Britney Spears, Lil Wayne, Mariah Carey Among MTV VMA Nominees For Best Male, Female Video

We asked for your help, and you did not disappoint. You voted in record numbers, whittling the list of Moonman hopefuls for Best Male Video and Best Female Video at the 2008 MTV Video Music Awards down to the final five, as the nominees were revealed Friday (July 25).

After thousands of votes on VMA.MTV.com (along with ballots from select industry insiders), two diverse battles are set. A pair of legendary pop icons will square off against two relative newcomers and one wily underdog in the fight for Best Female Video. Pop queen Britney Spears takes another step on the comeback trail as her "Piece of Me" grabs a nomination, while Mariah Carey will try to end her VMA dry spell with "Touch My Body." "American Idol" champ Jordin Sparks scores a nomination for her Chris Brown collaboration "No Air," and Rihanna is in the running as well with "Take a Bow." Quirky long shot Katy Perry rounds out the Best Female race with her cheeky summer anthem "I Kissed a Girl."

Meanwhile, hip-hop's hot streak continues in the Best Male Video category as two of the hottest MCs in the game face off against some of R&B's leading men. Lil Wayne's "Lollipop" exploded this year, so it's no surprise that he's in the running, along with T.I., whose "No Matter What" chronicles his struggles over the past year. Chris Brown and Usher made the list with "With You" and "Love in This Club" respectively, and Flo Rida is in the mix with "Low."

Of course, when one door closes, another opens, my friends — voting in two other categories is now officially open at VMA.MTV.com. Hundreds of hopefuls will now duke it out in the Best Hip-Hop Video and Best Pop Video categories! The nominees will be announced on next Friday's installment of "FNMTV." After that, two more rounds of voting remain to determine the nominees for Best Dancing in a Video, Best New Artist, Best Rock Video and the highly coveted Video of the Year.

The 25th VMAs will take place at the legendary Paramount Pictures Studios in Hollywood on September 7. The Jonas Brothers are confirmed to perform, and British funnyman and "Forgetting Sarah Marshall" co-star Russell Brand was just announced as the show's host.

Source: MTV.com

Lil Wayne Continues Hot 100 Dominance

With his new album "Tha Carter III" poised to debut next week at No. 1 on The Billboard 200, Lil Wayne begins a fifth week atop the Hot 100 with "Lollipop" featuring Static Major. Five songs from "Tha Carter III" are on this week's tally, and Wayne also appears as a guest on charting tracks from Usher and Lloyd.

Coldplay's "Viva La Vida" inches up 3-2, another high water mark for the U.K. band. Leona Lewis' "Bleeding Love" drops 2-3, while Katy Perry's "I Kissed a Girl" and Rihanna's "Take a Bow" trade places at Nos. 4 and 5, respectively.

The songs at positions 6-8 -- Usher's "Love in This Club" featuring Young Jeezy, Jordin Sparks' "No Air" featuring Chris Brown and Ray J & Yung Berg's "Sexy Can I" -- all stand pat. Natasha Bedingfield's "Pocketful of Sunshine" jumps 11-9 and Madonna's "4 Minutes" featuring Justin Timberlake holds at No. 10.

The Pussycat Dolls' "When I Grow Up" is the chart's greatest digital gainer, its 34,000 downloads spurring a 76-31 jump. Young Jeezy has the top debut with "Put On" featuring Kanye West, which opens at No. 36. The rapper's next Def Jam album, "The Recession," is due in August.

On Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, Keyshia Cole's "Heaven Sent" dethrones Lil Wayne's "Lollipop" after a six-week reign. "Heaven," which jumps 3-1, gives Cole her third chart-topper from her "Just Like You" album.

Carrie Underwood also achieves her third No. 1 from a single album ("Carnival Ride"), as "Last Name" climbs 5-1 on Hot Country Songs. It's Underwood's sixth chart-topper here overall.

There's no change at the top of Billboard's rock charts; Weezer is No. 1 on Modern Rock with "Pork & Beans" for a sixth week, and Disturbed's "Inside the Fire" tops Mainstream Rock for a sixth as well.

Source: Billboard.com

Lil Wayne Tops Hot 100 Amid 'Idol' Infusion

Lil Wayne is No. 1 for a third week on the Billboard Hot 100 with "Lollipop," amid the debut of 14 tracks from "American Idol" contestants David Cook (11) and David Archuleta (three). As previously reported, "Idol" winner Cook's debuts are a record both here and on Hot Digital Songs, where he has 14 new entries.

He has the top debut on the Hot 100 this week at No. 3 with "The Time of My Life," which sold 236,000 downloads. Leona Lewis remains No. 2 with "Bleeding Love," while Rihanna's "Take a Bow" slides 3-4 and Jordin Sparks' "No Air" featuring Chris Brown holds at No. 5.

Usher's "Love in This Club" featuring Young Jeezy drops 4-6, Ray J & Yung Berg's "Sexy Can I" falls 6-7, Madonna's "4 Minutes" featuring Justin Timberlake is down 7-8 and Natasha Bedingfield's "Pocketful of Sunshine" slips 8-9.

Coldplay's "Viva La Vida" explodes 41-10 and is the top digital gainer after selling 139,000 downloads. The song is prominently featured in a TV ad for Apple's iTunes Music Store.

Chris Brown's "Forever" is the greatest airplay gainer this week, although is drops 20-23. Besides the "Idol" debuts, the only other new Hot 100 entries this week come from Taylor Swift's "Should've Said No" at No. 84, Julianne Hough's "That Song in My Head" at No. 88, Lloyd's "Girls Around the World" featuring Lil Wayne at No. 93 and Kanye West's "Homecoming" featuring Chris Martin at No. 96.

"Lollipop" is in a fifth week at No. 1 on Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, where his guest turn on "Girls Around the World" is the top airplay gainer and jumps 28-22.

Brad Paisley starts a second week atop Hot Country Songs with "I'm Still a Guy." On that chart, Sugarland enjoys its career-best debut at No. 27 with "All I Want To Do," the first single from its July 22 Mercury release, "Love on the Inside."

On Billboard's rock chart, Weezer is No. 1 on Modern Rock with "Pork & Beans" for a fourth week, and Disturbed's "Inside the Fire" tops Mainstream Rock for a fourth as well.

Source: Billboard.com