LIVE! Watch the 2009 American Music Awards live Sunday night direct from Los Angeles. Who will the top AMA? AMAs Awards, red carpet, and live performances will come to you direct from the wonderful NOKIA LIVE in Los Angeles.

Who are you excited to see perform? Lambert or Lopez? Shakira or Beyonce?

If you notice in the list of nominations, Taylor Swift is categorized as both contemporary music and country, Eminem as both pop music and rap.

How is voting handled?

“Nominees were selected from data supplied by The Nielsen Company’s Broadcast Data Systems, which monitors radio airplay performance, and Soundscan, which tracks retail music sales. Online voting will take place, beginning today at ama.abc.com as well as amavote.com and mycokerewards.com.”

How are winners selected?

“For the third year, winners will be determined by online voting at www.ama.abc.com, www.amavote.com and www.mycokerewards.com, the official voting location starting today. Artists will be honored in the categories of Pop/Rock, Country, Rap/Hip-Hop, Soul/R&B, Alternative, Adult Contemporary, Latin and Contemporary Inspirational. Fans can go to the official homepage of the “2009 American Music Awards,” ama.abc.com, to find performer and presenter announcements, artist information, and more.”

Swift leads nominations:

“Taylor Swift leads the nominations race this year with six (6) total nominations, Michael Jackson follows with five (5) nominations, Eminem follows with four (4) nominations and Beyonce, Black Eyed Peas, Lady Gaga, Kings of Leon and T.I. collected three (3) nominations. Lady Gaga, Eminem, Kings of Leon, Michael Jackson and Taylor Swift make up the highly talented roster of 2009 Artist of the Year nominees.”

Orly Adelson, executive producer of the show and Larry Klein, AMA producer say of tonight’s show: “With the support of the artists and labels, we are looking forward to an amazing lineup of performances during this year’s show highlighting the diversity and breadth of this year’s eclectic music scene.”

Artist of the Year nominations go to Kings of Leon, Taylor Swift, Lady Gaga, Eminem and Michael Jackson.

POP/ROCK Favorite Male Artist nominees are Eminem, Michael Jackson, and T.I.. POP/ROCK Favorite Female Artist are Beyonce, Lady Gaga, and Taylor Swift. POP/ROCK Favorite Band, Duo or Group Nominees are The Black Eyed Peas, Kings of Leon, and Nickelback. Favorite POP/ROCK Album nominees are Fame - Lady Gaga, Number Ones - Michael Jackson and Fearless - Taylor Swift.

Favorite COUNTRY Male Artist nominees are Jason Aldean, Darius Rucker and Keith Urban. Favorite COUNTRY Female Artist nominees are Reba McEntire, Taylor Swift, and Carrie Underwood. COUNTRY - Favorite Band, Duo or Group nominees are Rascal Flatts, Sugarland and Zac Brown Band. COUNTRY - Favorite Album nominees are Unstoppable - Rascal Flatts, Fearless - Taylor Swift, and Foundation - Zac Brown Band.

RAP/HIP-HOP - Favorite Male Artist nominees are Eminem, Jay-Z, and T.I. RAP/HIP-HOP - Favorite Album nominees are Relapse - Eminem, Blueprint 3 - Jay-Z, and Paper Trail - T.I.

SOUL/R&B - Favorite Male Artist nominees are Jamie Foxx, Michael Jackson and Maxwell SOUL/R&B - Favorite Female Artist nominees are Beyonce, Keyshia Cole and Keri Hilson SOUL/R&B - Favorite Band, Duo or Group nominees are The Black Eyed Peas, Day26 and Mary Mary SOUL/R&B - Favorite Album nominees are I Am…Sasha Fierce - Beyonce, The E.N.D. - The Black Eyed Peas, and
Number Ones - Michael Jackson

SOUNDTRACKS - Favorite Album nominees are Hannah Montana: The Movie, Hannah Montana 3, and Twilight Soundtrack

ALTERNATIVE ROCK - Favorite Artist nominees are Green Day, Kings of Leon and Shinedown ADULT CONTEMPORARY - Favorite Artist nominees are Daughtry, Jason Mraz, and Taylor Swift LATIN - Favorite Artist nominees are Aventura, Luis Fonsi, Wisin Y Yandel. Favorite CONTEMPORARY INSPIRATIONAL - Favorite Artist are Jeremy Camp, Brandon Heath and Mary Mary

For live coverage of the 2009 AMA American Music Awards on LALATE click here:

http://news.lalate.com/category/ama.