American Music Awards (AMA) Nominees Announced-Justin Timberlake, and Taylor Swift, Lead the Pack!

Maybe Vanity Fair is right, Timberlake should stick to music.  The American Music Awards (AMAs) announced their nominees today.  These awards are based more on popularity, and are more like the VMAs, but watch out for some of these names to do well at the Grammy Awards this year.

ARTIST OF THE YEAR

Macklemore & Ryan Lewis
Bruno Mars
Rihanna
Taylor Swift
Justin Timberlake

NEW ARTIST OF THE YEAR PRESENTED BY KOHL’S

Florida Georgia Line
Ariana Grande
Imagine Dragons
Macklemore & Ryan Lewis
Phillip Phillps

SINGLE OF THE YEAR

Florida Georgia Line Featuring Nelly/Cruise
Macklemore & Ryan Lewis Featuring Wanz/Thrift Shop
Robin Thicke Featuring Pharrell & T.I./Blurred Lines

FAVORITE MALE ARTIST – POP/ROCK

Bruno Mars
Robin Thicke
Justin Timberlake

FAVORITE FEMALE ARTIST – POP/ROCK

P!nk
Rihanna
Taylor Swift

FAVORITE BAND, DUO OR GROUP – POP/ROCK

Imagine Dragons
Macklemore & Ryan Lewis
One Direction

FAVORITE ALBUM – POP/ROCK

One Direction/Take Me Home
Taylor Swift/Red
Justin Timberlake/The 20/20 Experience

FAVORITE MALE ARTIST – COUNTRY

Luke Bryan
Hunter Hayes
Blake Shelton

FAVORITE FEMALE ARTIST – COUNTRY

Miranda Lambert
Taylor Swift

Carrie Underwood

FAVORITE BAND, DUO or GROUP - COUNTRY

The Band Perry
Florida Georgia Line
Lady Antebellum

FAVORITE ALBUM - COUNTRY

Luke Bryan/Crash My Party
Florida Georgia Line/Here’s To The Good Times
Taylor Swift/Red

FAVORITE ARTIST – RAP/HIP-HOP

Jay Z
Lil Wayne
Macklemore & Ryan Lewis

FAVORITE ALBUM – RAP/HIP-HOP

Jay Z/Magna Carta…Holy Grail
Kendrick Lamar/good kid, m.A.A.d city
Macklemore & Ryan Lewis/The Heist

FAVORITE MALE ARTIST – SOUL/R&B

Miguel
Robin Thicke
Justin Timberlake

FAVORITE FEMALE ARTIST – SOUL/R&B

Ciara
Alicia Keys
Rihanna

FAVORITE ALBUM – SOUL/R&B

Rihanna/Unapologetic

Robin Thicke/Blurred Lines
Justin Timberlake/The 20/20 Experience

FAVORITE ARTIST - ALTERNATIVE ROCK

Imagine Dragons
The Lumineers
Mumford & Sons

FAVORITE ARTIST - ADULT CONTEMPORARY

Maroon 5
Bruno Mars
P!nk

FAVORITE ARTIST - LATIN

Marc Anthony
Prince Royce
Romeo Santos

FAVORITE ARTIST - CONTEMPORARY INSPIRATIONAL

tobyMac
Chris Tomlin
Matthew West

FAVORITE ARTIST - ELECTRONIC DANCE MUSIC (EDM)

Avicii
Daft Punk
Calvin Harris
Zedd

TOP SOUNDTRACK

The Great Gatsby: Music From Baz Luhrmann’s Film
Les Miserables
Pitch Perfect

VMA Predictions

Video of the Year

Drake (featuring Rihanna)-Take Care

Gotye-Somebody That I Used to Know

M.I.A.-Bad Girls

Katy Perry-Wide Awake 

Rihanna (featuring Calvin Harris)-We Found Love 

Like the past couple of years the person who wins this award may not win other perspective categories.  Katy Perry and Rihanna have one each already, and I am not sure MTV is ready to give this to Katy back to back, although Rihanna has a shot, but I think it's part of Drake's video.  I think this comes down to the guys for the first time in a while.  Gotye vs. Drake.  My hunch tells me they will give this award to Drake, more commercial feature Rihanna, and is a top nominee.  The award should go to Gotye, of the nominees this is the best.  While people are not predicting Drake as much I think this underdog has a shot.

Prediction/Should Win: Gotye-Somebody that I use to Know

Spoiler: Drake featuring Rihanna-Take Care

Best Male Video

Justin Bieber-Girlfriend

Chris Brown-Turn Up the Music

Drake (featuring Rihanna)-Take Care

Frank Ocean-Swim Good

Usher-Climax 

Bieber fever will probably strike again; he won this award last year, and will most likely win again.  The biggest threat is Drake who is one of the most nominated artists this year.  Frank Ocean would be a cool win and I think his video is pretty damn good, but this award is not his to win yet.

Prediction: Justin Bieber-Girlfriend

Spoiler Drake featuring Rihanna-Take Care

Best Female Video 

Beyonce-Love on Top

Katy Perry-Part of Me

Nicki Minaj-Starships

Rihanna-We Found Love 

Selena Gomez and the Starships-Love you Like a Love Song

Four of the women in this category have never won.  Beyonce has won twice.  This award comes down to Katy Perry and Rihanna, and my money is that folks will want to finally award Rihanna in this category.

Prediction: Rihanna featuring Calvin Harris We Found Love

Spoiler-Katy Perry-Part of Me

Best New Artist

Fun featuring Janelle Monae-We Are Young

 Carly Rae Jepsen-Call Me Maybe 

Frank Ocean-Swim Good

One Direction-What Makes You Beautiful

The Wanted-Glad You Came

Lots of pop going on here!  Jepsen could win on mass appeal, but I think people are tired of calling, maybe? One Direction has that dreamy boy band thing going, which young girls swoon for.  All of these songs, but Swim Good were massive hits.  This is a tough pick, but boy bands win out!

Prediction is One Direction.

Spoiler Carly Rae Jepsen

Pop Video-Justin Bieber-Girlfriend

Rock Video-Black Keys-Lonely Boy

Best Hip Hop Video-Nicki Minaj (featuring 2 Chainz)-Bees in the Trap

Best Electronic Dance Video-Skrillex-First of the Year (Equinox)

Best Video with a Message-Demi Lovato-Skyscraper

Best Direction-Frank Ocean-Swim Good

Best Art Direction-Katy Perry-Wide Awake

Best Choreography-Rihanna-Where Have You Been

Best Cinematography-Adele-Someone Like You

Best Editing-Gotye-Someone that I Used to Know

Best Visual Effects-Skrillex-First of the Year (Equinox)

Katy Perry, Rihanna, and Drake Dominate this Year's VMA Nominations

Katy Perry has returned to be a major player at this award show two years in a row, this year with four nominations including Video of the Year for Wide Awake.  Rihanna had 5 nominations, while she was featured in two other videos.  Rihanna was featured in the videos of one of the other major nominees Drake who also 5 nominations.  There is no nominee with more than this, the field is evenly spread this year which highlights a lackluster crop of potential nominees.  Here is a list of all the nominees, and take a look to see some of the videos.

Video of the Year

Katy Perry, "Wide Awake"

Gotye, "Somebody That I Used To Know"

Rihanna, "We Found Love"

Drake feat. Rihanna, "Take Care"

M.I.A., "Bad Girls"

Best New Artist

Fun. feat. Janelle Monae, "We Are Young"

Carly Rae Jepsen, "Call Me Maybe"

Frank Ocean, "Swim Good"

One Direction, "What Makes You Beautiful"

The Wanted, "Glad You Came"

Best Hip-Hop Video

Childish Gambino, "Heartbeat"

Drake feat. Lil Wayne, "HYFR"

Kanye West feat. Pusha T, Big Sean & 2 Chainz, "Mercy"

Watch the Throne, "Paris"

Nicki Minaj feat. 2 Chainz, "Beez in the Trap"

Best Male Video

Justin Bieber, "Boyfriend"

Frank Ocean, "Swim Good"

Drake feat. Rihanna, "Take Care"

Chris Brown, "Turn Up the Music"

Usher, "Climax"

Best Female Video

Rihanna, "We Found Love"

Katy Perry, "Part of Me"

Beyoncé, "Love on Top"

Nicki Minaj, "Starships"

Selena Gomez & The Scene, "Love You Like a Love Song"

Best Pop Video

One Direction, "What Makes You Beautiful"

Fun. feat. Janelle Monae, "We Are Young"

Rihanna, "We Found Love"

Justin Bieber, "Boyfriend"

Maroon 5 feat. Wiz Khalifa, "Payphone"

Best Rock Video

Coldplay, "Paradise"

The Black Keys, "Lonely Boy"

Linkin Park, "BURN IT DOWN"

Jack White, "Sixteen Saltines"

Imagine Dragons, "It's Time"

Best Electronic Dance Music Video

Duck Sauce, "Big Bad Wolf"

Calvin Harris, "Feel So Close"

Skrillex, "First of the Year (Equinox)"

Martin Solveig, "The Night Out"

Avicii, "Le7els"

Best Video With a Message

Demi Lovato, "Skyscraper"

Rise Against, "Ballad of Hollis Brown"

Kelly Clarkson, "Dark Side"

Gym Class Heroes, "The Fighter"

K'Naan feat. Nelly Furtado, "Is Anybody Out There?"

Lil Wayne, "How to Love"

Best Art Direction

Katy Perry, "Wide Awake"

Drake feat. Rihanna, "Take Care"

Lana Del Rey, "Born to Die"

Regina Spektor, "All the Rowboats"

Of Monsters & Men, "Little Talks"

Best Choreography

Chris Brown, "Turn Up the Music"

Rihanna, "Where Have You Been"

Beyoncé, "Countdown"

Avicii, "Le7els"

Jennifer Lopez f/Pitbull, "Dance Again"

Best Cinematography

M.I.A., "Bad Girls"

Adele, "Someone Like You"

Drake feat. Rihanna, "Take Care"

Coldplay feat. Rihanna, "Princess of China"

Lana Del Rey, "Born to Die"

Best Direction

M.I.A., "Bad Girls"

Duck Sauce, "Big Bad Wolf"

Coldplay feat. Rihanna, "Princess of China"

Frank Ocean, "Swim Good"

Watch the Throne, "Otis"

Best Editing

Beyoncé, "Countdown"

A$AP Rocky, "Goldie"

Gotye, "Somebody That I Used to Know"

Watch the Throne, "Paris"

Kanye West feat. Pusha T, Big Sean and 2 Chainz, "Mercy"

Best Visual Effects

Katy Perry, "Wide Awake"

Rihanna, "Where Have You Been"

David Guetta feat. Nicki Minaj, "Turn Me On"

Linkin Park, "BURN IT DOWN"

The Grammy's Spread the Wealth but Crown Adele, Kanye, Bruno Mars, and The Foo Fighters Handsomely

The Grammy Award nominations were announced live on CBS last night, and these awards are always tough for me to predict.  As you can tell I rarely post about music, I like it, but I only talk about when it comes to award shows.  I think the nominees are interesting with some surprises.  This is an interesting year where Pop dominates!

Adele leads the female nomination tally with 6 award nominations including Album of the Year (21), Record and Song of the Year for "Rolling in the Deep", nominations in the Pop categories, and Short Form Music Video.  Adele has had an amazing year and at the moment I would crown her the frontrunner for most of these awards.

The shocking leader of the pack is the man so divisive, Kanye West with 7 nominations.  This is not Kanye's first time having the most nominations he had that honor two albums prior.  Kanye also had two albums out this year which helped him to rack up the largest number of nominations.  The two albums were "My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy" and "Watch the Throne" his collaboration with Jay-Z.  While Kanye did receive a Song of the year nomination for "All of the Lights" he was shut out of the Album of the Year category.

Bruno Mars like Adele landed 6 nominations.  Mars was nominated for Album of the year for "Doo-Wops and Hooligans"; he also received Record of the Year and Song of the Year nominations for smash hit "Grenade", and some nominations in the Pop categories.

The other big nominee was The Foo Fighters with 6 nominations.  The Foo Fighters netted an Album of the Year nomination for the second time, and they were honored in the Rock category for the rest of their nominations.

 The Foo Fighters are only artist in the Album of the Year category that are not nominated in the Pop Album of the Year.  This bodes well for this group to win this award for the first time.  The other Album of the Year nominees are Lady Gaga's "Born this Way" (her third Album of the Year nomination) and, I can't believe I am going to say this, but Rihanna is nominated for Album of the year with "Loud."

There were a few shocking omissions from the major categories. Taylor Swift, the winner of Album of the year two years ago,  was left out of the general field categories and only received three nominations in the country categories.  In fact the only general field nomination in the Country genre is for The Band Perry for Best New Artist.

The Best New Artist's did a great job with nominations this year; Nicki Minaj has four, Bon Iver also has four, but is the only Best New Artist nominee with nominations in the general field category.  Bon Iver is nominated in Record and Song of the Year for "Holocene."  The other nominees are J. Cole and Skrillex.

Beyonce a 16 time Grammy winner has only two nominations in minor categories.  Her album "4" was not as commercially successful, and divided the fans and critics alike.  Tony Bennett was seen to be a spoiler in the general field categories, but was only nominated for two trophies.

This is going to be an interesting year, with pop dominating.  The general field categories reflects the year well.  There were not a lot of great Albums, but Adele's, and The Foo Fighters were two of the best.  I think this Gaga's weakest album, and Rihanna came back with a stronger album, but I would not have nominated her in this category.  Here is the list of the general field nominations.

Album of the Year

Adele-"21"

The Foo Fighters-"Wasting the Light"

Lady Gaga-"Born this Way"

Bruno Mars-"Doo-Wops and Hooligans"

Rihanna-"Loud"

Record of the Year

Adele-"Rolling in the Deep"

Bon Iver-"Holocene"

Bruno Mars-"Grenade"

Mumford and Sons-"The Cave"

Katy Perry-"Firework"

Song of the Year (award is given to the writers)

Adele-"Rolling in the Deep"

Bon Iver-"Holocene"

Bruno Mars-"Grenade"

Mumford and Sons-"The Cave"

Kanye West-"All of the Lights"

Best New Artist

The Band Perry

Bon Iver

J. Cole

Nicki Minaj

Skrillex

Predicting winners at this point is difficult, but I would say that The Foo Fighters will win album because it's the only rock album amongst four other pop albums.  With that said last years Album of the Year winner was a shock, so this is by no means a done deal.  I think Adele has an excellent shot, and Bruno Mars could be a spoiler.  I think "Rolling in the Deep" is going to easily take both Record and Song of the Year.  Bon Iver will most likely win Best New Artist, but look out for the country voting block.  The Band Perry is the only nomination for country in the major catgeories, and they may team up to make sure that win happens.