No matter how they try, the American Music Awards will never be able to escape the shadow of being the Grammys’ bastard little brother. Which is why today’s announcement of the nominees was met with a resounding yawn. The show gets ignored for several other reasons too. The awards are voted on by a select poll of consumers, which means we get hit with travesties like Milli Vanilli’s sweep in 1990 and C&C Music Factory’s sweep two years later. There have also been long-standing rumors that AMA winners are tipped off before the show airs, meaning that the winners are a lot more sure to be in attendance.
This year’s nominees are fairly predictable. Alicia Keys leads the pack with five, followed by The Eagles and Coldplay. Other multiple nominees are Mary J. Blige, Rihanna, Lil’ Wayne, Kanye West, Garth Brooks, Carrie Underwood, Usher, and several others. The only head-scratching category, oddly enough, is Favorite Rap/Hip-Hop Group, where the nominees are G-Unit, Three six Mafia and Wu-Tang Clan. Jordin Sparks’s submission in the Adult Contemporary category is also a bit of a head scratcher. Something tells me the nominating committee struggled long and hard in order to come up with those names.
The show will be hosted by the usually entertaining Jimmy Kimmel and will in all likelihood be live-blogged by yours truly. Expect the usual snark and wishes for a Michael Jackson sighting.
The show airs on November 23rd, and in a new wrinkle, they’re allowing the public of the wide world of internets to vote on the winners. You can log on to vote here.
