Jay-Z tops 21st Annual MTV Video Music Awards 2004 with six nominations for '99 Problems'

NEW YORK (MTV Press release) - MTV: Music Television today announced the nominees for the "2004 MTV Video Music Awards." Jay-Z topped the list with six nominations for his music video "99 Problems."
Beyonce, No Doubt, OutKast and Usher follow with five nods each.

Beyonce nabbed four nods for her music video "Naughty Girl" and one for "Me, Myself and I."
No Doubt garnered five noms for their music video "It's My Life".
OutKast received five noms for their music video "Hey Ya" and Usher nabbed one nom for "Burn" and four for "Yeah" feat. Lil' Jon & Ludacris.

The 2004 VMAs will broadcast live from AmericanAirlines Arena in Miami, FL on Sunday, August 29, 2004 at 8:00 PM (LIVE ET/Tape Delayed PT).
"It has been an incredible year from Jay-Z's hard hitting and gritty 99 Problems to OutKast's super-theatrical Hey Ya to the sultry dance moves in Beyonce's Naughty Girl," said Van Toffler, President, MTV & MTV2. "These top nominees will set the stage for one of the biggest nights in music."

Ballots for "2004 MTV Video Music Awards" were sent out to an exclusive industry group and viewers who determined the nominees for the telecast. Approximately 500 viewers and individuals including record labels, music journalists and video producers selected the nominees for awards categories encompassing wide-ranging contemporary music forms rap, dance, R&B and rock. Ballots are cast by electronic mail. Duplication is avoided through a special control number assigned to each ballot, which can only be tallied once.

MTV.com will be the ultimate online stop for the latest VMA news and exclusive content. For the first time ever, the Viewer's Choice winner will be decided in the "VMAyhem Viewer's Choice Playoffs." Viewers via MTV.com will whittle down forty music videos in head-to-head match-ups until the final five remain standing. Viewers will then be able to cast votes amongst those five final music videos right up until moments before the winner will be announced.

In addition, MTV2 viewers get to flex their fan power by determining the winner of the MTV2 Award exclusively at mtv.com. Voting for Viewer's Choice and the MTV2 Award will begin on July 27th. Voting for the final five nominees for Viewer's Choice will start on August 18th. PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP is the official business advisor of the "2004 MTV Video Music Awards."
Salli Frattini and Dave Sirulnick are the Executive Producers for the "2004 MTV Video Music Awards." Alex Coletti is Co-Executive Producer. Michael Dempsey is Producer and Summer Strauch is Co-Producer. Louis J. Horvitz is the Director.

Following are the nominees for the "2004 MTV Video Music Awards":

Video of the Year:

• OutKast, "Hey Ya!
• Britney Spears, "Toxic"
• Jay-Z, "99 Problems"
• Usher featuring Lil Jon & Ludacris, "Yeah"
• D12, "My Band"

Best Male Video:

• Usher featuring Lil' Jon & Ludacris, "Yeah"
• Justin Timberlake, "Senorita"
• Prince, "Musicology"
• Jay-Z, "99 Problems"
• Kanye West with Syleena Johnson, "All Falls Down"

Best Female Video:

• Britney Spears, "Toxic"
• Beyonc, "Naughty"
• Alicia Keys, "If I Ain't Got You"
• Christina Aguilera, "The Voice Within"
• Jessica Simpson, "With You"

Best Group Video:

• No Doubt, "It's My Life"
• Hoobastank, "The Reason"
• Good Charlotte, "Hold On"
• D12 "My Band"
• Maroon 5, "This Love"

Best Rap Video:

• Jay-Z, "99 Problems"
• D12, "My Band"
• Ludacris, "Stand Up"
• 50 Cent featuring Snoop Dogg & G-Unit, "P.I.M.P. Remix"
• Lil Jon & The East Side Boys featuring Ying Yang Twins, "Get Low"

Best Dance Video

• Usher featuring Lil Jon & Ludacris, "Yeah"
• Beyonc, "Naughty Girl"
• Missy Elliot, "I'm Really Hot"
• Black Eyed Peas, "Hey Mama"
• Britney Spears, "Toxic"

Best R&B Video:

• Usher, "Burn"
• Alicia Keys, "If I Ain't Got You"
• Brandy featuring Kanye West, "Talk About Our Lov"
• R. Kelly, "Step in the Name of Love"
• Beyonc, "Me, Myself and I"

Best Hip-Hop Video:

• OutKast, "Hey Ya,"
• Kanye West with Syleena Johnson, "All Falls Down"
• Chingy featuring Ludacris and Snoop Dogg, "Holidae In"
• Black Eyed Peas, "Hey Mama"
• Nely with P. Diddy and Murphy Lee, "Shake Ya Tailfeather"

Best Rock Video:

• Jet, "Are You Gonna Be My Girl"
• The Darkness, "I Believe in a Thing Called Love"
• Hoobastank, "The Reason"
• Linkin Park, "Breaking the Habit"
• Evanescence, "My Immortal"

Best Pop Video:

• Britney Spears, "Toxic"
• Jessica Simpson, "With You"
• Hilary Duff, "Come Clean"
• Avril Lavigne, "Don't Tell Me"
• No Doubt, "It's My Life"

Best New Artist in a Video:

• Jet, "Are You Gonna Be My Girl"
• JoJo, "Leave (Get Out)"
• Yellowcard, "Ocean Avenue"
• Maroon 5, "This Love"
• Kanye West featuring Syleena Johnson, "All Falls Down"
• The Darkness, "I Believe in a Thing Called Love"

MTV2 Award:

• Yeah Yeah Yeahs, "Maps"
• Yellowcard, "Ocean Avenue"
• Franz Ferdinand, "Take Me Out"
• Elephant Man, "Pon De River"
• Twista featuring Kanye West and Jamie Foxx, "Slow Jamz"

Breakthrough Video:

• Franz Ferdinand, "Take Me Out"
• Kayne West featuring Syleena Johnson, "All Falls Down"
• White Stripes, "The Hardest Button to Button"
• Modest Mouse, "Float On"
• New Found Glory, "All Downhill from Here"
• Steriogram, "Walkie Talkie Man"

The "2004 MTV Video Music Awards" will be available to a potential viewing audience of over 1 billion people via MTV's 42 channels reaching 407.5 million households around the world as well as through syndication, and its convergent and original online programming will reach the entire online nation, via MTV's 34 Web sites around the world.
The official sponsors of the "2004 MTV Video Music Awards" are Pepsi, Taco Bell, Pantene Pro-Voice, GM, Dodge, Revlon, Gap and HP.

MTV Networks owns and operates the cable television programming services MTV: Music Television, MTV2, mtvU, Nickelodeon/Nick at Nite, TV Land, VH1, CMT: Country Music Television, and Spike TV, as well as The Digital Suite from MTV Networks, a package of thirteen digital services, all of which are trademarks of MTV Networks. MTV Networks also operates and offers joint ventures, licensing agreements and syndication deals whereby its programming can be seen worldwide.