2012 MTV VMA Nominations Announced Tuesday Morning — Which Videos Should Be Honored?

Becky Bain | July 30, 2012 3:29 pm

The nominations for the 2012 MTV Video Music Awards are announced tomorrow, Tuesday July 31, which begs some last minute discussion about which videos from the past year will score some serious nods. (We could also pontificate on what headline-making antics at the VMAs could possibly top Beyonce triumphantly revealing her pregnant belly on stage, but we already know nothing ever will.)

Personally, the video that has stuck with us the most since last year’s awards show is Rihanna‘s “We Found Love”, our top pick for Video Of The Year. The drug-fueled, intimate video was not only a striking look at the dissolution of a relationship, but it felt like an embellished but truthful peek into some of RiRi’s personal demons (Chris Brown-looking on-screen beau included). More conjecturin’ below!

Lana Del Rey‘s “Blue Jeans” was a noir treat, while M.I.A.‘s “Bad Girls” was maybe the most straight-up badass clip to surface in some time. Foster The People‘s “Houdini” was equal parts funny and clever, and we have to give Drake props for dropping one of the most hilarious videos in years with his Bar Mitzvah bash in “HYFR”.

Gotye and Kimbra‘s “Somebody That I Used To Know” might nab a nom or two, too — even without a big budget, the clip still managed to be one of the most parodied videos of the last year. Their song “N*ggas In Paris” was the bigger hit, but we were left jaw-dropped after viewing Jay-Z and Kanye West’s epic “No Church In The Wild” visuals. And though we were left mostly unimpressed with Justin Bieber‘s “Boyfriend” video, we figure the “Girlfriend”-esque clip will score a nod or two, because hey, he’s Bieber.

Which videos from the past year do you think deserve to be honored with a nomination? Let us know below.

The 2012 MTV VMAs will take place Thursday September 6 at 8 p.m., airing live on MTV from the Staples Center in Los Angeles.