Adele, LMFAO, Rihanna + More Lead 2012 Billboard Music Award Nominations

Adele, LMFAO and Rihanna lead the nominations for the 2012 Billboard Awards, which take place at Las Vegas’ MGM Grand and will be broadcast live Sunday May 20 at 8 PM ET on ABC.

The awards are modern and digitally minded, in that they reflect Billboard’s chart rankings based on key fan interactions with music, including album sales and downloads, track downloads, radio airplay and touring as well as streaming and social interactions on Facebook, Twitter, Vevo, YouTube, Spotify and other popular online destinations for music. In essence, the awards take everything into account.

Adele racked up 18 nominations, including Top Artist, Top Female Artist and Top Billboard 200 Artist. Party rockers LMFAO follow as finalists in 17 categories. They are entered in 22 categories overall, whereas Adele is entered in 20.

Rihanna notched nominations in 13 categories this year, while Lady Gaga and Lil Wayne trail with 10 category mentions a piece.

There’s tons of categories for artists, albums and songs, and the competition is stiff as your back after a 10-hour plane ride.

Below is a list of key artist categories and nominees.

Top Artist:

Adele

Lady Gaga

Lil Wayne

Katy Perry

Rihanna

Top New Artist:

Bad Meets Evil

Big Sean

Foster The People

Scotty McCreery

Wiz Khalifa

Top Male Artist:

Justin Bieber

Chris Brown

Drake

Lil Wayne

Bruno Mars

Top Female Artist:

Adele

Lady Gaga

Nicki Minaj

Katy Perry

Rihanna

Top Duo/Group:

The Black Eyed Peas

Coldplay

Lady Antebellum

LMFAO

Maroon 5

Top Billboard 200 Artist:

Adele

Justin Bieber

Michael Buble

Lady Gaga

Lil Wayne

Top Hot 100 Artist:

Adele

LMFAO

Bruno Mars

Katy Perry

Rihanna

Top Digital Songs Artist:

Adele

LMFAO

Bruno Mars

Katy Perry

Rihanna

Top Radio Songs Artist:

Adele

Katy Perry

Bruno Mars

Nicki Minaj

Rihanna

Top Touring Artist:

Bon Jovi

Taylor Swift

Take That

U2

Roger Waters

Top Social Artist:

Justin Bieber

Eminem

Lady Gaga

Rihanna

Shakira

Top Streaming Artist:

Lil Wayne

LMFAO

Nicki Minaj

Bruno Mars

Rihanna

Top Digital Media Artist:

Adele

Justin Bieber

Lady Gaga

Lil Wayne

Rihanna

Top Pop Artist:

Adele

Lady Gaga

LMFAO

Katy Perry

Rihanna

Top R&B Artist:

Beyonce

Chris Brown

Cee Lo Green

Miguel

Rihanna

Top Rap Artist:

Drake

Lil Wayne

LMFAO

Nicki Minaj

Wiz Khalifa

Top Country Artist:

Jason Aldean

Zac Brown Band

Lady Antebellum

Blake Shelton

Taylor Swift

Top Rock Artist:

The Black Keys

Coldplay

Foster The People

Foo Fighters

Mumford & Sons

Top Alternative Artist:

The Black Keys

Coldplay

Foster The People

Foo Fighters

Mumford & Sons

Top Latin Artist:

Mana

Pitbull

Prince Royce

Romeo Santos

Shakira

Top Dance Artist:

David Guetta

Lady Gaga

LMFAO

Rihanna

Britney Spears