The Billboard Music Awards, produced by Dick Clark Productions will air on ABC, Sunday May 17 at 8 p.m. EST, and present its awards to the top finalists who were announced last month on Good Morning America.  The event will be held at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, and Hosting the show for the second consecutive year will be hip-hop artist Ludacris, who announced some of the finalists last month, along with Chrissy Teigen. Teigen, along with the star of Empire, announced the list of remaining finalists in a press conference on Twitter.

The finalists of the Billboard Music Awards are based on the number of album sales, as well as radio airplay, streaming music, tours, social media instances, and digital sales. These instances are measured by Billboard and partners including Next Big Sound, and Nielsen Music during the period between March 10, 2014 and March 8, 2015. Taylor Swift, who rocked the charts with 1989 this past October, dominates the field with 14 entries in 13 categories and is followed by Sam Smith with 13 entries, Iggy Azalea with 12 and Meghan Trainor with nine. Below is the list of finalists for the 2015 Billboard Music Awards.

Artist
Ariana Grande
Katy Perry
One Direction
Sam Smith
Taylor Swift

New Artist
Hozier
5 Seconds of Summer
Iggy Azalea
Meghan Trainor
Sam Smith

Male Artist
Drake
Ed Sheeran
Justin Timberlake
Pharrell Williams
Sam Smith

Female Artist
Ariana Grande
Iggy Azalea
Katy Perry
Meghan Trainor
Taylor Swift

Duo/Group
One Direction
5 Seconds of Summer
Florida Georgia Line
MAGIC!
Maroon 5

Billboard Music Awards 200 Artist
Ed Sheeran
One Direction
Pentatonix
Sam Smith
Taylor Swift

Hot 100 Artist
Ariana Grande
Iggy Azalea
Meghan Trainor
Sam Smith
Taylor Swift

Digital Songs Artist
Ed Sheeran
Iggy Azalea
Meghan Trainor
Sam Smith
Taylor Swift

Radio Songs Artist
Ed Sheeran
John Legend
Maroon 5
Sam Smith
Taylor Swift

Touring Artist
One Direction
Justin Timberlake
Katy Perry
Lady Gaga
The Rolling Stones

Social Artist
Ariana Grande
Justin Bieber
Miley Cyrus
Selena Gomez
Taylor Swift

Streaming Artist
Ariana Grande
Iggy Azalea
Meghan Trainor
Nicki Minaj
Taylor Swift

R&B Artist
Beyoncé
Chris Brown
John Legend
Pharrell Williams
Trey Songz

Rap Artist
Drake
Iggy Azalea
J. Cole
Nicki Minaj
Rae Sremmurd

Country Artist
Brantley Gilbert
Blake Shelton
Florida Georgia Line
Jason Aldean
Luke Bryan

Rock Artist
Bastille
Coldplay
Fall Out Boy
Hozier
Lorde

Latin Artist
Enrique Iglesias
J Balvin
Juan Gabriel
Prince Royce
Romeo Santos

Dance/Electronic Artist
Avicii
Calvin Harris
Clean Bandit
Disclosure
Lindsey Stirling

Christian Artist
Casting Crowns
Hillsong United
Lecrae
MercyMe
Newsboys

Billboard Music Awards 200 Album
1989, Taylor Swift
In the Lonely Hour, Sam Smith
That’s Christmas to Me, Pentatonix
V, Maroon 5
x, Ed Sheeran

Soundtrack
Fifty Shades of Grey
Frozen
Guardians of the Galaxy: Awesome Mix: Volume 1
Into the Woods
The Fault in Our Stars

R&B Album
Beyoncé, Beyoncé
G I R L, Pharrell Williams
Love in the Future, John Legend
X, Chris Brown
Xscape, Michael Jackson

Rap Album
2014 Forest Hills Drive, J. Cole
If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late, Drake
The Marshall Mathers LP 2, Eminem
The New Classic, Iggy Azalea
The Pinkprint, Nicki Minaj

Country Album
Crash My Party, Luke Bryan
Just As I Am, Brantley Gilbert
Man Against Machine, Garth Brooks
Old Boots, New Dirt, Jason Aldean
Platinum, Miranda Lambert

Rock Album
Rock or Bust, AC/DC
Turn Blue, The Black Keys
Ghost Stories, Coldplay
Hozier, Hozier
Pure Heroine, Lorde

Latin Album
3.0, Marc Anthony
Corazon, Santana
Formula: Volume 2, Romeo Santos
Los Dúo, Juan Gabriel,
Sex and Love, Enrique Iglesias

Dance/Electronic Album
Motion, Calvin Harris
Recess, Skrillex
Settle, Disclosure
Shatter Me, Lindsey Stirling
True, Avicii

Christian Album
Anomaly, Lecrae
Love Ran Red, Chris Tomlin
Rivers in the Wasteland, NEEDTOBREATHE
Thrive, Casting Crowns
Welcome to the New, MercyMe

Hot 100 Song
All About That Bass, Meghan Trainor
All of Me, John Legend
Fancy, Iggy Azalea featuring Charli XCX
Shake it Off, Taylor Swift
Stay With Me, Sam Smith

Digital Song
All About That Bass, Meghan Trainor
Happy, Pharrell Williams
Shake it Off, Taylor Swift
Stay With Me, Sam Smith
Uptown Funk!, Mark Ronson featuring Bruno Mars

Radio Song
All of Me, John Legend
Am I Wrong, Nico & Vinz
Happy, Pharrell Williams
Rude, MAGIC!
Stay With Me, Sam Smith

Streaming Song – audio
All of Me, John Legend
Fancy, Iggy Azalea featuring Charli XCX
Habits (Stay High), Tove Lo
Stay With Me, Sam Smith
Take Me to Church, Hozier

Streaming Song – video
All About That Bass, Meghan Trainor
Blank Space, Taylor Swift
Hot Boy, Bobby Shmurda
Let it Go, Idina Menzel
Shake It Off, Taylor Swift

R&B Song
All of Me, John Legend
Don’t Tell ‘Em, Jeremih featuring YG
Happy, Pharrell Williams
Loyal, Chris Brown featuring Lil Wayne, French Montana, Too $hort & Tyga
Talk Dirty, Jason Derulo featuring 2 Chainz

Rap Song
Anaconda, Nicki Minaj
Black Widow, Iggy Azalea featuring Rita Ora
Hot Boy, Bobby Shmurda
Fancy, Iggy Azalea featuring Charli XCX
I Don’t F— With You, Big Sean featuring E-40

Country Song
Burnin’ It Down, Jason Aldean
Dirt, Florida Georgia Line
Leave the Night On, Sam Hunt
Play It Again, Luke Bryan
This Is How We Roll, Florida Georgia Line featuring Luke Bryan

Rock Song
Aint It Fun, Paramore
A Sky Full of Stars, Coldplay
Centuries, Fall Out Boy
Pompeii, Bastille
Take Me to Church, Hozier

Latin Song
6 AM, J Balvin featuring Farruko
Bailando, Enrique Iglesias featuring Descemer Bueno & Gente de Zona
Eres Mia, Romeo Santos
Odio, Romeo Santos featuring Drake
Propuesta Indecente, Romeo Santos

Dance/Electronic Song
Break Free, Ariana Grande featuring Zedd
Latch, Disclosure featuring Sam Smith
Rather Be, Clean Bandit featuring Jess Glynne
Summer, Calvin Harris
Turn Down For What, DJ Snake & Lil Jon

Christian Song
Greater, MercyMe
He Knows My Name, Francesca Battistelli
Oceans (Where Feet May Fail), Hillsong United
Something in the Water, Carrie Underwood
We Believe, Newsboys

Fan voted Billboard Music Awards Chart Achievement presented by Samsung Galaxy
Iggy Azalea
Meghan Trainor
Taylor Swift

At the Billboard Music Awards, fans in addition to voting for the top finalists in each of the 40 categories, can also go to Billboard.com, BillboardMusicAwards.com, Azalea, Trainor, and Twitter, to choose the winner of the Billboard chart achievement award. This award is unique in the fact that this category in the Billboard Music Awards is open only to fans.

By Bill Ades

Sources
Billboard Music – Billboard Music Awards 2015: See the Full List of Finalists
Billboard Music – Ludacris & Chrissy Teigen to Host 2015 Billboard Music Awards
Photo by Jana Beamer – Flickr License

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