Lady Gaga (and Beyonce) Lead VMA Noms

This year's sure to be another big one, what with new pop star Lady GaGa tying Beyonce for top nominations with a whopping 9 nods. Very impressive considering MTV's tendency to promote more established stars over and over again (see above Britney history). Britney, of course, has her own impressive round-up, coming out in second place with 7 nominations.

The heavyweights for Video of the Year are Beyonce's "Single Ladies" (addictive dance-a-thon), Britney Spears' "Womanizer" (Britney naked in a sauna = gold), Kanye West's "Love Lockdown" (It's pretty), Lady GaGa's "Poker Face" (Divalicious), and Eminem's "We Made You" (Erhm, no comment). You can vote for your favorite by clicking here.

You can also watch all of this year's nominated videos, including those in the more legit categories like Best Editing or Best Cinematography.

There's no word yet on whether Britney will be performing this year. If you remember, last year her much hyped appearance turned out to be nothing more than "Welcome to the VMAs, y'all!" So I wouldn't hold out too much hope. Instead, focus your energies on the great acts already lined up: Taylor Swift, Muse, Green Day, and P!nk. More are certain to be announced soon, alongside the presenters such as Chace Crawford and Katy Perry.

Surprisingly, given the controversy around his Jonas Brothers virginity comments last year, British comedian Russell Brand is taking the stage once again to host.

The 26th Annual Video Music Awards will debut September 13th at 9PM Eastern live on MTV.