The late singer was remembered at this year’s Billboard Latin Music Awards in April with an emotional tribute. Rivera will be remembered yet again at a Billboard award show by her work with nominations dominating Latin categories such as Top Latin Artist. Sweeping the Top Latin Album category with three nominations, Rivera will surely be recognized for her work by fellow nominees and fans.
As one of the performers set to entertain the main stage this year, Chris Brown was selected as a finalist in the R&B categories for Top R&B Artist and Top R&B Album for Fortune.
Electronic Dance Music is finally getting some appreciation as Billboard introduces EDM as a category for nominations. The overwhelming demand for electronic music has much to do with David Guetta’s influence on young fans. The DJ is nominated for Top Dance Artist, top EDM artist, and Top EDM Album for Nothing But The Beat.
American Idol judge, Nicki Minaj is nominated for Top Female Artist and Top Rap Artist as well as Top Rap Album for Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded. The dominating female rapper will also compete in the dance category, as she is nominated for Top Dance Song for "Starships."
One Direction has taken over the Billboard charts this year, as is evidenced by their nomination for Top New Artist. A Finalist in eight categories, 1D is looking to snag awards for Top Pop Artist and Top Group/Duo. Their two highly successful albums, Take Me Home and Up All Night are up for Top Billboard 200 Album and Top Pop Album.
Included in 11 categories, fun. competes for Top Rock Artist, Top Radio Songs Artist and Top Duo/Group. Similar to Maroon 5, fun. has double nominations in categories of Top Streaming Song (Audio) and Top Rock Song for their singles "Some Nights" and "We Are Young" featuring Janelle Monae.
Madonna will take the stage to accept the award for Top Touring Artist this year, an award that recognizes the highest-grossing touring act of the year. Her album MDNA is being recognized as a contender for Top Dance Album.
Marked by the song of last summer, "Call Me Maybe," 2012 was Carly Rae Jepsen’s breakout year. A finalist in nine categories, Jepsen can thank her summer anthem for the majority of her nominations, including Top Hot 100 Song, Top Digital Song, Top Radio Song, Top Streaming Song (Audio), and Top Pop Song.
Babel has brought Mumford & Sons two nominations for Top Billboard 200 Album and Top Rock Album at this year’s award show. Along with being finalists in the Top Group/Duo category, the band is also up for Top Rock Artist.
Chart topping group Maroon 5 is among the leading nominees for this year’s award show. Popularity of their two singles, "One More Night" and "Payphone," have garnered the group several nominations including Top Radio Song, Top Hot 100 Song and Top Pop Song, in which they are nominated twice in the same category.
Taylor Swift leads the pack of nominated female artists with a total of twelve nominations for her album Red as well as Top Hot 100 Artist and Top Country Song for "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together." In addition to performing, the country starlet is nominated for a new fan-driven Milestone Award. Along with fellow nominees Pitbull, Justin Bieber, The Band Perry, Miguel and Bruno Mars, Billboard and Chevrolet teamed up to give fans the chance to vote for their favorite artist online and enter a contest to win the chance to present the award with Cee Lo Green at the live event.
YouTube king PSY is nominated for Top Rap Artist this year. The "Gangnam Style" artist can credit his catchy single for nominations in Top Rap Song, Top Streaming Song (Video) and Top Dance Song. 2013 was a big year for PSY, as he is also up for Top New Artist and Top Streaming Artist.
Country music bad boy Jason Aldean has not let scandal affect his music career this year. Vying for Top Male artist as well as Top Country Artist, Aldean might be able to get a few pointers from BMA host Tracy Morgan as Aldean is set to make his hosting debut alongside Kristen Bell at the 2013 CMT Music Awards in June.
This year Billboard recognizes Justin Bieber as an artist able to compete with the big names. Nominated for 5 awards just in artist categories alone, including Top Artist, Top Pop Artist and Top Social Artist, Bieber is also up for Top Pop Album for Believe. Set to perform on the big stage, Bieber is nominated for Top Billboard 200 Artist, an nomination for those who have topped the Billboard 200 in the past year.