NBC AND CLEAR CHANNEL ANNOUNCE FINALISTS FOR FIRST-EVER IHEARTRADIO MUSIC AWARDS

Nominees Justin Timberlake, Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, Imagine Dragons, Maroon 5 and Rihanna Go Head-to-Head for "Artist of the Year" at the iHeartRadio Music Awards Thursday, May 1, Live on NBC

Fans Cast More Than 13.2 Million Social Votes via #Hashtags, Averaging More Than 200 Tweets per Minute and 2.2 Billion Impressions

NEW YORK AND UNIVERSAL CITY, CALIF. - March 26, 2014 - NBC and Clear Channel Media and Entertainment today announced the finalists for its first-ever iHeartRadio Music Awards on Thursday, May 1 at the historic Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles. Music fans used hashtags to cast more than 13.2 million votes across Facebook and Twitter to catapult their favorite artists and songs into iHeartRadio Music Awards' category finalists. The event will be televised live on NBC from 8-11 p.m. ET/PT.

Announced last month, the three-hour iHeartRadio Music Awards will recognize the most popular artists and music over the past 12 months as determined by iHeartRadio listeners. Each voting category initially featured 10 nominees based on results from the iHeartRadio Chart which includes listener feedback and performance data according to airplay; digital streaming data from the iHeartRadio platform, including "thumbs up" and custom station creations; and music sales, social interactions, online video data and tags from BigChampagne and Shazam.

During the last four weeks, listeners cast their votes to narrow down these nominees to their top five favorites in each category, garnering more than 2.2 billion social impressions. Category finalists (by alphabetical order) are:

Artist of the Year:

· Imagine Dragons

· Justin Timberlake

· Macklemore & Ryan Lewis

· Maroon 5

· Rihanna

Song of the Year:

· "Hold On We're Going Home" - Drake ft. Majid Jordan

· "Mirrors" - Justin Timberlake

· "Radioactive" - Imagine Dragons

· "Stay" - Rihanna ft. Mikky Ekko

· "The Monster" - Eminem ft. Rihanna

Best Collaboration:

(Most voted on category with more than 3.9 million votes cast)

· "Holy Grail" - Jay Z ft. Justin Timberlake

· "Stay" - Rihanna ft. Mikky Ekko

· "Suit & Tie" - Justin Timberlake ft. Jay Z

· "The Monster" - Eminem ft. Rihanna

· "Timber" - Pitbull ft. Ke$ha

Best New Artist:

· Florida Georgia Line

· Icona Pop

· Imagine Dragons

· Lorde

· Macklemore & Ryan Lewis

· Passenger

Country Song of the Year:

· "Boys 'Round Here" - Blake Shelton

· "Highway Don't Care" - Tim McGraw with Taylor Swift

· "It Goes Like This" - Thomas Rhett

· "Mine Would Be You" - Blake Shelton

· "That's My Kind of Night" - Luke Bryan

Hip Hop/R&B Song of the Year:

· "Blurred Lines" - Robin Thicke ft. T.I. & Pharrell

· "Hold On We're Going Home" - Drake ft. Majid Jordan

· "Holy Grail" - Jay Z ft. Justin Timberlake

· "Pour It Up" - Rihanna

· "Started From The Bottom" - Drake

EDM Song of the Year:

· "Get Lucky" - Daft Punk ft. Pharrell

· "Stay The Night" - Zedd ft. Hayley Williams

· "Summertime Sadness" - Lana Del Rey ft. Cedric Gervais

· "Sweet Nothing" - Calvin Harris ft. Florence Welch

· "Wake Me Up" - Avicii

Alternative Rock Song of the Year:

· "Demons" - Imagine Dragons

· "Do I Wanna Know?" - Arctic Monkeys

· "Pompeii" - Bastille

· "Royals" - Lorde

· "Safe And Sound" - Capital Cities

Best Lyrics:

· "Wake Me Up" - Avicii (Vocals by Aloe Blacc)

· "I Love It (ft. Charli XCX)" - Icona Pop

· "Say Something" - A Great Big World

· "Same Love" - Macklemore & Ryan Lewis

· "Wrecking Ball" - Miley Cyrus

Best Fan Army:

· Arianators - Ariana Grande

· Little Monsters - Lady Gaga

· Lovatics - Demi Lovato

· Mahomies - Austin Mahone

· Rihanna Navy - Rihanna

· Swifties - Taylor Swift

Round Two voting began today at iHeartRadio.com/awards and will continue through April 25 where millions of fans will rally behind their favorite artists and songs to vote for which nominee they want to win each category. Listeners can tune into their local Clear Channel radio stations for a chance to win their way into the iHeartRadio Music Awards featuring never-before-done duets and collaborations, celebrity guest appearances and live award presentations.

The iHeartRadio Awards will be executive produced by John Sykes and Tom Poleman of Clear Channel Media and Entertainment, Ryan Seacrest Productions and Ian Stewart and Hamish Hamilton of Done and Dusted Inc., who will produce the show for NBC Studios. Hamilton will also direct.

For breaking news and exclusive iHeartRadio Music Awards content visit iHeartRadio.com/awards or follow the social buzz on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and Google +.

About Clear Channel Media and Entertainment

With 245 million monthly listeners in the U.S., Clear Channel Media and Entertainment has the largest reach of any radio or television outlet in America. Clear Channel Media and Entertainment serves 150 markets through 840 owned radio stations, and the company's radio stations and content can be heard on AM/FM, HD digital radio, satellite radio, on the Internet at iHeartRadio.com and on the company's radio station websites, on the iHeartRadio mobile app, in enhanced auto dashes, on iPads and smartphones, and used via navigation systems. iHeartRadio, Clear Channel's digital radio platform, is the No. 1 all-in-one digital audio service with over 300 million downloads; it reached its first 20 million registered users faster than any digital service in Internet history.

The company's operations include radio broadcasting, online and mobile services and products, live concerts and events, syndication, music research services and independent media representation. Clear Channel Media & Entertainment is a division of CC Media Holdings, Inc. (OTCBB: CCMO), a leading global media and entertainment company.

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