Rihanna leads MTV Europe Music Award nominations

Barbadian R&B singer Rihanna led the nominations for the MTV Europe Music Awards on Monday with six, ahead of country songstress Taylor Swift on five and pop stars Justin Bieber and Katy Perry on four each.

The music channel said Rihanna had been shortlisted for best song ("We Found Love"), best female, best pop, best video ("We Found Love"), biggest fans and in the new category, best look.

She is up against Swift in the female, pop and look sections, while Swift was also nominated for best live and best world stage act.

Lady Gaga dominated last year's awards held in Belfast, coming away with four prizes and performing "Marry the Night". This year she is nominated for three awards - best live act, video (Marry the Night) and "biggest" fans.

A host of other acts, including Lana Del Rey, Nicki Minaj, Jay-Z and Kanye West also earned three nominations each.

The awards, many of which are voted for by MTV fans online, are one of the biggest pop events outside the United States, and, despite being based in Europe, are generally dominated by US artists.

This year they will be held in Frankfurt's Festhalle on November 11.