BTS, Blackpink, Cortis and Katseye are all nominated for "Best Group" at the MTV Video Music Awards (MTV VMA) 2026.
The nomination list was announced on September 18 (local time), with many K-pop representatives present in categories voted by global fans.
BTS has a total of 3 nominations in this year's season. Previously, the group was nominated for "Song of the Year" and "Best K-Pop Group" with "Swim", the title track in their 5th studio album "Arirang". The "Best Group" nomination brought BTS to continue to participate in one of the notable categories of MTV VMA.
In the "Best Group" category, BTS competed with Blackpink, Cortis, Katseye, Flo, Fuerza Regida, Geese and Twenty One Pilots. The category gathered 8 groups from different markets.
BTS once won the "Best Group" award for 4 consecutive years, from 2019 to 2022. Blackpink also received awards twice in 2023 and 2025. This year, the two groups continue to be nominated together, alongside two new names Cortis and Katseye.
Cortis received 3 nominations at MTV VMA 2026. Besides "Best Group", the group competed for "Best New Artist" and "Best K-Pop Group" with the song "Redred".
Katseye has 4 nominations, including "Best Choreography", "Best K-Pop Group", "Best Group" and "Summer Song". The song "Pinky up" helped the group enter the two categories "Best Choreography" and "Best K-Pop Group", while "Hootie fruits" competed in "Summer Song".
Jennie (Blackpink) also participated in "Summer Song" with "Dracula", a collaboration product with Tame Impala. This category has a total of 15 nominations, gathering many international artists such as Ariana Grande, Bruno Mars, Charli xcx, Ella Langley, Olivia Rodrigo, Sabrina Carpenter and Taylor Swift.
In "Best K-Pop Group", BTS competed with Blackpink, Cortis, Katseye, Le Sserafim and Lisa. The nominated products included "Swim" by BTS, "Jump" by Blackpink, "Redred" by Cortis, "Pinky up" by Katseye, "Spaghetti" by Le Sserafim combined with j-hope (BTS) and "Dream" by Lisa (Blackpink) combined with Kentaro Sakaguchi.
The MTV VMA 2026 nomination list shows K-pop representatives appearing in many different categories. Besides "Best K-Pop Group", BTS, Blackpink, Cortis and Katseye also competed in "Best Group", while Jennie and Katseye participated in "Summer Song".
MTV VMA 2026 takes place on September 27 at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles (USA). The awards ceremony is broadcast live in the US and broadcast internationally the next day.
The presence of BTS, Blackpink and new generation groups such as Cortis and Katseye shows that K-pop continues to have a position at the American music awards.
