Katy Perry will host this year’s MTV Video Music Awards, the network announced Thursday, as it turned to one of pop music’s most visible stars for its big gala.
Perry was also the first performer announced for the awards, which will be aired globally from Los Angeles on Aug. 27.
MTV broke the news by posting a picture of the newly blonde singer dressed as an astronaut — a nod to the awards’ “Moonman” statuette and the network’s early commercials.
In a statement, Perry joked that she had started “training in zero gravity.”
MTV has experimented with different host formats for the annual party, which are generally better remembered for attention-grabbing on-stage incidents than for the award winners. Perry, whose hits include “Teenage Dream” and “Roar,” won video of the year in 2011 for “Firework.”
The 32-year-old singer released a new album, “Witness,” last month. So far, it had mild success and has not matched the triumph of her previous albums.
Kendrick Lamar is the top VMA contender with eight nominations. His hit, “Humble,” will compete for video of the year against videos by Bruno Mars, the Weeknd, Alessia Cara and DJ Khaled.
Miley Cyrus hosted the event two years ago, but in 2016, MTV decided to have multiple presenters throughout the night rather than a single host.
Perry, the only person with more than 100 million followers on Twitter, is up for five VMAs this year for “Chained to the Rhythm,” her disco-inspired track whose video presents a sci-fi amusement park fantasy.
The 32-year-old has three videos that have reached one billion views on YouTube, led by “Roar.”

Source: Arab News