POP star Taylor Swift is leading the pack for this year’s MTV Video Music Awards with nine nominations, followed by Ed Sheeran with six and Beyonce and Mark Ronson with five.

    Swift’s superhero-themed video for “Bad Blood” is up for video of the year.

    It will compete with Beyonce’s “7/11;” Sheeran’s “Thinking Out Loud;” Ronson’s “Uptown Funk,” featuring Bruno Mars, and Kendrick Lamar’s “Alright.”

    The awards are being held in Los Angeles on Aug. 30.

    Swift, whose album “1989” was 2014’s best-selling album globally, also earned nominations for her music video “Blank Space” in the best female video and best pop video categories.

    The awards show, which hands out Moonman statuettes as its prize, has seen some controversial antics from its stars in recent years.

    In 2013, singer Miley Cyrus twerked through her performance holding a foam finger and, in 2009, hip-hop star Kanye West interrupted Taylor Swift’s acceptance speech for best female video.

    Three British starts are listed in the artists to watch category, George Ezra, FKA Twigs and James Bay, while the other two nominees are American — Vance Joy and Fetty Wap.

    Ellie Goulding is the only British artist up for best female video, for “Love Me Like You Do.” She is up against Beyonce’s “7/11,” Nicki Minaj’s “Anaconda,” Sia’s “Elastic Heart” and Taylor Swift’s “Blank Space.”

    In the best male category, British artist Sheeran’s “Thinking Out Loud” is competing with The Weekend for “Earned It,” Nick Jonas’s “Chains,” Lamar’s “Alright” and Ronson’s “Uptown Funk.”

    The awards show, which began in 1984, will be broadcast live from the Microsoft Theater, formerly the Nokia Theater, in L.A.

    (SD-Agencies)