Another Awards Show…More Nominees janda Friday, September 21, 2012 The Studio With the end of the year nearing, it’s about that time that the best of best get their due recognition. By way of this year’s Soul Train Awards, comes the highly anticipated outcome of who will come out on top in R&B, Hip-Hop, Jazz, Gospel and more. Leading the way with five nominations is ‘Climax’ singer Usher. With two nods, R&B Soul crooner R. Kelly became the most nominated artist at the Soul Train Awards with a career total of 21. Other multiple category nominees include Beyonce, Estelle, Tyrese, Nas and John Legend. Gone but not forgotten, both Whitney Houston and Amy Winehouse were nominated for awards. As for the Lifetime Achievement Award, with well due respect and rightfully being their time is New Edition. This year’s awards show will take place at Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino in Las Vegas. Comedian/Actor Cedric the Entertainer will serve as host. The show will air on BET and Centric November 25th at 9pm EST. Best New Artist Elle Varner Emeli Sande J. Cole Luke James Robert Glasper Centric Award Daley Esperanza Spalding Gary Clark Jr. Leah Labelle Santigold Best Gospel/Inspirational Performance BeBe Winans- “America America” Fred Hammond- “I Feel Good” Marvin Sapp- “My Testimony” Mary Mary- “Go Get It” Whitney Houston and Jordin Sparks- “Celebrate” Best Hip-Hop Song of the Year 2 Chainz ft. Drake- “No Lie” Wale ft. Miguel- “Lotus Flower Bomb” Nas- “Daughters” Kanye West ft. Big Sean, Pusha T and 2 Chainz – “Mercy” Young Jeezy ft. Ne-Yo- “Leave You Alone” Best R&B/Soul Female Artist Beyoncé Estelle Keyshia Cole Mary J. Blige Melanie Fiona Best R&B/Soul Male Artist Miguel Robin Thicke Trey Songz Tyrese Usher Album of the Year The One – Eric Benet Channel Orange -Frank Ocean Life Is Good -Nas Write Me Back -R. Kelly Looking For Myself -Usher Song of the Year Estelle- “Thank You” John Legend ft. Ludacris- “Tonight (Best You Ever Had)” Trey Songz- “Heart Attack” Tyrese- “Stay” Usher- “Climax” Wale ft. Miguel- “Lotus Flower Bomb” The Ashford & Simpson Songwriter’s Award “Thank You”-Estelle (Writers: Arden Altino, Akene “The Champ” Dunkley, Jerry Duplessis, Doug F. Edwards, Thomas D. Richardson, Aliaune Thiam) “Tonight (Best You Ever Had)” -John Legend ft. Ludacris (Writers: Allen Arthur, Christopher “Ludacris” Bridges, Keith Justice, Miguel Pimentel “Miguel”, (Writers: Clayton Reilly, John Stephens) “Daughters”-Nas (Writers: Nasir Jones, Ernest D. Wilson, Patrick Adams, Gary DeCarlo, Dale Frashuer, Paul Leka) “Share My Love”-R. Kelly (Writer: Robert Kelly) “Climax” -Usher (Writers: Usher Raymond IV, Sean “Redd Stylez” Fenton, Thomas “Diplo” Pentz, Ariel Rechtshaid) Best Dance Performance Beyoncé- “Love On Top” Chris Brown- “Turn Up The Music” Nicki Minaj- “Starships” Rihanna- “Where Have You Been” Usher- “Scream” Best Caribbean Performance Cover Drive – “Bajan Style” Damien “Junior Gong” Marley- “SuperHeavy” Jimmy Cliff- “Rebirth” Matisyahu – “Spark Seeker” Sean Paul – “Tomahawk Technique” Best International Performance Amy Winehouse- “Our Day Will Come” Daley ft. Marsha Ambrosius- “Alone Together” Emeli Sande- “Next To Me” Estelle- “Thank You” Gotye ft. Kimbra- “Somebody (That I Used To Know)” Rebecca Ferguson- “Nothing’s Real But Love” Best Traditional Jazz Artist/Group Chris Botti- Impressions Kenny Garrett- Seeds From The Underground Melody Gardot- The Absence The Robert Glasper Experiment – Black Radio Tony Bennett- Isn’t It Romantic Best Contemporary Jazz Artist/Group Ben Tankard- Full Tank Brian Culbertson- DREAMS Cassandra Wilson- Another Country Esperanza Spalding- Radio Music Society Peter White- Here We Go