Madonna BEATS Taylor Swift as she sweeps nominations at MTV VMAs

The nominations for the MTV Video Music Awards (VMAs) were unveiled Tuesday morning, with Madonna emerging as the artist with the most nods.

Madonna, 68, is in competition for a staggering 11 prizes, narrowly beating out Taylor Swift, who has nods in nine categories.

They will be vying against each other for the evening's top honor, video of the year, with Swift up for The Fate of Ophelia and Madonna for Confessions II (The Film).

Rounding out the category are the music videos for Hate That I Made You Love Me by Ariana Grande, Tears by Sabrina Carpenter, I Just Might by Bruno Mars and Storm by GENER8ION (starring Yung Lean).

Swift, 36, and Beyonce, 44, are currently tied as the most decorated artists in the history of the VMAs, each with 30 gongs to her name.

Inasmuch as Beyonce has no nominations this year, all Swift has to do is win a single prize in order to become the reigning record-holder, via the Associated Press. 

Madonna famously performed at the first-ever VMAs in 1984, bursting from a gigantic wedding cake while dressed in a bridal gown for a rendition of Like a Virgin.

She has emerged as a reliable engine of memorable moments at the extravaganza, where she ignited a fan frenzy in 2003 by kissing Britney Spears on the lips.

Over the course of her more than four-decade career, Madonna has earned a total of 19 VMAs, meaning that in order to equal Swift and Beyonce's current record she will have to triumph in every category in which she is nominated this year.

Confessions II (The Film) is in the running to win best best direction, best cinematography, best visual effects, best editing, best choreography, best art direction and dance video of the year.

The VMAs will be held on September 27 at the Peacock Theater in downtown Los Angeles and will be broadcast live on CBS at 7:30pm EST.

Trailing Madonna and Swift, Grande and Carpenter are tied for third place with seven nominations apiece, while Mars, PinkPantheress and Zara Larsonn each have five.

The artist of the year category is a face-off between Madonna, Swift, Grande, Carpenter, Mars and country music heartthrob Morgan Wallen.

Madonna and Carpenter have landed a joint song of the year nomination for their due Bring Your Love, the lead single of the former's new album Confessions II.

Their rivals are Ella Langley for Choosin' Texas, BTS for Swim, Raye for Where Is My Husband, Olivia Dean for Man I Need and HUNTR/X for their Oscar-winning number Golden from the streaming sensation KPop Demon Hunters.

Madonna's Confessions II (The Film) is up for dance video of the year, against such competition as  Aperture by Harry Styles, Runway by Lady Gaga and Doechii nad New Religion by Bebe Rexha and Faithless.

The other nominees in that category are Dance... by Slayyyter, Stateside by PinkPantheress and Zara Larsson and Nobody's Girl by Tate McRae.

Madonna and Carpenter could also win best collaboration, for which they would have to beat out Clipse, Kendrick Lamar, Pusha T and Malice for Chains & Whips as well as Shakira and Burna Boy for Dai Dai.

Also in that category are Teyana Taylor and Lucky Daye's Hard Part, PinkPantheress and Zara Larsson's Stateside and French Montana and Max B's Ever Since U Left Me.

Best pop video has emerged as a contest between Hate That I Made You Love Me, The Fate of Ophelia and Nobody's Girl, as well as Dream by the Blackpink breakout Lisa, SS26 by Charli XCX, Drop Dead by Olivia Rodrigo and House Tour by Carpenter.

Choosin' Texas is nominated for best country video against Cowgirl by Shaboozey, Dry Spell by Kacey Musgraves, Somwehwere Over Laredo by Lainey Wilson, Back in the Saddle by Luke Combs, Brunette by Tucke Wetmore and Boston by Stella Lefty.

Best hip-hop video is a star-studded affair, with Janice STFU by Drake grappling with Safe by Cardi B featuring Kehlani, Lover Girl by Megan Thee Stallion, Dumbo by Travis Scott, Sugar on my Tongue by Tyler the Creator and E85 by Don Toliver.

I Just Might is a prospective winner of best R&B video, against Justin Bieber's Yukon, Chris Brown's It Depends/Obvious, Kehlani's Folded and Dave & Tems' Raindance, as well as Is It a Crime by Mariah the Scientist and Kahli Uchis.

Shakira has landed two nominations for best Latin video - one for Choka Choka, her collaboration with Anitta, and one for Dai Dai, her duet with Burna Boy.

Bad Bunny has also earned a nod in that category for NUEVAYoL, as have Karol G for Papasito, Rosalia for La Perla, Fuerza Regida for Tu Sancho and the team-up of Ryan Castro, Kapo and Gangsta for La Villa.

Best K-pop video is another competition awash in familiar faces, with Blackpink up for Jump, BTS for Swim and Katseye for Pinky Up, as well as Cortis for Redred, Le Sserafim for Spaghetti and Lisa for Dream.

Olivia Rodrigo has snagged a best alternative video nomination for The Cure, placing her in contention with Homewrecker by Sombr, Dracula by Tame Impala, Drag Path by Twenty One Pilots, The Great Divide by Noah Kahan, Taxes by Geese and Fix Ur Face by MGK (aka Machine Gun Kelly) and Fred Durst. 

Madonna's VMAs coup comes after she earned a burst of critical acclaim and fan adoration for her latest album Confessions II, which was released June 5 and serves as a sequel to her 2005 smash hit Confessions on a Dance Floor.

During the promotions for Confessions II, Madonna went viral for describing John F Kennedy Jr as one of the best lovers she ever had. 

Madonna was asked to reveal her 'best f***,' and after insisting she would 'only name dead people,' whispered: 'John Kennedy Jr.'

The Queen of Pop indulged in a dalliance with 'America's Prince' in the 1980s, to the purported dismay of his mother Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis.

Madonna paid her compliment to JFK Jr's bedroom skills while appearing in a video for the gay hookup app Grindr, with which she had launched a Pride month partnership as an advertisement for Confessions II.

Meanwhile, the fever-pitch publicity around Swift reached a zenith this summer with her Madison Square Garden wedding to NFL star Travis Kelce on July 3.