https://deadline.com/2021/08/doja-cat-host-mtv-2021-vmas-1234822082/

The rapper will helm this year's ceremony live from the Barclays Center on Sept. 12 after performing on the 2020 VMAs.

https://variety.com/2021/music/news/doja-cat-host-vmas-mtv-video-music-awards-1235049140/

The 2021 MTV Video Music Awards show has its host: Doja Cat will preside over the ceremonies, set to be broadcast from Brooklyn’s Barclays Center Sept. 12.

It’ll be the singer’s first hosting gig at an awards show, but not her first trip to the VMAs, as last year she performed a medley of “Say So” and “Like That” on the telecast. She also won the Moon Person for best new artist in 2020.

This year, she’ll be performing as well as hosting, while also having a shot at taking the podium when winners are announced in the five categories in which she’s nominated, including video of the year and artist of the year.

Last year, the VMAs were hosted by Keke Palmer, in a primarily pre-taped and audience-free format, after plans to hold the event at Barclays Center had to be scotched. Producers have not yet announced any plans for an audience, or the lack of one, at Barclays this year.

The choice of Doja Cat as host is further indication of just how much she has not been suffering a sophomore jinx with her second album, “Planet Her.” The collection has been a mainstay of the top 10 through the eight weeks it’s been out. Moreover, she has two songs among the top 10 singles — “Need to Know,” on her own, and “Kiss Me More,” featuring SZA.

Other artists announced so far as performing on the telecast include Foo Fighters, Shawn Mendes, Twenty One Pilots, Chloe (in her Halle-less solo TV debut), Lil Nas X, Lorde, Olivia Rodrigo, Machine Gun Kelly and Camila Cabello.

The show will air Sept. 12 at 8 p.m. ET/PT. The top-nominated artists are Justin Bieber with seven nods and Megan Thee Stallion with six. Doja Cat is in a tie with several others at five nominations apiece: BTS, Billie Eilish, Giveon, Drake, Lil Nas X and Rodrigo.

MTV's VMAs tried to be "post-pandemic" (https://variety.com/2021/music/reviews/mtv-vmas-review-lil-nas-x-doja-cat-chloe-1235062899/)

This year's lively Video Music Awards was a great comeback from last year's pre-taped special. But the ongoing pandemic was virtually ignored. "When Justin Bieber is the only person in a three-hour show to even allude to something that’s killed more than 600,000 Americans since the last live Video Music Awards, it’s a special that has very specific designs on being post-pandemic, whether we’re there yet or not," says Chris Willman. He adds: "The 2021 VMAs could have used a few more nods toward the grave crises in the world that are making its target demo so anxious about their future. Yet it was hard to deny that the show was sometimes at its best when it was at its silliest — and wish for even more of that old-school MTV humor, too. For better or worse, there was no attempt at scripted comedy, so any laughs came in the acceptance speeches." ALSO: VMAs avoided being serious -- a win for the "MTV agenda." (https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/vmas-2021-mtv-olivia-rodrigo-lil-nas-x-madonna-mgk-1224530/)