Rihanna Takes the Lead As a Contender in 18 Award Categories.
LAS VEGAS, April 13, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- 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$ha, Nicki Minaj and Taio Cruz, whose song "Dynamite" is up for five awards including Top Hot 100 Song, Top Digital Song, Top Radio Song, Top Streaming Song (Audio) and Top Pop Song. The Billboard Music Awards take a holistic look at artist performance based on key fan interactions with music—finalists and winners are determined by chart performance and social and streaming activity as chronicled in Billboard magazine and on Billboard.com during the eligibility period of February 28, 2010 through March 1, 2011. The forty-six award categories are based on measures provided by our data partners including sales data shared by Nielsen SoundScan, radio airplay monitored by Nielsen BDS, streaming data measured by Tubemogul and Nielsen BDS, social media consumption gauged by Next Big Sound and tour grosses tracked by Billboard Boxscore. Today, Billboard launches a microsite for the 2011 Billboard Music Awards at www.Billboard.com/BBMA. Music fans can also follow news about the show and related events on Twitter at www.twitter.com/billboarddotcom or Facebook at www.facebook.com/billboard. To request media credentials please fill out the form available at www.Billboard.com/BBMA and email to billboard@brandlinkcommunications.com. To download images and video from today's press conference visit www.abcmedianet.com. The 2011 Billboard Music Awards is co-executed produced by Richard Beckman, CEO of Prometheus Global Media, which owns Billboard, and Don Mischer of Don Mischer Productions. The finalists for the 2011 Billboard Music Awards are: ARTIST AWARDS: Top Artist: Justin Bieber Eminem Lady Gaga Rihanna Taylor Swift Top New Artist: Justin Bieber Taio Cruz Ke$ha Bruno Mars Nicki Minaj Top Male Artist: Justin Bieber Drake Eminem Bruno Mars Usher Top Female Artist: Ke$ha Lady Gaga Katy Perry Rihanna Taylor Swift Top Duo/Group: The Black Eyed Peas Bon Jovi Lady Antebellum Linkin Park U2 Top Billboard 200 Artist: Justin Bieber Susan Boyle Eminem Lady Antebellum Taylor Swift Top Hot 100 Artist: Ke$ha Bruno Mars Katy Perry Rihanna Usher Top Digital Songs Artist: Eminem Ke$ha Bruno Mars Katy Perry Rihanna Top Radio Songs Artist: Drake Bruno Mars Katy Perry Rihanna Usher Top Touring Artist: Bon Jovi Michael Buble Lady Gaga U2 Roger Waters Top Social Artist: Akon Justin Bieber Eminem Lady Gaga Rihanna Top Streaming Artist: Justin Bieber Eminem Lady Gaga Rihanna Shakira Top Digital Media Artist: Akon Justin Bieber Eminem Lady Gaga Rihanna Top Pop Artist: Justin Bieber The Black Eyed P…