VMA Nominees 2013: 6 Biggest Music Videos Of the Year

Culture

It has been an interesting year of music videos, and the 2013 MTV Video Music Awards will honor the best of the bunch on August 25 at Barclay's Center in Brooklyn. Some videos such as Robin Thicke's "Blurred Lines," were met with controversy for explicit content, others like Miley Cyrus's "We Can't Stop" received a mixed response. Justin Timberlake and Macklemore & Ryan Lewis are the two artists tied for the most VMA nominations with six a piece. Each of their respective, leading singles — "Mirrors" and "Can't Hold Us," are responsible for four of the six nominations. Here are the six most nominated videos that will be featured (and possibly win big) at the award ceremony.

1. "Mirrors," Justin Timberlake: 4

"Mirrors," is Justin Timberlake's sixth No. 1 song on Billboard's Nielsen BDS-based Pop Songs radio airplay chart. Timberlake is now tied with Bruno Mars for the most No. 1 songs by a male artist. The music video is tied for the most VMA nominations, recieving votes for "Video of the Year," "Best Male Video," "Best Pop Video" and "Best Editing." Mirrors is competing with "Thrift Shop" (Macklemore and Ryan Lewis), "Locked Out of Heaven" (Bruno Mars), "Blurred Lines" (Robin Thicke feat. T.I. and Pharrell) and "I Knew You Were Trouble" (Taylor Swift) for best video.

2. "Can't Hold Us," Macklemore and Ryan Lewis: 4

Tied with "Mirrors" and also reeling in four VMA nominations is Macklemore and Ryan Lewis's "Can't Hold Us." The video has been nominated for "Best Hip-Hop Video," "Best Cinematography," "Best Direction" and "Best Editing." Macklemore and Ryan Lewis share the title for most total nominations with Timberlake. Their hit "Thrift Shop," was nominated for "Video of the Year," while "Same Love" is competing for "Best Video with a Social Message."

3. "Blurred Lines," Robin Thicke feat. T.I. and Pharrell: 3

Robin Thicke's "Blurred Lines," music video has received its fair share of criticism, but the controversy over the video's explicit, nude content did not prohibit it from garnering three VMA nominations. Thicke reeled in the nominations for "Video Of The Year," "Best Male Video" and Best Collaboration." 

4. "We Can’t Stop," Miley Cyrus: 3

The music video for Miley Cyrus's latest single "We Can't Stop," really got people talking. Viewers reacted to the video with a mix of shock, horror and fascination ... they simply couldn't stop watching. In fact, the "We Can’t Stop" video broke the record for most views on Vevo in 24 hours, bringing in a whopping 10.6 million views. At this year's VMAs, Cyrus earned three nominations for "Best Female Video," "Best Pop Video" and "Best Editing."

5. Locked Out Of Heaven, Bruno Mars: 3

Bruno Mars is no rookie to recording chart-topping hits, but "Locked Out Of Heaven" set a huge record as "the first single to top the Billboard Hot 100, Radio Songs, Digital Songs and On-Demand Songs charts simultaneously," according to Rolling Stone. Now, the single has received three nominations for "Video of the Year," "Best Male Video" and "Best Pop Video."

6. "Just Give Me A Reason," P!nk feat. Nate Ruess: 3

P!nk also received three VMA nominations for her hit song "Just Give Me a Reason," featuring Fun's lead vocalist, Nate Ruess. She's received nominations for "Best Female Video," "Best Collaboration" and "Best Editing." Nate Ruess racked up two more nominations with Fun's hit single "Carry On," in the running for "Best Direction" and "Best Pop Video." 

For up-to-the-minute VMA news, head to PolicyMic's VMA 2013 Live blog.