Bruno Mars leads music's AMA nominations as female artists edged out

[October 13, 2017]   By Piya Sinha-Roy

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The men of pop and hip hop led the nominations for the American Music Awards (AMA) on Thursday, while female artists were left out of most categories.

Bruno Mars led with eight nominations, including Artist of the Year, the top accolade of the night. He will face hip hop stars Drake and Kendrick Lamar, British singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran and electro-pop DJ duo The Chainsmokers - each of whom landed five nominations - for the coveted award.

The women of pop music failed to land nominations in categories such as Artist of the Year, Video of the Year and Tour of the Year.

Pop star Halsey, one of the few female artists to land nominations for her collaboration with The Chainsmokers on the hit song "Closer," tweeted on Thursday that she was "really disappointed" at the male-dominated nominees list.

"so many incredible female artists have released this year. hoping the coming award shows give them the credit that is due to them," she said.

Halsey landed two nominations, in the favorite pop/rock song and collaboration of the year categories for "Closer," but did not land any solo nominations despite having had a chart-topping album earlier this year.

Notable omissions include Katy Perry, Miley Cyrus, Lorde, Demi Lovato, Lana Del Rey and Kesha, all of whom released new songs and albums this year, as well as Taylor Swift, who released a high-concept video in August for her single "Look What You Made Me Do."

The AMA nominees are selected through measurements on fan interactions across Billboard Magazine and Billboard.com, which include figures from music sales, touring, streaming and radio airplay and social activity from Sept. 9, 2016 to Sept. 14, 2017, organizers said.

The winners of the American Music Awards are voted for by fans and will be announced at a live ceremony televised on ABC on Nov. 19.

Rihanna was the only other female artist to land two nods. She will compete with Lady Gaga and newcomer Alessia Cara for favorite female pop/rock artist, and she will face Beyonce and Kehlani in the favorite female soul/R&B category.

Newcomer Julia Michaels is up against singer James Arthur, former One Direction star Niall Horan, rapper Post Malone and hip hop duo Rae Sremmurd for the New Artist of the Year accolade.

(Reporting by Piya Sinha-Roy; Editing by Chris Reese)

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