MTV News Online

NEW YORK -- After slamming *NSync on his hit "The Real Slim Shady," Eminem found himself alongside the boy band on Tuesday (July 25) when the nominees for the 2000 MTV Video Music Awards were announced.

Eminem and *NSync each grabbed six nominations and will square off in the Video of the Year and the Viewers' Choice categories when the awards are handed out Sept. 7 at New York's Radio City Music Hall.

"The Real Slim Shady" (RealAudio excerpt) also earned nominations for Best Male Video, Best Rap Video, Best Direction in a Video and Best Editing in a Video. *NSync's "Bye, Bye, Bye" (RealAudio excerpt) was nominated for Best Group Video, Best Dance Video, Best Pop Video and Best Choreography in a Video.

*NSync joined "Total Request Live" host Carson Daly and 2000 VMA co-hosts Shawn and Marlon Wayans (who wrote and starred in "Scary Movie") in MTV's Times Square studios to announce this year's nominees. (Sonicnet.com's parent company, Viacom, also owns MTV.)

Daly and company also announced that *NSync and Rage Against the Machine will perform at this year's Video Music Awards ceremony.

"This has been like a second home to us this year," *NSync's Lance Bass said of MTV and the high-profile role the group will play at this year's ceremony.

Eminem and *NSync will duke it out with Blink-182's "All the Small Things," D'Angelo's "Untitled (How Does It Feel)," and the Red Hot Chili Peppers' "Californication" (RealAudio excerpt) for the night's big prize, Video of the Year.

The Chili Peppers will go into the 2000 Video Music Awards near the front of the pack as well, joining Metallica and Sisqó among the artists with five nominations each. In addition to Video of the Year, the Chili Peppers also will vie for Best Group Video, Best Direction in a Video, Best Special Effects in a Video and Best Art Direction in a Video.

Metallica's "I Disappear" will be up for Best Rock Video, Best Video From a Film, Best Special Effects in a Video, Best Editing in a Video and Best Cinematography in a Video, while Sisqó's "Thong Song" will compete for Best Hip-Hop Video, Best Dance Video, Best New Artist in a Video, Best Video From A Film and Viewers' Choice.

In addition to Sisqó, Eminem and *NSync, viewers can choose either Britney Spears or Christina Aguilera as this year's Viewers' Choice winner.

Spears and Aguilera each wound up with four nominations, as did Macy Gray and D'Angelo. Blink-182, Lauryn Hill, Aaliyah, Destiny's Child and Supergrass each earned three nominations.

Oddsmakers probably wouldn't have counted on singer/songwriter and critical darling Aimee Mann grabbing as many nominations as Limp Bizkit and Kid Rock, but those acts join Filter, Foo Fighters, Toni Braxton, Jennifer Lopez, Ricky Martin, R.E.M. and Björk in the field of artists with two nods each.

Jay-Z, Blaque, Blur, Creed, DMX, Dr. Dre, Madonna, Brian McKnight, Alanis Morissette, Korn, Pink, Rage Against the Machine, Stone Temple Pilots, Nine Inch Nails, Moby, Juvenile and Papa Roach all earned one nomination.

The 2000 Video Music Awards mark the Wayans brothers' first stab at hosting the ceremony, taking on the additional stress of following comedian Chris Rock, who hosted the '97 and '99 shows. "Thanks for the pressure," Marlon Wayans joked when asked about assuming host duties from Rock.

-- Robert Mancini