Kenny Chesney leads Academy of Country Music nominees

NASHVILLE, Tenn (Reuters) - Kenny Chesney grabbed the lead with nine award nominations on Thursday from the Academy of Country Music, which hands out its prizes on April 1 in Las Vegas.

Jason Aldean was the runner-up with six nods and trio Lady Antebellum had five.

Chesney will have plenty of competition for the fan-voted Entertainer of the Year trophy from nominees Aldean, Brad Paisley, Blake Shelton and last year's winner Taylor Swift.

Fans can vote for entertainer of the year and new artist of the year beginning on March 19. Voting for the top prize continues through the third hour of the live broadcast of the 47th edition of the awards show.

One of the veteran performers on the list of nominees, Chesney also received his 10th nomination for top male vocalist.

Aldean, whose career has taken off in the past few years, received his second nominations for entertainer of the year and top male vocalist.

The trio of Hillary Scott, Charles Kelley and Dave Haywood, collectively known as Lady Antebellum, is up for vocal group of the year, an award they have won for two consecutive years.

Brad Paisley was nominated again for top male vocalist, which he has won every year since 2006.

Toby Keith's runaway hit "Red Solo Cup" brought him three nominations, including video and single of the year. He took home the top video award in 2003 for "Beer For My Horses," which featured Willie Nelson.

Swift received her third nomination for the top prize of entertainer of the year and for the fifth time for top female vocalist. She received her third nod for best video.

Newcomer Grace Potter will be up for three awards, based on her performance with Chesney on their hit, "You and Tequila."

A relatively new group, the Eli Young Band, was nominated in three categories including vocal group of the year and top single and song for "Crazy Girl."

YOUNGER GENERATION

Most of this year's nominees are from the crop of country performers who have come along in the past 10 to 15 years. Swift, 22, is the youngest nominee.

The band Alabama, nominated with Paisley for vocal event of the year, has not toured together since 2004.

Other veteran nominees include Vince Gill, who began his solo career in 1983; and Martina McBride, who worked behind the scenes for Garth Brooks until she signed her first label deal in 1991.

Reba McEntire, one of the most successful country singers of the 1980s and 1990s, acted as master of ceremonies for the announcement, with the nominations revealed for the first time via a digital format on the Academy of Country Music's Facebook page.

That gave fans a chance to lodge comments, including one bleat that Gill should not have been left off the list of nominees for top guitarist.

Fan voting will determine the finalists for new artist of the year, to be announced at the end of the month. Voting for the winner of that award will begin on March 19 and close before the show begins on April 1.

McEntire and Blake Shelton will co-host the live CBS broadcast for the second consecutive year from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Last Vegas.

(Reporting By Vernell Hackett; Editing by Andrew Stern and Vicki Allen)

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Adele leads American Music Award nominees with 4 (AP)

Adele has the year's most popular album with "21," so it makes sense that she's the most nominated artist for this year's American Music Awards.

The nominees were announced Tuesday in Los Angeles by Nicki Minaj and Pitbull, and Adele led all nominees with four. The British soul singer and songwriter, whose hits include the No. 1 songs "Rolling in the Deep" and "Someone Like You," was nominated for artist of the year, favorite female artist, favorite adult contemporary artist and favorite album for "21." Her sophomore album is the year's best-selling album with more than 3.7 million copies sold in the United States.

Taylor Swift, Lady Gaga, Lil Wayne, Katy Perry, Rihanna and The Band Perry all trailed Adele closely with three nominations each. Pitbull and Minaj both got two nominations each, along with Beyonce, Bruno Mars, Chris Brown, Jason Aldean, LMFAO and Kanye West.

Lil Wayne, Swift, Perry and Lady Gaga are competing with Adele in the artist of the year category.

Nominees are determined from chart data, and winners will be determined by online fan voting.

The 39th annual American Music Awards will be held Nov. 20 at the Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles. Perry and Pitbull are the first confirmed performers. The show will air live on ABC.

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Rock and Roll Hall unveils nominees for 2012 (Reuters)

(Reuters) – Trailblazing women in rock such as Joan Jett and Heart's Wilson sisters, as well as iconic rappers the Beastie Boys were among 15 music acts nominated on Tuesday for induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2012.

"From vocal groups to hip-hop, from singer-songwriters to hard rocking artists, this group represents the spirit of what we celebrate at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame," president and chief executive Joel Peresman, said in a statement.

Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, whose "I Love Rock N' Roll" became an anthem of the musical genre fame, and "Crazy on You" singers Heart, led by Ann Wilson and her sister Nancy Wilson, are both first-time nominees.

They are joined by rockers Guns N' Roses, The Cure, The Small Faces/The Faces and R&B artists The Spinners, Rufus with Chaka Khan, bluesman Freddie King and 1980s rappers Eric B. & Rakim among those nominated to the Hall for the first time.

Repeat nominees who failed to make it into the institution in previous years were the Beastie Boys, funk rockers Red Hot Chili Peppers and War, as well as disco-era songstress Donna Summer and 1960s artists Donovan and Laura Nyro.

The 27th annual Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony will take place in Cleveland on April 14.

Acts are eligible for induction 25 years after their first release. This list of nominees all put out first albums in, or prior to, 1986. Inductees will be decided by 500 voters who include previous inductees and record industry insiders.

Days prior to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony, the institution will celebrate the grand opening of it's new Library and Archive -- the world's largest collection of materials dedicated to rock 'n' roll.

(Editing by Bob Tourtellotte)

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8 nominees up for International Emmys for news (AP)

By CHARLES J. GANS, Associated Press Charles J. Gans, Associated Press – Fri Aug 19, 4:30 pm ET

NEW YORK – Television productions that took viewers inside a Somali pirate stronghold and a Taliban unit fighting in Afghanistan were among the nominees for International Emmy awards in the current affairs and news categories.

The eight nominees from six countries and the United Nations include "Unter Piraten" on Germany's Infonetwork GmbH in the current affairs category and Britain's "Sky News Live at Five: Inside the Taliban" in the news category.

Brazil had two nominations — Discovery Networks Latin America's "The Assassination of Jean Charles Meneses" (current affairs), about the fatal shooting of a Brazilian immigrant mistaken for a suicide bomber in London, and TV Globo's "Jornal Nacional: War on Drugs" (news), about a November 2010 raid by security forces on a drug dealer's stronghold in Rio de Janeiro.

There were also first-time nominations for the United Nations in current affairs for UNTV's "21st Century: Cambodia - A Quest for Justice" on the international tribunal trying perpetrators of the Khmer Rouge reign of terror, and for Iceland in news for "RUV News: Volcano Eruption at Eyjafjallajokull" about the impact caused by the massive 2010 volcanic eruption.

The other nominees announced Thursday by the International Academy of Television Arts & Sciences were Japan's NHK for "Back from the Brink: Inside the Chilean Mine Disaster" (current affairs) and "TV Patrol: Manila Hostage Crisis" by the Philippines" ABS-CBN Broadcasting Corp. covering an August 2010 hostage drama in which eight Hong Kong tourists were killed after their tour bus was hijacked by a disgruntled former police officer.

"The Academy is proud to be bringing these riveting shows to the global stage," said Bruce L. Paisner, the academy's president and CEO, in a statement accompanying a news release. "The 2011 nominees offer unique perspectives from all parts of the world on the events that have shaped the year and touched audiences."

The winners will be announced at a Sept. 28 ceremony at the Frederick P. Rose Hall of Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York.

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Christina Aguilera, Selena Gomez top ALMA nominees (AP)

LOS ANGELES – Christina Aguilera and Selena Gomez are the leading nominees for the ALMA Awards, which honor the artistic accomplishments of Latinos in music, television and film.

The National Council of La Raza announced the nominations Thursday.

Aguilera and Gomez are each up for three awards for their work in music and on the big and small screens. Both are nominated in the female music artist category and for favorite movie actress in a comedy or musical — Aguilera for "Burlesque" and Gomez for "Monte Carlo." Aguilera was also nominated for reality TV personality for her work on "The Voice." Gomez is up for favorite TV actress in a comedy for "Wizards of Waverly Place," which was nominated for favorite TV series alongside "CSI: Miami," "Desperate Housewives" and "Modern Family."

Jennifer Lopez and "Glee" star Naya Rivera are each double nominees. Both are up for female music artist. Lopez is also nominated in the reality TV category for "American Idol" and Rivera is nominated for favorite TV actress in a comedy for "Glee."

The nominees for favorite movie will be announced Aug. 22.

For the first time, fans are being invited to help choose the winners by voting online. Winners will be determined by fan votes; box-office, Nielsen and Billboard rankings; and the ALMA Awards production team.

The ALMA Awards will be presented Sept. 16 during an hour-long special on NBC hosted by George Lopez and Eva Longoria. The complete list of nominees is available at http:// http://www.almaawards.com/.

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Chris Brown, Lil Wayne lead BET Awards nominees (AP)

LOS ANGELES – Chris Brown will have another chance at redemption when the BET Awards are presented Sunday night.

The 21-year-old singer, whose image is still recovering from his attack on Rihanna more than two years ago, is up for a leading six awards, including best male R&B artist and video of the year.

Brown scored several hits with his latest album, F.A.M.E., but suffered a reputation setback in March when he smashed up his dressing room after an appearance on "Good Morning America."

He is set to perform on the annual awards show, where he launched his comeback last year with an emotional tribute to Michael Jackson.

Lil Wayne follows Brown with five nods. He will also perform at the ceremony, which will be broadcast live on BET from 8-11 p.m. EDT from the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles.

Kanye West, Drake and Rihanna are up for four awards each. Nicki Minaj, Bruno Mars, Trey Songz, Cee Lo Green and B.o.B also received multiple nominations. Patti LaBelle will receive the Lifetime Achievement Award and Steve Harvey will receive the Humanitarian Award at the show hosted by comedian Kevin Hart.

The Shrine will be filled with stars as Beyonce, Alicia Keys, Jill Scott and Mary J. Blige are set to perform, and Minaj, Mars, Gladys Knight and Justin Bieber will appear on stage.

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TV series twosome named to announce Emmy nominees (AP)

NEW YORK – TV series stars Melissa McCarthy and Joshua Jackson will be early risers on July 14 to announce the nominations for this year's prime-time Emmys.

McCarthy and Jackson will be up at 5:40 a.m. Pacific time to join John Shaffner, chairman of the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, to make the announcements in Los Angeles, the Academy said Wednesday.

McCarthy stars on the CBS sitcom "Mike & Molly," and is also appearing opposite Kristen Wiig in the comedy feature "Bridesmaids."

Jackson is currently starring on the Fox sci-fi drama "Fringe."

The 63rd Primetime Emmy Awards telecast is scheduled to air on Fox on Sept. 18.

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Jay Chou, Leehom Wang lead Golden Melody nominees (AP)

HONG KONG – Taiwanese pop sensation Jay Chou, Chinese-American singer-songwriter Leehom Wang and Hong Kong's Karen Mok led nominations for Taiwan's Golden Melody Awards announced Friday.

Chou's "Superman Can't Fly," Wang's "Things You Don't Know" and Mok's "Perfect Loneliness" are up for song of the year, along with Eric Hung's "Flower of Love," Jody Chiang's "I Wanted to Marry Then," Freya Lim's "Heavy Injury" and Jonathan Lee's "Song for Myself."

Chou, Wang, Mok and Hung are also competing for album of the year. Chou, a 32-year-old singer-songwriter who burst onto the scene in 2000 and has become one of Chinese pop's top acts, also received nominations in the best composer, best producer and best Mandarin male singer categories.

The nominations also mark a strong resurgence for Lee, a veteran singer-songwriter who's one of the industry's top producers. Lee's "Song for Myself" is from the second of two albums that are part of a one-off collaboration with Lo Da-yu, Emil Chau, Chang Chen-yue dubbed "Super Band."

Wang is also a best Mandarin male performer nominee, along with Singaporean Wayne Lin and Taiwanese singers William Wei and Chyi Chin.

The best Mandarin female singer nominees are Mok and fellow Hong Kong singer Denise Ho, Lim and Taiwan's A-Lin and Wanfang Lin.

The winners will be announced June 18 in Taipei. The annual awards are the Chinese-language equivalent of the Grammys.

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