Level 1 — Absolute Beginner
MTV is a TV channel about music. Every year, MTV gives awards for music videos. This is called the MTV Video Music Awards, or VMAs.
This week, MTV said who is nominated for the 2026 VMAs. To be nominated means you might win an award. Madonna has 11 nominations. That is more than any other singer.
Taylor Swift has 9 nominations. Sabrina Carpenter and Ariana Grande each have 7 nominations. Many famous singers are on the list this year.
The award show will happen on September 27, 2026. It will be at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles, California.
- award
- A prize given to someone for doing something very well.
- nominate
- To choose someone as a possible winner of an award.
- ceremony
- A special event where something important happens, like giving out awards.
- channel
- A TV station that shows certain kinds of programs.
- collaboration
- When two or more people work together to make something.
- category
- A group or type used to sort things, like different kinds of awards.
- artist
- A person who makes music, art, or other creative work.
- film
- A movie or video that tells a story or shows something.
Level 2 — Elementary
MTV has announced the nominations for the 2026 MTV Video Music Awards, one of the biggest nights in music. Being nominated means an artist has a chance to win an award in a specific category.
Madonna leads this year with 11 nominations in total. Her nods include Artist of the Year, Video of the Year for Confessions II - The Film, and Song of the Year for her song with Sabrina Carpenter, called Bring Your Love.
Taylor Swift is right behind Madonna with 9 nominations. Most of her nods come from her song The Fate of Ophelia, which is nominated for Video of the Year, Best Pop, Best Cinematography, and more categories.
Sabrina Carpenter and Ariana Grande are tied in third place, each with 7 nominations. The Artist of the Year category has six nominees this year: Madonna, Taylor Swift, Ariana Grande, Bruno Mars, Morgan Wallen, and Sabrina Carpenter. The show will take place on September 27, 2026, at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles.
- nomination
- The act of being named as a possible winner in a competition or award show.
- in total
- Counting everything together, the whole amount.
- tied
- Having the exact same result or score as someone else.
- cinematography
- The art of filming and creating the visual look of a video or movie.
- nominee
- A person who has been nominated for an award.
- collaboration
- A song, project, or piece of work made by two or more artists together.
- lead
- To be ahead of others, or to have the most of something.
- take place
- To happen, usually at a certain time and location.
Level 3 — Intermediate
MTV has revealed the full list of nominees for the 2026 Video Music Awards, and this year's field is dominated by pop's biggest names. Madonna, whose career has spanned more than four decades, tops the nominations with 11, the highest count of any artist in the field.
Her nominations include Artist of the Year and Video of the Year for Confessions II - The Film, along with Song of the Year for Bring Your Love, her collaboration with Sabrina Carpenter. Taylor Swift trails closely with 9 nominations, most of them driven by her track The Fate of Ophelia, which is competing in Video of the Year, Best Pop, Best Cinematography, and several other categories.
Sabrina Carpenter and Ariana Grande sit tied in third place, each collecting 7 nominations. What makes the Video of the Year category especially notable this year is that it features three past winners of that very award going head to head once again: Ariana Grande for hate that i made you love me, Madonna for Confessions II - The Film, and Taylor Swift for The Fate of Ophelia.
The Artist of the Year race includes six contenders in total: Madonna, Taylor Swift, Ariana Grande, Bruno Mars, Morgan Wallen, and Sabrina Carpenter. Fans and industry watchers will find out the winners when the ceremony airs live from the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles on September 27, 2026.
- dominate
- To have a much stronger or larger presence than others in a group or field.
- span
- To extend or cover a period of time or distance.
- trail
- To be behind someone else, usually in a competition or ranking.
- head to head
- Directly competing against each other.
- contender
- Someone who is competing for a prize, title, or position.
- notable
- Worth noticing or paying attention to because it is important or interesting.
- industry
- A particular area of business or work, such as the music business.
- field
- A group of people or things competing against each other, such as nominees in an award show.
Level 4 — Advanced
The nominations for the 2026 MTV Video Music Awards, unveiled this week, read as a study in pop supremacy, with Madonna, an artist whose reign over the genre now spans more than four decades, emerging at the top of the field with 11 nominations, the most of any performer in the field.
Her haul spans the marquee categories, including Artist of the Year and Video of the Year for Confessions II - The Film, alongside a Song of the Year nod for Bring Your Love, her collaboration with Sabrina Carpenter. Taylor Swift follows closely with 9 nominations, the bulk of them accrued by The Fate of Ophelia, a track that finds itself competing across Video of the Year, Best Pop, and Best Cinematography, among other categories.
Sabrina Carpenter and Ariana Grande round out the upper tier, tied for third with 7 nominations apiece. What lends this year's Video of the Year race a particular charge is its composition: it pits three previous winners of the category against one another, Ariana Grande for hate that i made you love me, Madonna for Confessions II - The Film, and Taylor Swift for The Fate of Ophelia, a rematch of sorts among artists who each know what it takes to claim the trophy.
The Artist of the Year category, meanwhile, assembles six nominees spanning generations and genres: Madonna, Taylor Swift, Ariana Grande, Bruno Mars, Morgan Wallen, and Sabrina Carpenter. The ceremony, set for September 27, 2026, at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles, will determine which of these competing legacies the industry chooses to crown.
- supremacy
- The state of having the most power, authority, or dominance over others.
- reign
- A long period of dominance or influence over a field or area.
- marquee
- Describing something that is the main or most important attraction.
- accrue
- To gradually gather or accumulate over time.
- composition
- The way something is put together or made up of different parts.
- rematch
- A second or repeated contest between the same competitors.
- legacy
- The lasting impact or reputation someone leaves behind through their achievements.
- assemble
- To gather or bring together into a group or whole.
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