Hudson, Knowles, McDonald and Combs Among NAACP Image Award Nominees

The 40th NAACP Image Awards nominees were announced yesterday during a press conference at The Beverly Hilton Hotel. Corbin Bleu, Audra McDonald, Keke Palmer, Nate Parker and ReGina Taylor joined NAACP Image Awards Committee Chair, Clayola Brown, and Vicangelo Bulluck, Executive Producer of the telecast, to announce the categories and nominees. The 40th NAACP Image Awards will air live on Thursday, February 12 (8:00 - 10:00 PM ET/PT Tape-delayed) on FOX.

Academy Award-winner Halle Berry and acclaimed screenwriter/actor Tyler Perry, both recipients of
an NAACP Image Award, will host the 40TH NAACP IMAGE AWARDS, broadcast live from Los
Angeles' historic Shrine Auditorium. This star-studded event, which coincides with the NAACP's
100th anniversary, will kick off the organization's year-long centennial celebration. Previously
announced honorees include Former Vice President Al Gore and Dr. Wangari Maathai, who will both
receive the Chairman's Award.

The ABC network leads with a total of 24 nominations, followed by CBS with 14, and The CW and
NBC both with 10. HBO has 9, with FOX coming in with 7. Television shows "Tyler Perry's House of
Payne" received 6 nominations, followed by "Ugly Betty" with 5 and "Everybody Hates Chris", "The
Game" and "Grey's Anatomy" each with 4. 

Columbia Records leads the Recording category with 8 nominations, including 5 for Beyoncé.
J Records and Arista both followed with 6 nominations apiece, and Island Def Jam has 4.
In the Motion Picture category, Fox Searchlight received 11 nominations. Sony Music
Films/Parkwood Pictures follows with 7 nominations, and Columbia Pictures, Lionsgate and Sony
Pictures Classics each have 3.

This year, over 1,200 entries were received. From those entries, a special committee of 300 industry professionals and NAACP leaders as well as a few specialized subcommittees from across the country selected five nominees in each of 53 categories. Any artist, manager, publicist, production company, record label, studio, network or publishing house could submit an entry to the NAACP Image Awards. The final selections are voted on by NAACP members, and winners will be
announced during the live airing of the 40th NAACP Image Awards.

For a complete list of nominees visit, www.naacp.org.

Photo Credit: Sara de Boer/Retna Ltd.