BY MELISSA RUGGIERI/AJC Music Scene
While no one is going to confuse the People’s Choice Awards with the Grammys, there is an element of pride that comes with the acquisition of a purely fan-voted award.
This year's show, hosted by the lovably smirky Joel McHale, will air live at 9 p.m. Wednesday on CBS. Performers include Blake Shelton and Fifth Harmony, who will perform for the first time as a quartet s ince the departure of Camila Cabello .
It’s impossible for any awards show not to include at least a handful of Atlanta musicians among its nominees, so here are some native artists to cheer for this year:
Leesburg native Luke Bryan and Cedartown son Sam Hunt, who broke big with "Take Your Time," will compete with Shelton, Keith Urban and Tim McGraw for Favorite Male Country Artist.
Atlanta's Zac Brown Band and Florida Georgia Line – whose Tyler Hubbard hails from Monroe – will vie against The Band Perry, Lonestar and Little Big Town (whose two female members have Georgia ties as well) for Favorite Country Group.
Perennial favorite Usher, who resides in the Atlanta suburbs, is up against fellow one-namers Beyonce, Drake, Rihanna and The Weeknd (close enough to one name) for Favorite R&B Artist.
Related: Which Atlanta-filmed movies are up for People’s Choice Awards?
Here are all of the music nominees:
FAVORITE MALE ARTIST
Blake Shelton
Drake
Justin Timberlake
Shawn Mendes
The Weeknd
FAVORITE FEMALE ARTIST
Adele
Ariana Grande
Beyonce
Britney Spears
Rihanna
FAVORITE GROUP
The Chainsmokers
Coldplay
Fifth Harmony
Panic! at the Disco
Twenty One Pilots
FAVORITE BREAKOUT ARTIST
Alessia Cara
The Chainsmokers
DNCE
Niall Horan
Zayn
FAVORITE MALE COUNTRY ARTIST
Blake Shelton
Keith Urban
Luke Bryan
Sam Hunt
Tim McGraw
FAVORITE FEMALE COUNTRY ARTIST
Carrie Underwood
Dolly Parton
Kelsea Ballerini
Miranda Lambert
Reba McEntire
FAVORITE COUNTRY GROUP
The Band Perry
Florida Georgia Line
Little Big Town
Lonestar
Zac Brown Band
FAVORITE POP ARTIST
Adele
Ariana Grande
Britney Spears
Justin Timberlake
Sia
FAVORITE HIP-HOP ARTIST
DJ Khaled
G-Eazy
Kanye West
Kendrick Lamar
Wiz Khalifa
FAVORITE R&B ARTIST
Beyoncé
Drake
Rihanna
Usher
The Weeknd
FAVORITE ALBUM
“Anti” / Rihanna
“Dangerous Woman” / Ariana Grande
“If I’m Honest” / Blake Shelton
“Lemonade” / Beyoncé
“Views” / Drake
FAVORITE SONG
“Can’t Stop the Feeling” / Justin Timberlake
“No” / Meghan Trainor
“One Dance” / Drake feat. Kyla and Wizkid
“Pillowtalk” Zayn
“Work” / Rihanna feat. Drake
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