Taylor Swift leads 2015 AMA nominees (and will likely win them all) - Los Angeles Times
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Taylor Swift leads 2015 AMA nominees (and will probably win them all)

Taylor Swift performs at Staples Center in Los Angeles on Aug. 21, 2015. Like Iggy Azalea before her, Swift has earned six American Music Awards nominations.

Taylor Swift performs at Staples Center in Los Angeles on Aug. 21, 2015. Like Iggy Azalea before her, Swift has earned six American Music Awards nominations.

(Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)
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The nominees for the 2015 American Music Awards have been announced, and a talented upstart from Reading, Pa., named Taylor Swift leads the pack with six nominations.

Honored for music from her smash album “1989,” the multiplatinum pop queen snagged nods for artist of the year, song of the year (“Blank Space”), collaboration of the year (for “Bad Blood” featuring Kendrick Lamar) and favorite female artist, pop rock.

Canadian R&B singer the Weeknd and beat-boxing folk rocker Ed Sheeran earned five nominations each, and dozens of other creators of big-ticket commercial art including country hunk Luke Bryan, doughnut-licking pop star Ariana Grande, bass-obsessed vocalist Meghan Trainor and Long Beach rapper Wiz Khalifi also made the cut.

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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. It was created for ABC by “American Bandstand” host Dick Clark in 1973 as competition to the Grammys after that show jumped networks. Decades later it’s evolved into a fan-friendly foil to its more prestigious counterpart.

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Last year, for example, the rapper Iggy Azalea earned six nominations.

Nominees for new artist of the year include Fetty Wap, Sam Hunt, Tove Lo, Walk The Moon and the Weeknd.

According to the press announcement, nominations are “based on key fan interactions as reflected in Billboard magazine and on Billboard.com, including album and digital singles sales, radio airplay, streaming, social activity and touring. These measurements are tracked by Billboard and its data partners, including Nielsen Entertainment and Next Big Sound.”

A social media-savvy Phase 2 of the AMAs news began Tuesday morning, when voting opened in many of the categories. Fans can vote once per day for each category on various platforms: at AMAvote.com; by posting a status on Facebook that includes the nominee’s name and the category’s hashtag; and by posting a tweet that includes the nominee’s name or Twitter handle, the category name and the #AMAs hashtag.

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This year’s ceremony will be broadcast on Nov. 22 from Microsoft Theatre in downtown Los Angeles and will be hosted by Jennifer Lopez.

Follow Randall Roberts on Twitter: @liledit

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