Since it's the last day of voting, I might as well make my predictions now.
VIDEO OF THE YEAR
* Lady Gaga - Bad Romance
BEST COLLABORATION
* Jay-Z & Alicia Keys - Empire State of Mind
(
This is probably one of the ones I'm getting wrong, but it's still possible!)
BEST DANCE MUSIC VIDEO
* Lady Gaga - Bad Romance
BEST FEMALE VIDEO
* Lady Gaga - Bad Romance
BEST HIP-HOP VIDEO
* Eminem - Not Afraid
(
I'm still unsure as to which one he's getting and which one B.o.B is getting, but I'm going with this order)
BEST MALE VIDEO
* B.o.B featuring Hayley Williams - Airplanes
BEST NEW ARTIST
* Justin Bieber featuring Ludacris - Baby
(
I never thought I'd say this, but I hope Ke$ha wins this)
BEST POP VIDEO
* Katy Perry featuring Snoop Dogg - California Gurls
BEST ROCK VIDEO
* Muse - Uprising
(
Yeah this one is another one I'm probably losing; 30STM fans are voting A LOT, but still hopeful!)
BEST ART DIRECTION
* Lady Gaga - Bad Romance
(
Florence + the Machine could take this one, too)
BEST CHOREOGRAPHY
* Lady Gaga - Bad Romance
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
* Jay-Z & Alicia Keys - Empire State of Mind
(
I want Mumford & Sons to win it, but Jay-Z will take it. Lady Gaga may take it as well)
BEST DIRECTION
* 30 Seconds to Mars - Kings and Queens
(
Another one I'm probably losing b/c Gaga may take it, and still hoping for P!nk to upset here)
BEST EDITING
* Lady Gaga - Bad Romance
BEST SPECIAL EFFECTS
* Green Day - 21st Century Breakdown
(
Green Day or Muse are the most deserving here to me, but Gaga could easily take this one, too)
BREAKTHROUGH VIDEO
* Coldplay - Strawberry Swing
(
I swear, if they give to to Gorillaz here...)
Now I don't want to be a complainer or a nitpicker, but I always wondered why we had to have a points difference between the categories. Sure, VOTY is more important than any of the other awards, and the tech awards are typically seen as the least important (even though they're typically the ones that reward the year's best videos). Otherwise, though, nothing makes Best Collaboration more prestigious than Best Rock Video (especially since Best Rock Video has been handed out since 1989) so that the former is worth many more points than the latter.
Also, it's kind of obvious that the order in which MTV places them is alphabetical, both in the general categories and the professional ones (Collaboration, Dance, Female, Hip-Hop, Male, New, Pop, Rock for the general ones... and Art direction, Choreography, Cinematography, Direction, Editing, Special effects, and Breakthrough, which is alphabetically after "Best," for the technical ones).
Again, it's not a big deal because points differences make for a more interesting game, but I feel like it unfairly puts certain people at a disadvantage if they are better at predicting come categories than others,
especially if they're later in the alphabet. Just food for thought, I guess...