Billboard Awards: 2005 Finalists

Tuesday night, Billboard will hand out its annual music awards. The show has grown in popularity since it began 15 years ago, eclipsing the American Music Awards, which are now totally irrelevant.

The finalists are listed on Fox's Web site. They are not nominees, since they are determined solely by the top placings in Billboard's year-end charts for the 2005 chart year (December 2004 - November 2005). Therefore the winners were determined along with the finalists, but won't be announced until Tuesday. The full year-end charts should be available on Billboard's Web site soon and published in their final issue of the year.

Here's a rundown of the nominees in some of the top categories (in alpha order):

Hot 100 Song of the Year:
1. Mariah Carey, We Belong Together
2. Kelly Clarkson, Since U Been Gone
3. Mario, Let Me Love You
4. Gwen Stefani, Hollaback Girl

It wouldn't surprise me one bit if this award goes exactly in the order above. It's certainly a contest between Clarkson and Carey. I give an edge to Carey, since R&B tracks usually do better than pop tracks on the Hot 100.

Album of the Year:
1. 50 Cent, The Massacre
2. Mariah Carey, The Emancipation of Mimi
3. Eminem, Encore
4. Green Day, American Idiot.

I'm pretty sure Mariah Carey had the year's best-selling album, so the award will go to her. Surprised not to see Kelly Clarkson or Gwen Stefani here, who are surely #5 and #6.

New Artist of the Year:
1. Fantasia
2. The Game
3. Gwen Stefani
4. Rob Thomas

Some creative accounting was certainly used to determine "new artist" eligibility here. Most egregious are the inclusions of Gwen Stefani and Rob Thomas. Gwen Stefani has been around on the charts since 1996 with her band No Doubt, and was featured on 2 top 40 hits in 2001, including the #2 hit "Let Me Blow Ya Mind" with Eve. Rob Thomas has been around since 1997 with Matchbox Twenty, and was the vocalist on the 1999 mega-hit "Smooth" with Santana. No way should they be considered new artists. And Fantasia had a #1 hit last year with "I Believe." In my mind, only The Game should qualify, but Gwen Stefani was the biggest of this bunch.