American Music Awards Set to Kick Off Awards Season

LOS ANGELES – Hollywood's awards season unofficially gets under way Sunday night with the American Music Awards — and for the first time, members of the public were able to vote for their favorite artists online.

Beyonce Knowles, Justin Timberlake, Linkin Park and "American Idol" contestant Chris Daughtry's band Daughtry had a leading three nominations apiece heading into the 35th annual AMAs, to be hosted by Jimmy Kimmel and set to air on ABC at 8 p.m. ET.

Akon, Tim McGraw, Rascal Flatts, Bone Thugs-N-Harmony, Young Jeezy, T.I. and "Idol" winner Carrie Underwood had two nominations each.

The script was written before the Writers Guild of America strike began last week, so without writers to make revisions, it won't include any topical quips from Kimmel.

"We were aware of the impending WGA strike and planned accordingly," said producer Larry Klein in a statement.

Klein said Daughtry, Celine Dion, nominees Fergie and Rihanna will perform at the show, which will be broadcast from the new L.A. Live entertainment complex next to Staples Center downtown.

Nominees were initially chosen based on record sales. Ballots were then sent to a national sampling of 15,000 people and the top three vote-getters in each category became nominees.

Winners were previously selected by a national survey of some 20,000 people.

The complete list of nominees:

Pop/Rock:

— Male artist: Akon, Timbaland, Justin Timberlake.

— Female artist: Beyonce, Fergie, Avril Lavigne.

— Band, duo or group: Linkin Park, Maroon 5, Nickleback.

— Album: "Daughtry" (Daughtry), "Minutes To Midnight" (Linkin Park), "FutureSex/LoveSounds" (Justin Timberlake).

Country:

— Male artist: Toby Keith, Tim McGraw, Brad Paisley.

— Female artist: Martina McBride, Taylor Swift, Carrie Underwood.

— Band, duo or group: Big & Rich, Brooks & Dunn, Rascal Flatts.

— Album: "Let It Go" (Tim McGraw), "Me And My Gang" (Rascal Flatts), "Some Hearts" (Carrie Underwood).

Soul/Rhythm & Blues:

— Male artist: Akon, Ne-Yo, T-Pain.

— Female artist: Beyonce, Fantasia, Rihanna.

— Album: "B'Day" (Beyonce), "Double Up" (R. Kelly), "FutureSex/Love Sounds" (Justin Timberlake).

Rap/Hip Hop:

— Male artist: Fabolous, T.I., Young Jeezy.

— Band, duo or group: Bone Thugs-N-Harmony, Pretty Ricky, Shop Boyz.

— Album: "Strength & Loyalty" (Bone Thugs-N-Harmony), "T.I. vs. T.I.P." (T.I.), "The Inspiration" (Young Jeezy).

Adult Contemporary:

— Artist: Daughtry, Norah Jones, John Mayer.

Alternative:

— Artist: Linkin Park, My Chemical Romance, White Stripes.

Latin:

— Artist: Daddy Yankee, Juan Luis Guerra y 440, Jennifer Lopez.

Contemporary Inspirational:

— Artist: Casting Crowns, Jeremy Camp, TobyMac.

Soundtracks:

— Album: "Dreamgirls," "Hairspray," "High School Musical 2."

Breakthrough:

— New artist: Daughtry, Plain White T's, Robin Thicke.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.