Billboard Announces Finalists for the 2011 Billboard Music AwardsRihanna Takes the Lead As a Contender in 18 Award CategoriesLAS VEGAS, April 13, 2011 -- Billboard released the finalists for the 2011 Billboard Music Awards today at a press conference in Las Vegas. The winners will be announced at the Billboard Music Awards show airing on ABC on Sunday, May 22nd at 8-11 PM ET/PT. The awards show will take place at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada in partnership with Chevrolet, and the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority (LVCVA). This is the first year that ABC will broadcast the event. Rihanna takes the lead as a finalist in 18 award categories including Top Artist, Top Female Artist, Top 100 Artist, Top R&B Artist, Top Dance/Electronic Artist, Top Radio Songs Artist, Top Digital Songs Artist, Top Digital Media Artist, Top Social Artist and Top Streaming Artist. Her collaboration with Eminem places "Love the Way You Lie" as a contender in six song categories. Eminem is a finalist in 16 award categories including Top Artist, Top Male Artist, Top Billboard 200 Artist, Top Digital Songs Artist, Top Social Artist, Top Streaming Artist Top Digital Media Artist and Top Rap Artist. Lady Gaga follows with 12 categories including three albums all competing for the award of Top Dance/Electronic Album: "The Fame," "The Fame Monster" and "The Remix." "The Fame" is also a finalist for Top Pop Album. Bruno Mars and Justin Bieber are fan favorites, each earning 11 categories and competing for Top New Artist and Top Male Artist. Other Top New Artist contenders are Ke$ha, Nicki Minaj and Taio Cruz, whose song "Dynamite" is up for five awards including Top Hot 100 Song, Top Digital Song, Top Radio Song, Top Streaming Song (Audio) and Top Pop Song. The Billboard Music Awards take a holistic look at artist performance based on key fan interactions with music—finalists and winners are determined by chart performance and social and streaming activity as chronicled in Billboard magazine and on Billboard.com during the eligibility period of February 28, 2010 through March 1, 2011. The forty-six award categories are based on measures provided by our data partners including sales data shared by Nielsen SoundScan, radio airplay monitored by Nielsen BDS, streaming data measured by Tubemogul and Nielsen BDS, social media consumption gauged by Next Big Sound and tour grosses tracked by Billboard Boxscore. Today, Billboard launches a microsite for the 2011 Billboard Music Awards at www.Billboard.com/BBMA. Music fans can also follow news about the show and related events on Twitter at www.twitter.com/billboarddotcom or Facebook atwww.facebook.com/billboard. To request media credentials please fill out the form available at www.Billboard.com/BBMA and email to billboard@brandlinkcommunications.com. To download images and video from today's press conference visitwww.abcmedianet.com. The 2011 Billboard Music Awards is co-executed produced by Richard Beckman, CEO of Prometheus Global Media, which owns Billboard, and Don Mischer of Don Mischer Productions. The finalists for the 2011 Billboard Music Awards are: ARTIST AWARDS: Top Artist: Top New Artist: Top Male Artist: Top Female Artist: Top Duo/Group: Top Billboard 200 Artist: Top Hot 100 Artist: Top Digital Songs Artist: Top Radio Songs Artist: Top Touring Artist: Roger Waters Top Social Artist: Top Streaming Artist: Top Digital Media Artist: Top Pop Artist: Top R&B Artist: Top Rap Artist: Top Country Artist: Top Rock Artist: Top Alternative Artist: Top Latin Artist: Top Dance Artist: Top Christian Artist: ALBUMS AWARDS Top Billboard 200 Album: Top Pop Album: Top R&B Album: Top Rap Album: Top Country Album: Top Rock Album: Top Alternative Album: Top Latin Album: Top Dance/Electronic Album: Top Christian Album: SONG AWARDS Top Hot 100 Song: Top Digital Song: Top Radio Song: Top Streaming Song (Audio): Top Streaming Song (Video): Top Pop Song: Top R&B Song: Top Rap Song: Top Country Song: Top Rock Song: Top Alternative Song: Top Latin Song: Top Dance Song: Top Christian Song: Additionally, Billboard editors identified three bands from six regions of the U.S. based on a variety of factors, including Heat Score, a formula that measures online fan engagement and drives Billboard's Uncharted chart of emerging artists. Through a contest called "Cruze-ing To Vegas" sponsored by Chevrolet, consumers cast over 217,000 votes, narrowing the competition down to one band from each region. These final six group favorites will each receive the keys to a Chevrolet Cruze for a road trip that will take them from their home base to Las Vegas. A camera crew will follow each of the bands and will document their journey as they play gigs along the way, rock out to the Cruze's standard XM radio, and engage with fans online and in person. The six bands will communicate with their fans while on the road through blogging, tweeting and by creating and sharing playlists, building a viral audience and improving their social Heat Score, one of the many goals as they set their sights on Las Vegas. All six of the bands will arrive at Fremont Street in Las Vegas on May 18th to compete in the ultimate battle of the bands. The winning band will then be honored as the "Dreamseeker Artist of the Year" at the 2011 Billboard Music Awards. The six finalists for Dreamseeker Artist of the Year are: From the Northwest, Hotels (Seattle, WA) Notes to Editors About Billboard Now in its 117th year, Billboard is the world's premier music brand consisting of Billboard magazine, Billboard Events, Billboard Bulletin, Billboard.biz and Billboard.com—the online destination of choice for millions of music fans. The Billboard brand is built on its exclusive charts and unrivaled reporting on the latest news, issues and trends across all genres of music. Most recently, Billboard launched the new Uncharted ranking of undiscovered artists, tracking their rising popularity across the Internet. Billboard reaches tens of millions of consumers daily through many strategic relationships with major companies including Reuters, SanDisk, Telemundo, Microsoft Zune, Napster, GTech, Motorola, AT&T, Sony Music Entertainment and Amazon. These relationships leverage Billboard's brand recognition, proprietary chart data and information resources to develop products, live events and print, television, radio, digital and mobile platforms. Billboard produces conferences year-round with programming to address music's role in media and entertainment, including music showcases and awards shows to spotlight talent. In addition to North America, Billboard operates businesses in Brazil, Greece, Japan, Korea and Russia. Billboard is owned by Prometheus Global Media, a diversified company with leading assets in the media and entertainment arenas, including: Music (Billboard and its related conferences and events, including The Billboard Latin Music Awards), Entertainment (The Hollywood Reporter, Backstage, ShowEast, Cineasia, and CineEurope); and Advertising & Marketing (Adweek, Adweek Conferences and The CLIO Awards). About Chevrolet Founded in Detroit in 1911, Chevrolet celebrates its centennial as a global automotive brand with annual sales of about 4.25 million vehicles in more than 130 countries. Chevrolet provides consumers with fuel-efficient, safe and reliable vehicles that deliver high quality, expressive design, spirited performance and value. The Chevrolet portfolio includes iconic performance cars such as Corvette and Camaro; dependable, long-lasting pickups and SUVs such as Silverado and Suburban; and award-winning passenger cars and crossovers such as Spark, Cruze, Malibu, Equinox and Traverse. Chevrolet also offers "gas-friendly to gas-free" solutions including Cruze Eco and Volt. Cruze Eco offers 42 mpg highway while Volt offers 35 miles of electric, gasoline-free driving and an additional 344 miles of extended range. Most new Chevrolet models offer OnStar safety, security and convenience technologies including OnStar Hands-Free Calling, Automatic Crash Response and Stolen Vehicle Slowdown. More information regarding Chevrolet models can be found at www.chevrolet.com. About The LVCVA The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority (LVCVA) is charged with marketing Southern Nevada as a tourism and convention destination worldwide, and also with operating the Las Vegas Convention Center and Cashman Center. With approximately 149,000 hotel rooms in Las Vegas alone and more than 10.5 million square feet of meeting and exhibit space citywide, the LVCVA mission centers on attracting ever-increasing numbers of leisure and business visitors to the area. For more information, go to www.lvcva.com or www.VisitLasVegas.com. About the MGM Grand Garden Arena The MGM Grand Garden Arena is home to concerts, championship boxing and premier sporting and special events. The Arena offers comfortable seating for as many as 16,800 with excellent sightlines and state-of-the-art acoustics, lighting and sound. Prominent events to date have included world championship fights between Evander Holyfield and Mike Tyson as well as Oscar de la Hoya vs. Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao vs. Miguel Cotto; and concerts by The Rolling Stones, Madonna,Elton John, Bruce Springsteen, Paul McCartney, Bette Midler, George Strait, Janet Jackson, Phil Collins, Billy Joel, U2, 'N Sync, Sting, Coldplay, Alicia Keys, Lady Gaga, Jimmy Buffett and the Barbra Streisand Millennium Concert. The MGM Grand Garden Arena also is home to the annual Academy of Country Music Awards and the Frozen Fury NHL pre-season game which features the Los Angeles Kings vs. Colorado Avalanche. About Don Mischer Productions Don Mischer is an internationally acclaimed producer and director of television and live events. He has been honored with fifteen Emmy Awards, a record ten Directors Guild of America Awards for Outstanding Directorial Achievement, two NAACP Image Awards, a Peabody Award for excellence in broadcasting and more. Don Mischer Productions credits range from We Are One: The Obama Inaugural Celebration at the Lincoln Memorial and the 100th Anniversary of Carnegie Hall; to the Super Bowl Halftime Shows (Prince, The Rolling Stones, Paul McCartney and Bruce Springsteen), and the Opening Ceremonies of both the Winter and Summer Olympic Games to name a few. SOURCE Billboard RELATED LINKS
April 14, 2011 4:54am ET by Pressparty
Comments (0) |