The American singer Olivia Rodrigo, 18, swept the announcement of the award nominations on Thursday American Music Awards by getting seven nominations for his record debut, ahead of six for The Weeknd and five for Doja Cat, Bad Bunny and Giveon.
The Puerto Rican Bad Bunny, for his part, leads among Latinos with five nominations for the awards that, surrendered to the popularity of music in Spanish, have expanded the Latino categories to a total of five.
The American Music Awards (abbreviated as AMAs) serve as a prelude to the prestigious Grammys, although with the difference that they are determined by a popular poll aimed at music consumers, rather than being voted on by industry experts.
To select candidates from whom the public can vote, organizers add up record sales, internet streams, and artist popularity.
The awards will be presented on November 21 at a ceremony that will return to the face-to-face format at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles (USA). In the queen category, artist of the year, Ariana Grande, BTS, Drake, Taylor Swift, The Weeknd and Olivia Rodrigo will compete.
Rodrigo is also a candidate for the award for best new artist, since the singer has experienced a meteoric growth in popularity in the last year thanks to the viral phenomenon of her song “Drivers License” and a first debut album, “Sour”, which the press Musical compares with Alanis Morissette’s debut.
In fact, the AMAS inaugurate this year a category that will reward the most viral song on social networks such as TikTok, and in which, in addition to Rodrigo, there is also the Italians Måneskin (winners of the Eurovision Song Contest), Megan Thee Stallion, Erica Banks and Popp Hunna.
Bad Bunny, J Balvin, Maluma, Ozuna and Rauw Alejandro will compete for the award for the best male artist; while Becky G, Kali Uchis, Karol G, Natti Natasha and Rosalía will do the same in the female category.
