High School Musical 2, Dreamgirls & Hairspray AMA Nominees

Nominees for the 2007 American Music Awards, produced by Dick Clark Productions, Inc., were announced today during a press conference at The Beverly Hills Hotel.  The three nominees in the Soundtrack - Favorite Album category are Dreamgirls, Hairspray and High School Musical 2.  Talk show host Jimmy Kimmel returns for his fourth time to host the 35th anniversary of the popular awards show.

For the first time in American Music Awards history, winners will be determined by online voting at ama.abc.com (votes will be collected now to November 2). Winners will be announced at the 2007 American Music Awards ceremony, which will be broadcast live on ABC, Sunday November 18 (8PM-11PM ET/PT) from the NOKIA Theatre LA Live in downtown Los Angeles.

For a complete list of 2007 AMA nominees visit ama.abc.com

Initial nominees were selected by using ballots containing names compiled from data supplied by the music industry trade publication, Radio & Records and Nielsen Soundscan, which tracks retail music sales. The ballots were then sent to a national sampling of more than 15,000 people based on what type of music they listen to, what they buy and how many albums they purchase per year. The sampling also took into account geographic location, age, sex and ethnic origin. The top three vote getters were determined to be the nominees for this year's American Music Awards.

Dick Clark Productions, which was recently acquired by RedZone Capital, came up with the concept to open the voting to the public online after the nominations process was completed when the Company started planning the 35th anniversary edition of the awards show. After examining the show's roots, and how the voting was conducted in the past, the Company's new management decided that the internet provided an ideal way to determine which musical recording artists were truly America's favorite artists in each of the twenty different categories.  The voting process is being conducted in conjunction with ABC and is being overseen by the accounting firm Ernst & Young.

New Line Records' soundtrack to the hit musical comedy Hairspray was certified Gold by the RIAA after selling more than 500,000 units. The Hairspray soundtrack, released on July 10, features songs performed by cast members John Travolta, Queen Latifah, Michelle Pfeiffer, Zac Efron, Amanda Bynes, Brittany Snow, Elijah Kelley and Nikki Blonsky. The Hairspray soundtrack is produced by Marc Shaiman and features music by Shaiman and lyrics by Scott Wittman and Shaiman.

High School Musical 2 premiered on the Disney Channel on Friday, August 17 and became the highest rated original movie (ahead of its original incarnation the following year).  The Disney soundtrack immediately jumped to Billboard record sales.  High School Musical 2 stars Zac Efron, Vanessa Hudgens, Lucas Gabreel, Ashley Tisdale, Corbin Bleu, Monique Coleman, Bart Johnson and Matthew MiLes Carter, among others.

Dreamgirls, with a score by Henry Krieger and Tom Eyen and an adapted screenplay by director Bill Condon, stars Jennifer Hudson, Beyonce Knowles, Anika Noni Rose, Eddie Murphy and Jamie Foxx; produced by Dreamworks.  The film won 3 Golden Globes, including awards for supporting actors Hudson and Murphy and as Best Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy.  It was nominated for 8 Oscars, including ones for the aforementioned actors. Visit www.dreamgirlsmovie.com for more information.