Finalists Announced For 2014 Billboard Awards

Top Finalists Include Imagine Dragons, Lorde, Justin Timberlake, Katy Perry, Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, Miley Cyrus, Pharrell Williams, Beyoncé and Robin Thicke

To Air Live Sunday, May 18, 2014 From The MGM Grand Garden Arena

on ABC at 8 PM ET

SANTA MONICA, CA (April 9, 2014) – With help from pop R&B singer Jason Derulo live this morning on “Good Morning America,” dick clark productions and Billboard, the ultimate authority in music and home of the iconic Billboard charts defining success in music, today announced the finalists for the 2014 Billboard Music Awards, honoring the year’s most successful artists in 40 categories.  The 2014 Billboard Music Awards will broadcast LIVE from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas on Sunday, May 18, on ABC from 8:00 PM–11:00 PM ET, with performances from music’s biggest stars.  The “2014 Billboard Music Awards” is produced by dick clark productions.  Allen Shapiro and Mike Mahan are Executive Producers.  Larry Klein and Barry Adelman are Producers.

Derulo appeared in the 8:00 AM ET hour of “Good Morning America” today, to announce his participation as a performer in this year’s Billboard Music Awards. Derulo also announced five of the 40 finalist categories, including: Top Artist, Top Male Artist, Top Female Artist, Top R&B Artist, and Top Country Artist.

Finalists Imagine Dragons and Lorde lead with twelve categories each. Imagine Dragons is vying for its first Billboard Music Award this year. The quartet burned up the charts in 2013 with its album "Night Visions" (which is also a finalist for Top Rock Album) and its many hit singles. Among those is the smash hit "Radioactive," which broke the record for the most weeks ever on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Lorde broke through in 2013 as well with her inescapable No. 1 Billboard Hot 100 single "Royals" and debut album "Pure Heroine." The two musical acts go head-to-head in nine categories, including Top Hot 100 Artist, Top Digital Songs Artist, Top Radio Songs Artist, Top Rock Artist, Top Rock Album, Top Hot 100 Song, Top Digital Song, Top Streaming Song (Audio), and Top Rock Song.

Justin Timberlake, Katy Perry and Macklemore & Ryan Lewis follow with 11, 10 and 8 categories respectively. Justin Timberlake could capture his first Billboard Music Award this year as a solo artist. Included in his 11 categories, are Top Artist and Top Billboard 200 Album. With the group 'N Sync, Timberlake earned five Billboard Music Awards, including the 2000 trophy for Album of the Year ("No Strings Attached"). Katy Perry is already a three-time Billboard Music Award winner, with the 2011 Top Hot 100 Artist and the Top Digital Songs Artist, and the 2012 Spotlight Award, honoring her achievement as the first woman to earn five No. 1 songs on the Billboard Hot 100 chart from one album ("Teenage Dream"). Macklemore & Ryan Lewis are also past winners, receiving Top Rap Song at the 2013 Billboard Music Awards.

Some other fun finalist facts include:

• Both Lorde and Robin Thicke, T.I. and Pharrell Williams with their respective Billboard Hot 100 No. 1s “Royals” and “Blurred Lines,” lead the songs race with 5 title categories each.

• Imagine Dragons and Katy Perry both come in second for song categories with 4 for “Radioactive” and “Roar.”

• Daft Punk and Pharrell Williams’ “Get Lucky,” Macklemore & Ryan Lewis featuring Ray Dalton’s “Can’t Hold Us,” and the duo’s hit with Wanz’s “Thrift Shop,” in addition to Miley Cyrus’ “Wrecking Ball” and Avicii’s “Wake Me Up!” all are tied with 2 title categories each.

• Some first-time Billboard Music Award finalists include: Lorde (12 categories), Avicii (4 categories), Capital Cities (3 categories), Zedd (3 categories), Sidewalk Prophets (1 category)

• Rihanna has been a finalist at the Billboard Music Awards 49 times, including 5 categories this year.

·         Justin Timberlake has the most entries as a finalist for albums with three, including two entries for Top R&B Album with “The 20/20 Experience” and “The 20/20 Experience (2 of 2)”

·         Luke Bryan leads all country acts with seven entries in six categories, including an appearance as a finalist in the overall Top Male Artist grouping.

Billboard Music Awards finalists are based on key fan interactions with music, including album and digital singles sales, radio airplay, touring, streaming and social interactions on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, VEVO, Spotify and other popular online destinations for music. These measurements are tracked year-round by Billboard and its data partners, including Nielsen Entertainment and Next Big Sound. The awards are based on the reporting period of March 11, 2013 through March 9, 2014.  Since 1940, the Billboard charts have been the go-to guide for ranking the popularity of songs and albums, and are the ultimate measure of a musician’s success.

As previously announced, the 2014 Milestone Award presented by Chevrolet, will be given to an innovative artist who has achieved a notable chart milestone over the past year. The six finalists for this special editorial award were announced earlier last week on Billboard.com – they are: Imagine Dragons, John Legend, Luke Bryan, OneRepublic, Ellie Goulding and Carrie Underwood. Fans can vote for their favorite Milestone artist online at Billboard.com/milestone and can enter a contest for a chance to win an opportunity to present the award live at this year’s event alongside global music superstar and Billboard Music Award winner Kelly Rowland.

"I'm really looking forward to presenting the Chevrolet Milestone Award at this year's Billboard Music Awards. I love being able to recognize fellow artists for their accomplishments and having the opportunity to present with a fan will make the evening that much more exciting!" said Kelly Rowland.

The six finalists will be narrowed down to three finalists, who will be announced on the website on April 21st.  Voting will then continue through the first two hours of the live 2014 Billboard Music Awards broadcast, culminating with the announcement of the award winner during the last hour of the show. 

Chevrolet is a sponsor of the 2014 Billboard Music Awards.

For additional information on the “2014 Billboard Music Awards” visit us at www.billboardmusicawards.com or the Billboard hub at www.billboard.com/bbma.

Branded digital assets include everything from social toolkits to GIFs celebrating this year’s Billboard Music Awards top categories and nominees.

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The complete list of finalists for the “2014 Billboard Music Awards” can be found below.

ABOUT BILLBOARD

Billboard is the world’s most influential music brand, built on the most complete and well respected database of charts across all music genres. The Billboard charts define success in music. From the iconic Billboard magazine to Billboard.com which is the ultimate consumer-facing destination for millions of passionate music fans, to the industry’s most elite conference series and influencer events including the Power 100 and Women in Music ­ the Billboard brand has unmatched authority among fans, artists and the industry alike.

ABOUT “2014 BILLBOARD MUSIC AWARDS”

The “2014 Billboard Music Awards” are set to return to ABC and will be broadcast live from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas on Sunday, May 18 at 8:00pm ET/PT. The show will showcase this year’s hottest and biggest music stars.  Billboard Music Awards finalists are based on key fan interactions with music, including album and digital singles sales, radio airplay, touring, streaming and social interactions on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, VEVO, Spotify and other popular online destinations for music. These measurements are tracked year-round by Billboard and its data partners, including Nielsen Entertainment and Next Big Sound. The awards are based on the reporting period of March 11, 2013 through March 9, 2014.  The “2014 Billboard Music Awards” is produced by dick clark productions. Allen Shapiro and Michael Mahan are Executive Producers. Larry Klein and Barry Adelman are Producers.

ABOUT dick clark productions

dick clark productions (dcp) is the world’s largest producer and proprietor of televised events.  dcp produces perennial hits such as the “American Music Awards,” “Golden Globe Awards,” “Academy of Country Music Awards,” “Hollywood Film Awards,” “Billboard Music Awards,” and “Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve with Ryan Seacrest.”  dcp also produces popular weekly television programming, including “So You Think You Can Dance,” and owns one of the world’s most unique and extensive entertainment archive libraries with more than 55 years of dcp’s award-winning shows, historic programs, specials, performances and legendary programming.  In 2014, dcp will debut “The PEOPLE MAGAZINE Awards” on NBC and joint venture Keshet DCP will premiere the weekly television series “Rising Star” on ABC.   For additional information, visit www.dickclark.com.

ABOUT CHEVROLET

Founded in 1911 in Detroit, Chevrolet is now one of the world's largest car brands, doing business in more than 140 countries and selling more than 4.9 million cars and trucks a year. Chevrolet provides customers with fuel-efficient vehicles that feature spirited performance, expressive design and high quality. More information on Chevrolet models can be found at www.chevrolet.com.