Clear Channel and NBC Announce Finalists for First-Ever iHeart�ƹϴ�ý Music Awards

Clear Channel and NBC Announce Finalists for First-Ever iHeart�ƹϴ�ý Music Awards

Nominees Justin Timberlake, Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, Imagine Dragons, Maroon 5 and Rihanna Go Head-to-Head for “Artist of the Year” at the iHeart�ƹϴ�ý Music Awards Thursday, May 1, Live on NBC
Fans Cast More Than 13.2 Million Social Votes via #Hashtags, Averaging More Than 200 Tweets per Minute and 2.2 Billion Impressions

New York and Universal City, Calif. – March 26, 2014 – Clear Channel Media and Entertainment and NBC today announced the finalists for its first-ever iHeart�ƹϴ�ý Music Awards on Thursday, May 1 at the historic Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles. Music fans used hashtags to cast more than 13.2 million votes across Facebook and Twitter to catapult their favorite artists and songs into iHeart�ƹϴ�ý Music Awards’ category finalists. The event will be televised live on NBC from 8-11 p.m. ET/PT.

Announced last month, the three-hour will recognize the most popular artists and music over the past 12 months as determined by iHeart�ƹϴ�ý listeners. Each voting category initially featured 10 nominees based on results from the iHeart�ƹϴ�ý Chart which includes listener feedback and performance data according to airplay; digital streaming data from the iHeart�ƹϴ�ý platform, including “thumbs up” and custom station creations; and music sales, social interactions, online video data and tags from BigChampagne and Shazam.

During the last four weeks, listeners cast their votes to narrow down these nominees to their top five favorites in each category, garnering more than 2.2 billion social impressions. Category finalists (by alphabetical order) are:

Artist of the Year:
Imagine Dragons
Justin Timberlake
Macklemore & Ryan Lewis
Maroon 5
Rihanna

Song of the Year:
“Hold On We’re Going Home” – Drake ft. Majid Jordan
“Mirrors” – Justin Timberlake
“�ƹϴ�ýactive” – Imagine Dragons
“Stay” – Rihanna ft. Mikky Ekko
“The Monster” – Eminem ft. Rihanna

Best Collaboration:
(Most voted on category with more than 3.9 million votes cast)
“Holy Grail” – Jay Z ft. Justin Timberlake
“Stay” – Rihanna ft. Mikky Ekko
“Suit & Tie” – Justin Timberlake ft. Jay Z
“The Monster” – Eminem ft. Rihanna
“Timber” – Pitbull ft. Ke$ha

Best New Artist:
Florida Georgia Line
Icona Pop
Imagine Dragons
Lorde
Macklemore & Ryan Lewis
Passenger

Country Song of the Year:
“Boys ‘Round Here” – Blake Shelton
“Highway Don’t Care” – Tim McGraw with Taylor Swift
“It Goes Like This” – Thomas Rhett
“Mine Would Be You” – Blake Shelton
“That’s My Kind of Night” – Luke Bryan

Hip Hop/R&B Song of the Year:
“Blurred Lines” – Robin Thicke ft. T.I. & Pharrell
“Hold On We’re Going Home” – Drake ft. Majid Jordan
“Holy Grail” – Jay Z ft. Justin Timberlake
“Pour It Up” – Rihanna
“Started From The Bottom” - Drake

EDM Song of the Year:
“Get Lucky” – Daft Punk ft. Pharrell
“Stay The Night” – Zedd ft. Hayley Williams
“Summertime Sadness” – Lana Del Rey ft. Cedric Gervais
“Sweet Nothing” – Calvin Harris ft. Florence Welch
“Wake Me Up” – Avicii

Alternative Rock Song of the Year:
“Demons” – Imagine Dragons
“Do I Wanna Know?” – Arctic Monkeys
“Pompeii” – Bastille
“Royals” – Lorde
“Safe And Sound” – Capital Cities

Best Lyrics:
“Wake Me Up” – Avicii (Vocals by Aloe Blacc)
“I Love It (ft. Charli XCX)” – Icona Pop
“Say Something” – A Great Big World
“Same Love” – Macklemore & Ryan Lewis
“Wrecking Ball” – Miley Cyrus

Best Fan Army:
Arianators – Ariana Grande
Little Monsters – Lady Gaga
Lovatics – Demi Lovato
Mahomies – Austin Mahone
Rihanna Navy – Rihanna
Swifties – Taylor Swift

Round Two voting began today at and will continue through April 25 where millions of fans will rally behind their favorite artists and songs to vote for which nominee they want to win each category. Listeners can tune into their local Clear Channel radio stations for a chance to win their way into the iHeart�ƹϴ�ý Music Awards featuring never-before-done duets and collaborations, celebrity guest appearances and live award presentations.

The iHeart�ƹϴ�ý Awards will be executive produced by John Sykes and Tom Poleman of Clear Channel Media and Entertainment, Ryan Seacrest Productions and Ian Stewart and Hamish Hamilton of Done and Dusted Inc., who will produce the show for NBC Studios. Hamilton will also direct.

For breaking news and exclusive iHeart�ƹϴ�ý Music Awards content visit iHeart�ƹϴ�ý.com/awards or follow the social buzz on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and Google +.