MTV EMAs shortlist reveals acts prepared to travel to Amsterdam

Oh, MTV's European Music Awards shortlist has been released, revealing who MTV's European PR team think has enough heft to persuade people to watch a music programme on a channel normal dedicated to two reality formats being wrung dry.

If only there was some sort of press release which could, in a pithy phrase, capture a sense of if this is an event which celebrates the new, the challenging and exciting; or merely is the same faces dancing through the same empty struts.

Hang on: what's this?

GREEN DAY RECEIVES THREE MTV EMA NOMINATIONS

Empty struts it is, then.

For the record, here's the dullest list in the world in full:

BEST SONG
Bruno Mars – Locked Out Of Heaven
Daft Punk – Get Lucky (ft. Pharrell Williams)
Macklemore & Ryan Lewis – Thrift Shop (ft. Wanz)
Rihanna – Diamonds
Robin Thicke – Blurred Lines (ft. T.I. & Pharrell)

BEST POP
Justin Bieber
Katy Perry
Miley Cyrus
One Direction
Taylor Swift

BEST FEMALE
Katy Perry
Lady Gaga
Miley Cyrus
Selena Gomez
Taylor Swift

BEST MALE
Bruno Mars
Eminem
Jay Z
Justin Bieber
Justin Timberlake

BEST LIVE
Beyoncé
Green Day
Justin Timberlake
Pink
Taylor Swift

BEST NEW
Bastille
Icona Pop
Imagine Dragons
Macklemore & Ryan Lewis
Rudimental

BEST VIDEO
Justin Timberlake – Mirrors
Lady Gaga – Applause
Miley Cyrus – Wrecking Ball
Robin Thicke – Blurred Lines (ft. T.I. & Pharrell)
Thirty Seconds To Mars – Up In The Air

BEST ROCK
Black Sabbath
Green Day
Kings Of Leon
Queens Of The Stone Age
The Killers

BEST ALTERNATIVE
Arctic Monkeys
Fall Out Boy
Franz Ferdinand
Paramore
Thirty Seconds To Mars

BEST HIP HOP
Drake
Eminem
Jay Z
Kanye West
Macklemore & Ryan Lewis

BEST ELECTRONIC
Afrojack Avicii
Calvin Harris
Daft Punk
Skrillex

BIGGEST FANS
Tokio Hotel
Thirty Seconds To Mars
One Direction
Justin Bieber
Lady Gaga

BEST LOOK
Harry Styles
Justin Timberlake
Lady Gaga
Rihanna
Rita Ora

BEST PUSH
Karmin (October 2012)
Rudimental (November 2012)
Imagine Dragons (January 2013)
A$AP Rocky (February 2013)
Bastille (March 2013)
Austin Mahone (April 2013)
Bridgit Mendler (May 2013)
Tom Odell (June 2013)
Iggy Azalea (July 2013)
Icona Pop (August 2013)
Twenty One Pilots (September 2013)

BEST WORLD STAGE
Alicia Keys – WS Manchester 2012
fun. – WS Rock Am Ring 2013
Garbage - WS Mexico 2012
Green Day – WS Rock Am Ring 2013
Jason Mraz – WS Live In Myanmar 2012
Jessie J – WS Malta 2013
Linkin Park – WS Mexico 2012
Macklemore & Ryan Lewis – WS Wireless 2013
No Doubt – WS Frankfurt 2012
Paramore – WS Rock Am Ring 2013
Rita Ora – WS Malta 2013
Robin Thicke – WS Malaysia 2013
Snoop Lion – WS Durban 2013
The Black Keys – WS NY Webster City Hall 2012
The Killers – WS Big Day Out 2013

Alicia Keys. ALICIA KEYS.

One other observation: Isn't it incredible how quickly a list with fun. on sounds dated?