MTV announced four additions to its Video Music Awards lineup on Tuesday (Aug. 11). The Weeknd and Maluma will each perform on the show for the second time. Roddy Ricch and Latin boy band CNCO will each perform for the first time.
BTS, Doja Cat and J Balvin were announced as performers last week. The Aug. 30 show, to be hosted by Keke Palmer, will be held at various outdoor sites in New York, rather than at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, as originally planned. MTV is saying the show “will pay homage to New York with outdoor performances around the City.”
The Weeknd performed “Can’t Feel My Face” on the 2015 VMAs. Maluma performed “Felices los 4” on the 2018 show.
This will be the second year in a row that the VMAs will have multiple Latin performances. Last year, J Balvin teamed with Bad Bunny to perform “Qué Pretendes,” and Rosalía teamed with Ozuna to perform three songs — “A Ningún Hombre,” “Yo x Ti, Tu x Mi” and “Aute Cuture.” This is a strong suggestion that Latin music is becoming a more important part of the MTV mix.
The Weeknd has six VMA nominations this year, including video of the year and artist of the year. Ricch has three, including song of the year and PUSH best new artist. CNCO has two. Maluma has one.
Following The Weeknd’s VMAs performance of “Can’t Feel My Face” five years ago, the smash received a Grammy nomination for record of the year. The Weeknd is a Grammy front-runner in that category this year for his No. 1 smash “Blinding Lights.”
Article source: billboard.com