KATSEYE is heading into awards season with real momentum on the American awards calendar.
The global girl group has secured four nominations at the 2026 MTV Video Music Awards, including two additional nods announced in mid-September for Best Group and Song of Summer. The ceremony airs live September 27 from the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles, hosted by Snoop Dogg, and will be broadcast on CBS with a simulcast on MTV and streaming on Paramount+. For a group still early in its second major release cycle, four nominations in a single VMA year is a clear signal that the industry is treating the Wild era as more than a one-cycle peak.
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Full List of KATSEYE's 2026 MTV VMA Nominations
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KATSEYE's four categories are:
- Best K-Pop – "PINKY UP"
- Best Choreography – "PINKY UP"
- Best Group (social category, announced September 18)
- Song of Summer – "Hootie Frutti" (social category)
The first two nominations were part of the main list released in August. Best Group and Song of Summer were added later as fan-voted social categories, pushing the group's total to four and placing them alongside artists such as Charli XCX, Lisa, Olivia Rodrigo, and Yung Lean on the multiple-nominee leaderboard for the year.
🚨 10 HOURS LEFT! We're teaming up with @KATSEYEBASE for a special voting collaboration! Vote for KATSEYE's "Hootie Fruttie" for Song of Summer.
— ILLIT VOTING TEAM (@illitvotingteam) September 27, 2026
Who KATSEYE Is Competing Against
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In Best K-Pop, "PINKY UP" goes up against BLACKPINK's "Jump," BTS's "Swim," CORTIS's "RedRed," LE SSERAFIM featuring j-hope's "Spaghetti," and Lisa's "Dream." Best Choreography puts the same track against Madonna, Taylor Swift, Harry Styles, Tate McRae, and GENER8ION. Best Group includes BLACKPINK, BTS, CORTIS, FLO, Fuerza Regida, Geese, and Twenty One Pilots. Song of Summer features "Hootie Frutti" alongside tracks from Ariana Grande, Bruno Mars, Sabrina Carpenter, Taylor Swift, Olivia Rodrigo, and several others. The field is stacked, but the dual presence in both performance and social categories shows the group is competing on more than one axis.
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Context: Last Year's Win and This Year's Push
In 2025 KATSEYE won the MTV Push Performance of the Year award for "Touch." Returning with four nominations in 2026 shows the group has moved from breakout recognition into consistent awards-season presence, even while navigating two member hiatuses and a full arena tour. Fan voting for the social categories has been running on MTV's Instagram Stories in the days leading up to the show, giving Eyekons a direct way to support Best Group and Song of Summer before the live broadcast.
How the Nominations Fit the 2026 Narrative
The VMA nods arrive in the same week as the SNL debut and only weeks before the North American leg of the Wildworld Tour. Together, those moments form a dense autumn stretch of American visibility: network television, awards recognition, arena dates, and a December Jingle Ball slot. Whether the group takes home hardware on September 27 or not, the nomination total itself already confirms that both the music and the choreography of the Wild era are being measured against the biggest names in pop.
How to Watch the 2026 MTV Video Music Awards
The 2026 MTV VMAs air live on Sunday, September 27, at 7:30 p.m. ET / 4:30 p.m. PT on CBS, with a simulcast on MTV and streaming available on Paramount+. Snoop Dogg hosts. Nirvana will receive the Video Vanguard Award. For fans following KATSEYE specifically, the social categories are the ones most directly shaped by fan voting in the final days before the show.
Featured + body image credit: @illitvotingteam
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Related KATSEYE Coverage
- KATSEYE Eyes Four MTV VMA Wins Tonight — Every Nomination and Why It Matters for 2026
- Four MTV VMA Nominations for a Group Currently Operating as Four: What KATSEYE’s 2026 Nods Actually Mean
Official Sources & Further Reading
Frequently Asked Questions
How many MTV VMA nominations does KATSEYE have in 2026?
Four: Best K-Pop and Best Choreography for "PINKY UP," plus Best Group and Song of Summer for "Hootie Frutti."
When are the 2026 MTV Video Music Awards?
Sunday, September 27, 2026, live from the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles.
Who is hosting the 2026 MTV VMAs?
Snoop Dogg.
Where can I watch the 2026 MTV VMAs?
CBS, MTV, and Paramount+.
Did KATSEYE win an MTV VMA before?
Yes. In 2025 they won Push Performance of the Year for "Touch."
