Macklemore & Ryan Lewis up for American Music Awards

Macklemore & Ryan Lewis are up against Robin Thicke for best single

Macklemore and Ryan Lewis lead the way ahead of this year's American Music Awards with six nominations.

Taylor Swift and Justin Timberlake are next with five nods each.

Florida Georgia Line, Rihanna and Robin Thicke are nominated for four awards.

Bruno Mars and Imagine Dragons are up in three categories at the awards ceremony in LA next month. Five of the categories were announced by singers Kelly Clarkson and will.i.am on US TV news show Good Morning America.

Kelly Clarkson and Will.i.am announced the nominations

That was followed by a press conference in Times Square, New York.

Macklemore & Ryan Lewis compete in a new category this year, single of the year, with their song Thrift Shop which will go up against Robin Thicke's Blurred Lines.

The biggest award of the night, artist of the year, will also see the music producers from Washington battle it out against Bruno Mars, Rihanna, Taylor Swift and Justin Timberlake.

Taylor Swift is up against Rihanna in the favourite female category

Other big categories include favourite pop/rock male artist which will pit Bruno Mars, Robin Thicke and Justin Timberlake against each other, while Pink, Rihanna and Taylor Swift will compete for favourite pop/rock female artist.

Robin Thicke is up against Justin Timberlake and singer Miguel in the male soul/R&B category.

One Direction's Take Me home makes it on to the list of favourite pop/rock albums.

The boy band are up against Taylor Swift and Justin Timberlake.

Justin Timberlake is nominated for five awards

Last year, Justin Bieber took home three awards including artist of the year, but has not been nominated in any of the top categories this year.

Miley Cyrus has been confirmed to perform live at the ceremony as have Imagine Dragons.

The awards, which are voted for by fans and run by US television network ABC, will be held at the Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles on Sunday 24 November.

Selected nominations are as follows:

Artist of the year

Macklemore & Ryan Lewis

Bruno Mars

Rihanna

Taylor Swift

Justin Timberlake

New artist of the year

Florida Georgia Line

Ariana Grande

Imagine Dragons

Macklemore & Ryan Lewis

Phillip Phillips

Single of the year

Florida Georgia Line Featuring Nelly/Cruise

Macklemore & Ryan Lewis Featuring Wanz/Thrift Shop

Robin Thicke Featuring Pharrell & T.I./Blurred Lines

Favourite male artist: Pop/Rock

Bruno Mars

Robin Thicke

Justin Timberlake

Favourite female artist - Pop/Rock

Pink

Rihanna

Taylor Swift

Favourite band, duo or group: Pop/Rock

Imagine Dragons

Macklemore & Ryan Lewis

One Direction

Favourite album: Pop/Rock

One Direction/Take Me Home

Taylor Swift/Red

Justin Timberlake/The 20/20 Experience

Visit the AMA website for the full list of nominations

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