

Perry is in the frame for many gongs, including the likes of Best Pop Video, Collaboration, Direction, Special Effects and the most prestigious award of the entire show, Video of the Year, for “Firework.” Her competitors in that final category are the Beastie Boys for “Make Some Noise,” Bruno Mars with “Grenade,” Tyler, The Creator with “Yonkers,” and Adele’s “Rolling in the Deep.”

Speaking of Adele, the British songstress who’s had the year of her young life (in no small part thanks to “Rolling in the Deep” from her sophomore album 21) has racked up seven nominations for the smash hit. Perry and Adele’s peers, Beyoncé, Lady Gaga and Nicki Minaj, each received three nods.

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But what of the boys? It starts, as it so often does, with Kanye West, who matched Adele in the nominations stakes for his two tracks, “All of the Lights” and “Power,” and will be hoping to win the likes of Best Hip-Hop Video and Male Video. He also has two chances at Best Collaboration: Rihanna and Kid Cudi were good enough to help out on “All of the Lights” and Kanye himself appears in Perry’s “E.T.” All concerned are presumably hoping he wins something, lest we’re subjected to West throwing a tantrum.

Three must be the magic number for the #3 all-time VMA winner, Eminem, who has been nominated for Best Male Video, Direction and Cinematography for his collaboration with Rihanna, “Love the Way You Lie.” You can see all the nominations for yourself here.

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The show takes place on August 28 and we’re expecting it to be spectacular, seeing as this is the 30 year anniversary for MTV (expect to see much more about that on TIME.com next month). The days of the channel steering and shaping what we listen to may be far behind us (thanks a bunch, reality TV) but its star, thanks to these stars, still continues to shine. (via MTV)

Glen Levy is an Executive Producer at TIME. Find him on Twitter at @glenjl. You can also continue the discussion on TIME’s Facebook page and on Twitter at @TIME.