MTV European Music Awards 2023: Taylor Swift almost breaks impressive record held by Justin Bieber

Taylor Swift is on the verge of defeating an impressive record set by Justin Bieber at the MTV Europe Music Awards. The pop-star received the highest nominations for this year’s MTV EMA’s but narrowly missed out on defeating a long-standing record held by the Canadian singer-songwriter.

The MTV Europe Music Awards announced their nominations for this year’s annual ceremony on Wednesday (4 October). Taylor Swift scored seven nominations including Best Artist, Best Video, and Best Live act, while Olivia Rodrigo and SZA will contend for six gongs each.

Following closely behind are Doja Cat, Nicki Minaj, Miley Cyrus and Måneskin, who are all tied on five nominations each. Swift’s seven nominations now takes her grand total up to 51, since she was first recognised by the award show in 2009.

Justin Bieber - whose last studio album Justice was released in 2021 - holds the record with a mammoth 52 nominations. The artist is yet to make an official announcement regarding a new album so it’s likely his record will be surpassed if Swift remains prolific over the next year.

However, one record held by Justin that is likely to remain unbeaten is for most wins at the MTV European Music Awards. In just a six year span, between 2010-2016, Justin won an impressive 22 awards whereas Taylor Swift leads the way for female artists with a respectable 12 - tied with Lady Gaga and One Direction.

The MTV EMAs - which is set to take place this year at France’s Paris Nord Villepinte - held its first event in 1994 to promote European local artists. However, in 2011 MTV rebranded the award show, shortening its name to ‘MTV EMA’, and began allowing recognition of worldwide artists.

This year’s award show also features a brand-new category called Best Afrobeats including names such as Asake, Aya Nakamura, Ayra Starr and Burna Boy, all nominated for the inaugural award.

This year, the awards are returning to French exhibition hall Paris Nord Villepinte - the show's first return to the French capital since 1995. The 2023 MTV EMAs will take place on 5 November, broadcast live on MTV in more than 150 countries across the globe, as well as on Pluto TV and on-demand on Paramount+.