Arts & Entertainment
Beyoncé, Adele lead MTV VMA nominees
out musician Troye Sivan also lands nomination
Beyonce (Still courtesy Parkwood/Columbia)
MTV announced its 2016 VMA nominations with Beyoncé and Adele leading the pack.
Beyoncé received the most nominations, earning 11 for her visual album “Lemonade” and scoring a nomination for Video of the Year for “Formation.” Adele came in at second place with a total eight nominations, seven for “Hello” and one for “Send My Love (To Your New Lover).”
Troye Sivan’s “Blue Neighborhood Trilogy” music video series was also nominated for Best Long-Form Video. The series tells the story of Sivan and his childhood friend who encounter the struggles of a same-sex relationship. The series includes Sivan’s songs “Wild,” “Free” and “Take Me Down.”
The 33rd annual MTV VMAs air on Sunday, Aug. 28 from New York City’s Madison Square Garden.
Video of the Year
Adele- “Hello”
Beyoncé- “Formation”
Drake- “Hotline Bling”
Justin Bieber- “Sorry”
Kanye West- “Famous”
Best Female Video
Adele- “Hello”
Beyoncé- “Hold Up”
Sia- “Cheap Thrills”
Ariana Grande- “Into You”
Rihanna- “Work (featuring Drake)”
Best Male Video
Drake- “Hotline Bling”
Bryson Tiller- “Don’t”
Calvin Harris- “This is What You Came For (featuring Rihanna)”
Kanye West- “Famous”
The Weeknd- “Can’t Feel My Face”
Best Collaboration
Beyoncé- “Freedom (featuring Kendrick Lamar)”
Fifth Harmony- “Work From Home (featuring Ty Dolla $ign)”
Ariana Grande- “Let Me Love You (featuring Lil Wayne)”
Calvin Harris- “This is What You Came For (featuring Rihanna)”
Rihanna- “Work (featuring Drake)”
Best Hip-Hop Video
Drake- “Hotline Bling”
Desiigner- “Panda”
Bryson Tiller- “Don’t”
Chance the Rapper- “Angels (featuring Saba)”
2 Chainz- “Watch Out”
Best Pop Video
Adele- “Hello”
Beyoncé- “Formation”
Justin Bieber- “Sorry”
Alessia Cara- “Wild Things”
Ariana Grande- “Into You”
Best Rock Video
All Time Low- “Missing You”
Coldplay- “Adventure of a Lifetime”
Fall Out Boy- “Irresistible (featuring Demi Lovato)”
Twenty One Pilots- “Heathens”
Panic! At The Disco- “Victorious”
Best Electronic Video
Calvin Harris & Disciples- “How Deep is Your Love”
99 Souls- “The Girl is Mine (featuring Destiny’s Child and Brandy)”
Mike Posner- “I Took a Pill in Ibiza”
Afrojack- “SummerThing!”
The Chainsmokers- “Don’t Let Me Down (featuring Daya)”
Breakthrough Long-Form Video
Florence + the Machine- “The Odyssey”
Beyoncé- “Lemonade”
Justin Bieber- “Purpose: The Movement”
Chris Brown- “Royalty”
Troye Sivan- “Blue Neighbourhood Trilogy”
Best New Artist
Bryson Tiller
Desiigner
Zara Larsson
Lukas Graham
DNCE
Celebrity News
Madonna announces release date for new album
‘Confessions II’ marks return to the dance floor
Pop icon Madonna on Wednesday announced that her 15th studio album will be released on July 3.
Titled “Confessions II,” the new album is a sequel to 2005’s “Confessions on a Dance Floor,” an Abba and disco-infused hit.
The new album reunites Madonna with producer Stuart Price, who also helmed the original “Confessions” album. It’s her first album of new material since 2019’s “Madame X.”
“We must dance, celebrate, and pray with our bodies,” Madonna said in a press release. “These are things that we’ve been doing for thousands of years — they really are spiritual practices. After all, the dance floor is a ritualistic space. It’s a place where you connect — with your wounds, with your fragility. To rave is an art. It’s about pushing your limits and connecting to a community of like-minded people,” continued the statement. “Sound, light, and vibration reshape our perceptions. Pulling us into a trance-like state. The repetition of the bass, we don’t just hear it but we feel it. Altering our consciousness and dissolving ego and time.”
Denali (@denalifoxx) of “RuPaul’s Drag Race” performed at Pitchers DC on April 9 for the Thirst Trap Thursday drag show. Other performers included Cake Pop!, Brooke N Hymen, Stacy Monique-Max and Silver Ware Sidora.
(Washington Blade photos by Michael Key)
Arts & Entertainment
In an act of artistic defiance, Baltimore Center Stage stays focused on DEI
‘Maybe it’s a triple-down’
By LESLIE GRAY STREETER | I’m always tickled when people complain about artists “going political.” The inherent nature of art, of creation and free expression, is political. This becomes obvious when entire governments try to threaten it out of existence, like in 2025, when the brand-new presidential administration demanded organizations halt so-called diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programming or risk federal funding.
Baltimore Center Stage’s response? A resounding and hearty “Nah.” A year later, they’re still doubling down on diversity.
“Maybe it’s a triple-down,” said Ken-Matt Martin, the theater’s producing director, chuckling.
The rest of this article can be found on the Baltimore Banner’s website.
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Comings & Goings
Minimal version of ‘Streetcar Named Desire’ heading to Dupont Underground
