2026 MTV VMAs K-Pop Nominations and Voting Guide: BTS, BLACKPINK, HUNTR/X, LISA and More
The 2026 MTV Video Music Awards feature a large K-pop presence, with nominations for BTS, BLACKPINK, HUNTR/X, LISA, Jennie, Jisoo, CORTIS, LE SSERAFIM featuring j-hope, and KATSEYE.
One important detail for fans is that the voting method is not the same for every category.
The main VMA fan-voted categories are handled through MTV’s official voting website, while four Social Categories — Best Group, Best Long Form Video, Best Album and Song of the Summer — use MTV’s Instagram Stories instead. Professional categories such as Best Cinematography and Best Visual Effects are not fan-voted.
※ This article is based on publicly available information checked on September 19, 2026.
2026 MTV VMAs K-Pop-Related Nominees
| Artist / Group | Category | Song / Entry |
|---|---|---|
| BTS | Song of the Year | “SWIM” |
| BTS | Best K-Pop | “SWIM” |
| BTS | Best Group | BTS |
| HUNTR/X | Song of the Year | “Golden” |
| BLACKPINK | Best K-Pop | “JUMP” |
| BLACKPINK | Best Group | BLACKPINK |
| LISA | Best K-Pop | “Dream feat. Kentaro Sakaguchi” |
| LISA | Best Pop | “Dream feat. Kentaro Sakaguchi” |
| LISA | Best Cinematography | “Dream feat. Kentaro Sakaguchi” |
| LISA | Best Editing | “Dream feat. Kentaro Sakaguchi” |
| Jennie & Tame Impala | Song of the Summer | “Dracula” |
| Jisoo & ZAYN | Best Visual Effects | “Eyes Closed” |
| CORTIS | Best New Artist | “REDRED” |
| CORTIS | Best K-Pop | “REDRED” |
| CORTIS | Best Group | CORTIS |
| LE SSERAFIM feat. j-hope | Best K-Pop | “SPAGHETTI” |
| KATSEYE | Best K-Pop | “PINKY UP” |
| KATSEYE | Best Choreography | “PINKY UP” |
| KATSEYE | Best Group | KATSEYE |
| KATSEYE | Song of the Summer | “Hootie Frutti” |
The six nominees in Best K-Pop are BLACKPINK, BTS, CORTIS, KATSEYE, LE SSERAFIM featuring j-hope and LISA.
BTS: Three K-Pop-Related Nominations
BTS is represented in three categories.
Song of the Year
BTS — “SWIM”
“SWIM” is nominated for Song of the Year.
The category also includes HUNTR/X’s “Golden,” making this an important category for fans following K-pop-related nominations.
Best K-Pop
BTS — “SWIM”
BTS is one of six nominees in Best K-Pop.
Best Group
BTS is also nominated for Best Group.
Best Group is not part of MTV’s regular voting page. It belongs to the separate Social Categories and is voted on through the @MTV Instagram Story.
HUNTR/X: “Golden” Is Nominated for Song of the Year
HUNTR/X is an important K-pop-related entry at the 2026 VMAs.
The fictional group from KPop Demon Hunters is nominated for:
Song of the Year — “Golden”
The entry is credited to HUNTR/X with EJAE, Audrey Nuna and Rei Ami.
A key point is that HUNTR/X is not a Best K-Pop nominee.
The Best K-Pop category has six different nominees:
- BLACKPINK — “JUMP”
- BTS — “SWIM”
- CORTIS — “REDRED”
- KATSEYE — “PINKY UP”
- LE SSERAFIM featuring j-hope — “SPAGHETTI”
- LISA — “Dream feat. Kentaro Sakaguchi”
HUNTR/X’s “Golden” is instead part of Song of the Year.
Because Song of the Year is one of the regular VMA fan-voted categories, voting is handled through MTV’s main voting platform.
BLACKPINK: Best K-Pop and Best Group
BLACKPINK has two group nominations.
Best K-Pop
BLACKPINK — “JUMP”
BLACKPINK is one of the six Best K-Pop nominees.
Best Group
BLACKPINK is also nominated for Best Group.
This is a separate Social Category, meaning fans vote through the @MTV Instagram Story, rather than through the regular MTV voting page.
LISA: Four Nominations
LISA has four nominations connected to her solo work.
“Dream feat. Kentaro Sakaguchi” is nominated for:
- Best K-Pop
- Best Pop
- Best Cinematography
- Best Editing
Best K-Pop and Best Pop are regular fan-voted categories.
Best Cinematography and Best Editing are professional categories and are not open to fan voting.
Jennie: Song of the Summer
BLACKPINK’s Jennie has a separate nomination from the group.
Song of the Summer
Tame Impala & JENNIE — “Dracula”
This is one of MTV’s Social Categories.
Therefore, fans should not look for “Dracula” on the regular MTV voting ballot. Song of the Summer voting takes place through the @MTV Instagram Story during its separate voting period.
Jisoo: Best Visual Effects
Jisoo is represented through her collaboration with ZAYN.
Best Visual Effects
JISOO X ZAYN — “Eyes Closed”
Best Visual Effects is a professional category.
MTV’s official voting page specifically identifies Best Visual Effects as non-votable, so there is no fan voting link or voting deadline for this nomination.
CORTIS: Three Nominations
CORTIS has three nominations:
- Best New Artist — “REDRED”
- Best K-Pop — “REDRED”
- Best Group — CORTIS
The first two are regular VMA fan-voted categories.
Best Group is a Social Category and uses Instagram Story voting instead.
LE SSERAFIM Featuring j-hope
LE SSERAFIM featuring j-hope — “SPAGHETTI”
The collaboration is nominated for:
Best K-Pop
It is one of the six nominees in the category.
This should be treated as a collaboration entry rather than a separate solo j-hope nomination.
KATSEYE: Four K-Pop-Related Nominations
KATSEYE appears in four categories:
- Best K-Pop — “PINKY UP”
- Best Choreography — “PINKY UP”
- Best Group — KATSEYE
- Song of the Summer — “Hootie Frutti”
These nominations use different voting systems.
Best K-Pop uses the regular MTV voting page.
Best Choreography is non-votable.
Best Group and Song of the Summer use MTV’s Instagram Stories.
The Full Best K-Pop Nominee List
The 2026 Best K-Pop category contains six nominees:
| Nominee | Song |
|---|---|
| BLACKPINK | “JUMP” |
| BTS | “SWIM” |
| CORTIS | “REDRED” |
| KATSEYE | “PINKY UP” |
| LE SSERAFIM feat. j-hope | “SPAGHETTI” |
| LISA | “Dream feat. Kentaro Sakaguchi” |
HUNTR/X is not in this category. Its “Golden” nomination is in Song of the Year.
2026 MTV VMA Voting Links and Schedules
This is the part fans need to pay particular attention to.
1. Regular MTV VMA Voting
The regular VMA fan-voted categories are collected on MTV’s official voting website.
The page currently displays:
- Video of the Year
- Artist of the Year
- Song of the Year
- Best New Artist
- Best Collaboration
- Best Pop
- Best Hip-Hop
- Best R&B
- Best Alternative
- Best Latin
- Best K-Pop
- Best Dance
- Best Country
MTV currently allows up to 10 votes per day in these categories.
K-pop-related categories on this ballot
- BTS — Song of the Year
- HUNTR/X — Song of the Year
- BTS — Best K-Pop
- BLACKPINK — Best K-Pop
- CORTIS — Best K-Pop
- KATSEYE — Best K-Pop
- LE SSERAFIM feat. j-hope — Best K-Pop
- LISA — Best K-Pop
- CORTIS — Best New Artist
- LISA — Best Pop
Most regular fan-voted categories close on September 25, 2026 at 6:00 p.m. ET, while Best New Artist remains open into the live show.
2. Best Group: Instagram Story Voting
Best Group does not use the regular MTV voting page.
Voting location
@MTV Instagram Story
Voting period
September 21, 2026, 11:00 a.m. ET → September 24, 2026, 11:00 a.m. ET
The voting uses a bracket-style format with multiple rounds.
K-pop-related nominees:
- BTS
- BLACKPINK
- CORTIS
- KATSEYE
So if a fan wants to vote for BTS or BLACKPINK in Best Group, going to the regular MTV voting website is not the correct route.
3. Song of the Summer: Instagram Story Voting
Song of the Summer also has a completely separate voting period.
Voting location
@MTV Instagram Story
Voting period
September 26, 2026, 11:00 a.m. ET → September 27, 2026, 11:00 a.m. ET
K-pop-related nominees include:
- Tame Impala & JENNIE — “Dracula”
- KATSEYE — “Hootie Frutti”
Therefore, Jennie fans looking to vote for Song of the Summer should use MTV’s Instagram Story during the specified window, not the regular VMA voting page.
4. Best Long Form Video and Best Album
The other two Social Categories also use the @MTV Instagram Story rather than the regular voting website.
However, there are currently no K-pop-related nominees in Best Long Form Video or Best Album.
Their voting schedules are:
| Category | Voting period | Location |
|---|---|---|
| Best Group | Sep. 21, 11 a.m. ET → Sep. 24, 11 a.m. ET | @MTV Instagram Story |
| Best Long Form Video | Sep. 24, 11 a.m. ET → Sep. 25, 11 a.m. ET | @MTV Instagram Story |
| Best Album | Sep. 25, 11 a.m. ET → Sep. 26, 11 a.m. ET | @MTV Instagram Story |
| Song of the Summer | Sep. 26, 11 a.m. ET → Sep. 27, 11 a.m. ET | @MTV Instagram Story |
5. Professional Categories: No Fan Voting
Some K-pop-related nominations are not open for public voting.
These include:
- LISA — Best Cinematography
- LISA — Best Editing
- Jisoo & ZAYN — Best Visual Effects
- KATSEYE — Best Choreography
MTV’s official voting page labels these categories non-votable.
There is therefore no separate voting link to provide for these awards.
2026 MTV VMA K-Pop Voting Schedule
| K-pop-related nomination | Voting method | Voting location | Schedule |
|---|---|---|---|
| BTS — Song of the Year | Fan vote | MTV voting page | Regular voting period |
| HUNTR/X — Song of the Year | Fan vote | MTV voting page | Regular voting period |
| BTS — Best K-Pop | Fan vote | MTV voting page | Regular voting period |
| BLACKPINK — Best K-Pop | Fan vote | MTV voting page | Regular voting period |
| CORTIS — Best K-Pop | Fan vote | MTV voting page | Regular voting period |
| KATSEYE — Best K-Pop | Fan vote | MTV voting page | Regular voting period |
| LE SSERAFIM feat. j-hope — Best K-Pop | Fan vote | MTV voting page | Regular voting period |
| LISA — Best K-Pop | Fan vote | MTV voting page | Regular voting period |
| CORTIS — Best New Artist | Fan vote | MTV voting page | Continues into live show |
| LISA — Best Pop | Fan vote | MTV voting page | Regular voting period |
| BTS — Best Group | Fan vote | @MTV Instagram Story | Sep. 21–24 |
| BLACKPINK — Best Group | Fan vote | @MTV Instagram Story | Sep. 21–24 |
| CORTIS — Best Group | Fan vote | @MTV Instagram Story | Sep. 21–24 |
| KATSEYE — Best Group | Fan vote | @MTV Instagram Story | Sep. 21–24 |
| Jennie — Song of the Summer | Fan vote | @MTV Instagram Story | Sep. 26–27 |
| KATSEYE — Song of the Summer | Fan vote | @MTV Instagram Story | Sep. 26–27 |
| LISA — Best Cinematography | Non-votable | — | No fan vote |
| LISA — Best Editing | Non-votable | — | No fan vote |
| Jisoo — Best Visual Effects | Non-votable | — | No fan vote |
| KATSEYE — Best Choreography | Non-votable | — | No fan vote |
The distinction between the regular MTV voting page and Instagram Story voting is confirmed by MTV’s official voting page and the Social Categories announcement.
When Are the 2026 MTV VMAs?
The 2026 MTV Video Music Awards will take place on:
Sunday, September 27, 2026
7:30–9:30 p.m. ET
4:30–6:30 p.m. PT
The ceremony will air live on CBS, simulcast on MTV, and stream on Paramount+ in the U.S.
For viewers in South Korea, the ceremony will take place during the morning of Monday, September 28, 2026.
FAQ
Is HUNTR/X nominated for the 2026 MTV VMAs?
Yes. HUNTR/X’s “Golden” is nominated for Song of the Year.
Is HUNTR/X nominated for Best K-Pop?
No. HUNTR/X is nominated for Song of the Year, while the six Best K-Pop nominees are BLACKPINK, BTS, CORTIS, KATSEYE, LE SSERAFIM featuring j-hope and LISA.
Is the voting link the same for every MTV VMA category?
No. The regular fan-voted categories are available through MTV’s voting website, while Best Group, Best Long Form Video, Best Album and Song of the Summer use the @MTV Instagram Story.
Where do I vote for BTS in Best K-Pop?
Use MTV’s official VMA voting page.
Vote on MTV’s official VMA page
Where do I vote for BTS or BLACKPINK in Best Group?
Best Group voting takes place through the @MTV Instagram Story, not the regular VMA voting page. Voting runs September 21–24.
Where do I vote for Jennie in Song of the Summer?
Song of the Summer voting takes place through the @MTV Instagram Story from September 26 at 11:00 a.m. ET until September 27 at 11:00 a.m. ET.
Can fans vote for Jisoo’s Best Visual Effects nomination?
No. Best Visual Effects is a non-votable professional category.
Final Summary
The 2026 MTV VMAs have a significant K-pop-related presence, but fans should not assume that every nomination uses the same voting link.
Regular MTV voting page
- BTS — Song of the Year
- HUNTR/X — Song of the Year
- BTS — Best K-Pop
- BLACKPINK — Best K-Pop
- CORTIS — Best K-Pop
- KATSEYE — Best K-Pop
- LE SSERAFIM feat. j-hope — Best K-Pop
- LISA — Best K-Pop
- CORTIS — Best New Artist
- LISA — Best Pop
MTV Instagram Story
- BTS — Best Group
- BLACKPINK — Best Group
- CORTIS — Best Group
- KATSEYE — Best Group
- Jennie — Song of the Summer
- KATSEYE — Song of the Summer
No fan voting
- LISA — Best Cinematography
- LISA — Best Editing
- Jisoo & ZAYN — Best Visual Effects
- KATSEYE — Best Choreography
The 2026 MTV VMAs will air live on September 27, 2026, at 7:30 p.m. ET / 4:30 p.m. PT.
