Taylor Swift leads MTV EMA nominations ahead of Shawn Mendes and Ed Sheeran

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Taylor SwiftImage source, Getty Images

Taylor Swift leads the nominations for this year's MTV Europe Music Awards (EMAs).

The singer's up for six prizes including best artist and best video ahead of the event in London on 12 November.

Look What You Made Me Do was the first single from her new album Reputation, in which she takes on her critics.

Shawn Mendes is just behind Taylor Swift with five nominations, with Ed Sheeran and Kendrick Lamar on four.

Image source, Getty Images

Dua Lipa, Ed Sheeran, Little Mix, Stormzy and Louis Tomlinson will battle it out in the UK and Ireland category while Ariana Grande, Ed Sheeran, Kendrick Lamar, Miley Cyrus, Shawn Mendes and Taylor Swift are up for best artist.

Bruno Mars, Coldplay, Ed Sheeran, Eminem and U2 are nominated in the "live" category,

Best song will be won by either Clean Bandit (Rockabye ft. Sean Paul & Anne-Marie), DJ Khaled (Wild Thoughts ft. Rihanna, Bryson Tiller), Ed Sheeran (Shape of You), Luis Fonsi & Daddy Yankee (Despacito [Remix] ft. Justin Bieber) and Shawn Mendes (There's Nothing Holdin' Me Back).

Image caption,
Clean Bandit performed live at Radio 1's Big Weekend in Hull earlier this year

Harry Styles will also take on former One Direction bandmate Zayn Malik in the best look category along with Dua Lipa, Rita Ora and Taylor Swift.

Nominees in the best world stage category, which recognises international performances, include DJ Steve Aoki for an MTV special in Malta and Foo Fighters for a gig aired from Barcelona.

The Europe Music Awards are different from the Video Music Awards (VMAs) because they recognise international impact and feature non-English categories.

Image caption,
Dua Lipa is up for three awards at this year's event including the "best new" category

MTV has already announced that Rita Ora will host the show in her hometown at the SSE Arena in Wembley, the first time it's been held in London for more than 20 years.

The 1996 show was broadcast from Alexandra Palace, where Metallica performed and former Take That member Robbie Williams hosted.

"I've always watched it, since I was younger," said Rita, who was born in Kosovo.

Image source, Reuters

"I've always kind of had memories from the MTV EMAs and I'm from Europe."

Last year's show in Rotterdam was hosted by Bebe Rexha with Ed Sheeran and Ruby Rose fronting the 2015 event in Milan.

London Mayor Sadiq Khan announced the venue news in February as part of his London Is Open campaign.

Mr Khan said it was proof England's capital hadn't become "insular" since the UK voted to leave the EU in last year's referendum.

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