The nominees for the American Music Awards have been announced. I'm going to give my predictions, but first, here are five reasons why the AMA's stand out in a world where we have a new awards show every week...
1) Jimmy Kimmel is hosting.
2) The nominees are decided by album sales and a random selection of Americans, so these nominees represent the tastes of the general public, and you won't see the committee giving out awards/nominations just to prove a point (I'm looking at you, Grammy's).
3) Everything is broken up into genres, so the artists going against each other are at least somewhat similar.
4) It's the only time you'll ever see America give Nickelback any credit.
5) Carrie Underwood is probably going to win something, and that means you're probably going to get to see Carrie Underwood.
Time for the nominees. Beyonce, Justin Timberlake, Daughtry and Linkin Park lead the way with 3 nods each. Here is the full list, along with some predictions.
Pop/Rock:
Male artist: Akon, Timbaland, Justin Timberlake.
Female artist: Beyonce, Fergie, Avril Lavigne.
Band, duo or group: Linkin Park, Maroon 5, Nickleback.
Album: "Daughtry" (Daughtry), "Minutes To Midnight" (Linkin Park), "FutureSex/LoveSounds" (Justin Timberlake).
Predictions - Justin Timberlake wins everything, so he'll probably win Male Artist and Album. Then he'll go home with Jessica Alba or whoever is the hottest actress there. Linkin Park deserves the best band. Female Artist is a toss-up. I think Fergie deserves it for consistently putting out songs that annoy the hell out of me. At this point she has it down to a science.
Country:
Male artist: Toby Keith, Tim McGraw, Brad Paisley.
Female artist: Martina McBride, Taylor Swift, Carrie Underwood.
Band, duo or group: Big & Rich, Brooks & Dunn, Rascal Flatts.
Album: "Let It Go" (Tim McGraw), "Me And My Gang" (Rascal Flatts), "Some Hearts" (Carrie Underwood).
Predictions - Carrie Underwood should win everything, if only because it means more Carrie Underwood. For the men, I vote Toby Keith and Big & Rich because they're the only ones I've actually heard an original song from. It just goes to show, if you want to get your country music to the mainstream, either write a song about sticking your boot up Osama bin Laden's ass, or write the "College Gameday" theme song. Rascal Flatts should get some sort of comedy/awesomeness award for covering Tom Cochran.
Soul/Rhythm & Blues:
Male artist: Akon, Ne-Yo, T-Pain.
Female artist: Beyonce, Fantasia, Rihanna.
Album: "B'Day" (Beyonce), "Double Up" (R. Kelly), "FutureSex/Love Sounds" (Justin Timberlake).
Predictions - Ne-Yo and T-Pain are two different guys?!? I'm just kidding. Either way, Akon dominates the Male category. Beyonce should win the R&B category because Rihanna is more pop, but Rihanna will win because she had the biggest song of the year and this is the only chance to get Rihanna up on stage. Double Up is the best R&B album of the year -- it's not even close -- but Beyonce will win because awards show don't like giving out awards to people accused of child porn, no matter how awesome they are.
Rap/Hip Hop:
Male artist: Fabolous, T.I., Young Jeezy.
Band, duo or group: Bone Thugs-N-Harmony, Pretty Ricky, Shop Boyz.
Album: "Strength & Loyalty" (Bone Thugs-N-Harmony), "T.I. vs. T.I.P." (T.I.), "The Inspiration" (Young Jeezy).
Predictions - Which of these guys has killed the least amount of people?
Adult Contemporary:
Artist: Daughtry, Norah Jones, John Mayer.
Predictions - Norah Jones is adult contemporary. In fact, if you ask Norah Jones who will win this category, she'll slowly turn her head like Vincent Chase in Queens Boulevard and say, "Are you kidding? I am Adult Contemporary."
Alternative:
Artist: Linkin Park, My Chemical Romance, White Stripes.
Predictions - Linkin Park will show up, the other two bands won't. Case closed.
Latin:
Artist: Daddy Yankee, Juan Luis Guerra y 440, Jennifer Lopez.
Predictions - Daddy Yankee should win any awards associated with Latins.
Contemporary Inspirational:
Artist: Casting Crowns, Jeremy Camp, TobyMac.
Predictions - Casting Crowns sounds like a dental procedure, Jeremy Camp sounds like someplace parents send their kids to teach them archery and get them out of the house, and TobyMac sounds like a shady dude who would hang out with that "Pick-up Artist" guy. Out of those, archery is probably the most inspiring. Let's go with Jeremy Camp.
Soundtracks:
Album: "Dreamgirls," "Hairspray," "High School Musical 2."
Predictions - The top selling album of last year AND a nude photo scandal? C'mon. You have to go with High School Musical. Hopefully Vanessa Hudgens gets a Mach 3 in her AMA gift bag.
Breakthrough:
New artist: Daughtry, Plain White T's, Robin Thicke.
Predictions - You haven't truly broken through until you inspire an awful radio parody song. Plain White T's all the way.
The AMA broadcast airs Sunday, November 18th on ABC.
