THE 2013 “MTV VIDEO MUSIC AWARDS” TO CELEBRATE THE SONGS OF THE SUMMER WITH PERFORMANCES FROM CHART TOPPERS MILEY CYRUS AND ROBIN THICKE LIVE FROM BROOKLYN’S BARCLAYS CENTER ON AUGUST 25 AT 9PM ET/PT

MTV today announced via its social channels that the 2013 “MTV Video Music Awards” will celebrate the artists and songs that defined this summer with performances from chart toppers Miley Cyrus and Robin Thicke, a special appearance by One Direction, as well as a new socially-voted category “Best Song of the Summer” powered by Windows Phone. The performances and award will be presented from Brooklyn’s Barclays Center LIVE on August 25 at 9pm ET/PT.

For the first time, this year’s VMAs will feature the socially-driven “Best Song of the Summer Award” powered by Windows Phone. The inaugural nominees are Miley Cyrus’ millennial anthem “We Can’t Stop,” Daft Punk’s insanely danceable “Get Lucky” featuring Pharrell, Calvin Harris featuring Ellie Goulding’s thumping “I Need Your Love,” Selena Gomez’s inviting “Come & Get It,” One Direction’s rocking “Best Song Ever,” and Robin Thicke’s sexy “Blurred Lines” featuring T.I. and Pharrell. Beginning today, fans can vote via Twitter, Instagram or Vine by using the appropriate hashtag: #votemiley, #votedaftpunk, #voteselena, #voteonedirection, #votethicke, #votecalvinandellie.

Marking her first VMA performance, Miley Cyrus will perform her smash millennial anthem “We Can’t Stop,” which is nominated for 4 VMAs this year including “Best Female Video,” “Best Pop Video,” “Best Editing,” as well as the new “Best Song of the Summer” category.

This year will also mark Robin Thicke’s first VMA performance. He is up for 4 Moonmen for his sexy video “Blurred Lines” featuring T.I. and Pharrell including “Video of the Year,” “Best Male Video,” “Best Collaboration” and “Best Song of the Summer.”

“I am excited to be an inaugural nominee in the ‘Song of the Summer’ category and to be performing on the VMA’s”, said Robin Thicke. “We have some big surprises planned and I hope everyone will tune in to see it.”

Following the release of their record setting new single, “Best Song Ever,” from their forthcoming movie, “THIS IS US,” in theaters nationwide on Friday, August 30, One Direction will return to the VMAs as presenters after snagging three Moonmen last year, including Best New Artist and Best Pop Video for “What Makes You Beautiful.”

To celebrate the forthcoming performances and appearance, MTV Hits, MTV’s 24-hour music channel will feature blocks of videos from Miley Cyrus, Robin Thicke and One Direction today beginning at 3pm ET/PT.

“Last year’s VMA’s were unbelievable and certainly a night that none of us will ever forget,” said Liam Payne of One Direction. “We are very excited to come back this year and present an award and it was fantastic to find out that ‘Best Song Ever’ has been nominated in the best song of the summer category.”

Miley Cyrus and Robin Thicke join previously announced VMA performers Lady Gaga, Kanye West and Katy Perry. Additional 2013 “MTV Video Music Awards” performers will be announced at a later date.

Justin Timberlake and Macklemore & Ryan Lewis lead the nominations with six each. Bruno Mars continues his hugely successful year by garnering four nominations. P!nk and Thirty Seconds to Mars are each up for three Video Music Awards. Other notable nominees receiving multiple 2013 “MTV Video Music Award” nods range from the worlds of Pop, Hip-Hop, EDM, R&B and Rock and include previously nominated artists such as Taylor Swift, Drake, fun., Calvin Harris, and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs as well as first-time VMA nominees Kendrick Lamar, Lana Del Rey, The Weeknd and Capital Cities. 2013 VMA winners will take home a special-edition Moonman, re-imagined by world-renowned, Brooklyn-based artist KAWS created exclusively for this year’s show.

To build anticipation for the show, MTV launched a successful cross platform social campaign, #RoadToTheVMAs, which features the Moonman in a myriad of iconic locations throughout Brooklyn and NYC. Thus far, the campaign has garnered more than 88 million social media impressions to date including over half a million likes on Instagram, 48 million impressions on Twitter, nearly 40 million impressions on Facebook and over 1 million impressions on Tumblr.

For additional information on Miley Cyrus, Robin Thicke, One Direction, Kanye West, Lady Gaga or any VMA nominated artist, including music, videos, interviews, and news, visit MTV’s Artist Platform (Artists.MTV.com) a music discovery site that powers MTV/CMT/VH1’s network of 60 million passionate music fans online and 100M homes on-air.