Justice nominated for VMA Video of the Year

Are animated t-shirt designs on par with the brilliance of space zeppelins, Outkast Beatlemania and homoerotic cherubs? French duo Justice’s innovative cotton-driven video for "D.A.N.C.E." has been nominated for MTV VMA Video of the Year, and is certainly closer to the "Tonight, Tonight"/"Hey Ya" ideal than 2006 winner Panic! At the Disco's derivative wedding-turned freak show for “I Write Sins Not Tragedies.” Even MTV seems surprised at its own good taste, acknowledging Justice’s place in the awards as “perhaps the biggest shock of the entire nominations field.”

For the VMAs, which take place Sept. 9 in Las Vegas, Justice is pitted against Beyonce’s “Irreplaceable,” Rihanna’s “Umbrella,” Justice Timberlake’s “What Goes Around, Comes Around,” Kanye West’s “Stronger” and Amy Winehouse’s “Rehab.” Timberlake and Beyonce each received seven nods, which is not surprising considering categories like “Best Art Direction,” and “Best Cinematography” have been replaced by categories like “Quadruple Threat of the Year” and “Most Earthshattering Collaboration.” Awards that are taylor-made for artists do come and go so quickly here, like “Best Long Form Video,” which existed only in 1991 and was given to Madonna for “Immaculate Collection.”

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