Brand to host MTV awards

MTV said today that Russell Brand will host the Video Music Awards for the second year in a row.

The live event will be held in New York on September 13.

It will be staged at different venues, including Radio City Music Hall, where the VMAs were broadcast in 2006.

Brand – known for his deadpan, off-kilter humour – hosted last year’s show in Los Angeles.

MTV says country superstar Taylor Swift will perform.

The nominees and other performers will be announced at a later date.