2009 MAMAs nominees announced

South African and Nigerian artists received 15 nominations while Kenya achieved 6 nominations - the best tally yet for the East African nation and host country for the upcoming 2009 event.

Nigerian R&B superstar 2FACE achieved the highest number of nominations from the MAMA academy including Best Male Artist of the Year, Best Video and Best R&B. Hot on his heels were South Africa's HHP, Kenya's Nameless and fellow Nigerian D'Banj - who are each nominated in three categories.

South Africa's Lira, who is scheduled to perform at the awards, topped the list of female nominees, with two nominations for Best Female and Artist of the Year. Other contenders in a strong Best Female line-up include Kel (Nigeria), Amani (Kenya), Zamajobe (South Africa) and Lizha James (Mozambique).

Uganda and Tanzania contributed five nominations between them including two accolades for Ugandan female trio Blu*3 (Best Performer, Best Group) and a Best Video nomination for XOD - "I Want You Back". Tanzanian artists were recognised in two categories including Best New Act (Shaa) and Best Hip Hop (A.Y.). Ghanaian star Samini is a contender in the Best Performer category after narrowly missing out to Jozi in the Best Live category in the 2008 awards.

Up-and-coming artists commended by the academy for the first time include Best New Act nominees M.I. (Nigeria), Shaa (Tanzania), STL (Kenya), Bigiano (Nigeria) and Rhythmic Elements (South Africa). Namibia received its first ever mention in the MAMA nominee list for Namibian R&B duo Gal Level who are pitted against Blu*3 (Uganda), Gang of Instrumentals (South Africa), P-Square (Nigeria) and Mo Hits Allstars (Nigeria) in the Best Group category.

South Africa dominated the Best Alternative category with nominations for Cassette, Zebra & Giraffe and Aking - going up against Green Day and Coldplay.

Kenyan husband and wife Nameless and Wahu, between them have four awards nominations including a Best Male nomination for Nameless and a Best Video nomination for Wahu for her collaboration with Uganda's Bobi Wine on "Little Things You Do".

The enduring appeal of US and British music showed itself in the nomination of five US artists and one British band in the awards. Kanye West, Akon, Beyonce, Green Day, Jay-Z and Coldplay all received one nomination each.

The nominations for the 2009 MTV Africa Music Awards with Zain are:

Best Male

2 Face (Nigeria)
HHP (South Africa)
D'Banj (Nigeria)
Nameless (Kenya)
Da L.E.S. (South Africa)

Best New Act

M.I. (Nigeria)
Shaa (Tanzania)
STL (Kenya)
Bigiano (Nigeria)
Rhythmic Elements (South Africa)

Best Hip Hop

M.I. (Nigeria)
A.Y. (Tanzania)
Zulu Boy (South Africa)
Jay-Z (USA)
Kanye West (USA)

Best Female

Kel (Nigeria)
Amani (Kenya)
Lira (South Africa)
Zamajobe (South Africa)
Lizha James (Mozambique)

Best Performer

P-Square (Nigeria)
D'Banj (Nigeria)
Samini (Ghana)
Nameless (Kenya)
Blu*3 (Uganda)

Best R&B

2 Face (Nigeria)
Darey Art Alade (Nigeria)
Loyiso (South Africa)
Beyoncé (USA)
Akon (USA)

Best Group

P-Square (Nigeria)
Blu*3 (Uganda)
Gang of Instrumentals (South Africa)
Mo Hits Allstars (Nigeria)
Gal Level (Namibia)

Artist of The Year

2 Face (Nigeria)
D'banj (Nigeria)
Lira (South Africa)
HHP (South Africa)
Nameless (Kenya)

Best Alternative

Green Day (USA)
Coldplay (UK)
Cassette (South Africa)
Zebra & Giraffe (South Africa)
Aking (South Africa)

Best Video

2Face - "Enter The Place" (Nigeria)
XOD - "I Want You Back" (Uganda)
HHP - "Mpitse" (South Africa)
Da L.E.S. - "We on Fire" (South Africa)
Wahu ft Bobi Wine - Little Things You Do" (Kenya).

The winners of the MTV Africa Music Awards with Zain will be announced on 10 October 2009 at the Indoor Arena, Moi International Sports Centre, Nairobi, Kenya. The broadcast of the show, hosted by Wyclef Jean, and featuring performances by Wyclef Jean, Lira, M.I., Samini and Wahu will air to a potential TV audience of one billion viewers around the world, via African pay-TV channel MTV base (DStv Channel 322), MTV partner networks around the world and African terrestrial channels including RTGA (Democratic Republic of the Congo), TV3 (Ghana), CTV (Kenya), AIT (Nigeria), STV (Nigeria), TBC 1 (Tanzania), ZNBC (Zambia) and WBS (Uganda), from 17 October 2009.

The independent voters consist of 170 music professionals and opinion formers from 30 countries in sub-Saharan Africa. Voting may be done online or on the MAMA mobisite - go to mama.mtvbase.com or mtvmama.mobi. Voting closes on Monday, 5 October 2009. For details of SMS voting go to mama.mtvbase.com.

For further information on the MTV Africa Music Awards with Zain, go to www.mtvbase.com or mtvmama.mobi.