Adele heads up American Music Awards nominations

The nominees for the 2011 American Music Awards were unveiled this morning by Nicki Minaj and Pitbull in downtown Los Angeles, and Adele is looking like the artist to beat.

Adele picked up four nominations to lead this year's field, including Artist of the Year. The four other Artist of the Year nominees -- Lady Gaga, Lil Wayne, Katy Perry and Taylor Swift -- garnered three nominations apiece, as did The Band Perry and Rihanna.

Beyonce, Bruno Mars, Chris Brown, Jason Aldean, Kanye West, LMFAO, Nicki Minaj and Pitbull each got two nominations.

Katy Perry and Pitbull will be among the performers at the 39th annual AMAs, which will be broadcast live on ABC-TV from the Nokia Theater L.A. Live on Nov. 20.

For the fifth year, winners will be selected via online voting at the AMA voting website.

The eight semi-finalists for the AMA in the Sprint New Artist of the Year category will be narrowed down to four during a first round of voting that runs though Oct. 21 at 9 p.m. ET. Fans can vote for their favorite finalist an unlimited number of times at amanewartistoftheyear.com. The final round of New Artist of the Year voting gets underway Oct. 24 and concludes during the AMA telecast.

The complete list of nominees for the 39th annual American Music Awards follows.

POP OR ROCK MUSIC

Favorite Male Artist
Justin Bieber
Bruno Mars
Pitbull

Favorite Female Artist
Adele
Lady Gaga
Katy Perry

Favorite Band, Duo or Group
LMFAO
Maroon 5
OneRepublic

Favorite Album
Adele, "21"
Lady Gaga, "Born This Way"
Rihanna, "Loud"

COUNTRY MUSIC

Favorite Male Artist
Jason Aldean
Brad Paisley
Blake Shelton

Favorite Female Artist
Sara Evans
Miranda Lambert
Taylor Swift

Favorite Band, Duo or Group
The Band Perry
Zac Brown Band
Lady Antebellum

Favorite Album
Jason Aldean, "My Kinda Party"
The Band Perry, "The Band Perry"
Taylor Swift, "Speak Now"

RAP/HIP-HOP MUSIC

Favorite Artist
Lil Wayne
Nicki Minaj
Kanye West

Favorite Album
Jay-Z & Kanye West, "Watch The Throne"
Lil Wayne, "Tha Carter IV"
Nicki Minaj, "Pink Friday"

SOUL/RHYTHM & BLUES MUSIC

Favorite Male Artist
Chris Brown
Trey Songz
Usher

Favorite Female Artist
Beyonce
Rihanna
Kelly Rowland

Favorite Album
Beyonce, "4"
Chris Brown, "F.A.M.E."
Rihanna, "Loud"

ALTERNATIVE ROCK MUSIC

Favorite Artist
The Black Keys
Foo Fighters
Mumford & Sons

ADULT CONTEMPORARY MUSIC

Favorite Artist
Adele
Bruno Mars
Katy Perry

LATIN MUSIC

Favorite Artist
Enrique Iglesias
Jennifer Lopez
Pitbull

CONTEMPORARY INSPIRATIONAL

Favorite Artist
Casting Crowns
Tobymac
Third Day

ARTIST OF THE YEAR
Adele
Lady Gaga
Lil Wayne
Katy Perry
Taylor Swift

SPRINT NEW ARTIST OF THE YEAR

Pop/Rock
Foster The People
Hot Chelle Rae

Country
The Band Perry
Thompson Square

Soul/R&B
Marsha Ambrosius
Miguel

Rap/Hip-hop
LMFAO
Wiz Khalifa