Taylor Swift was a favourite when the American Music Award nominations were announced on Tuesday.
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Ed Sheeran and The Weeknd are the second most-nominated stars on the list, with five nominations apiece.
Other contenders for Artist Of The Year are Luke Bryan, Grande, Maroon 5, Minaj, One Direction, Smith and Meghan Trainor.
Unlike the Grammys, whose nominees and winners are chosen by an elite cabal of industry workers and players, the American Music Awards is the year’s biggest musical popularity contest.
There are ten artists up for Artist of the Year and Swift is among them, of course.
Swift, 25, won nominations in virtually every category for which she is eligible, including favorite pop/rock album for her best-selling 2014 release “1989”, which cemented her switch from country music to dance-pop. Whitney Houston’s 21 awards are the most ever among female artists in the show, which was launched in 1974. As for the male artist with the most American Music Awards wins, that would be the legendary Michael Jackson who took home 24 in his illustrious career.
Indeed, it’s the song category that looks to be especially competitive this year as radio favorites like Wiz Khalifa and Charlie Puth’s “See You Again”, “Uptown Funk!” by Mark Ronson featuring Bruno Mars, Sheeran’s “Thinking Out Loud” and The Weeknd’s “Can’t Feel My Face” face off.
Nominees for new artist of the year include Fetty Wap, Sam Hunt, Tove Lo, Walk The Moon and the Weeknd.
Enrique Iglesias has the chance to win his seventh favorite artist award in the Latin category, while both Beyonce and Rihanna have the chance to become the record holder in the favorite female soul artist.
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This year’s ceremony will be broadcast on November 22 from Microsoft Theatre in downtown Los Angeles and will be hosted by Jennifer Lopez.
