Alejandro Sanz and Maldita Nerea head the nominee list for this year's 40 Principales Awards

40 Principales, Spain's top music broadcaster, has today announced the nominees across the 19 categories for the 40 Principales Awards 2010 at the Casa de América in Madrid. Attending the event were Luis Merino, director of music at Unión Radio; Jorge Flo, director of Cadena SER's music channels; Jaume Baró, director of 40 Principales, and Dani Martín, sponsor of this year's awards, all of whom stressed that these are the only music awards in which music fans in Spain and Latin America get to choose the winners.

They were joined by top performers including Dover, El Pescao, Melendi, Despistaos, Pol 3.14, Maldita Nerea, Pignoise, Preciados and Robert Ramírez.

40 Principales explained that the nominees were chosen from among performers whose songs were played on the station at least once between October 15, 2009 and September 30, 2010. The list of nominees was drawn up based on three criteria: air time on 40 Principales, the results of market research and sales figures.

The 40 Principales Awards are organized into 4 sections: National (Spain), National (America), International in Spanish and International in a Foreign Language. This year's favorites include Alejandro Sanz and Maldita Nerea with five nominations each. Sanz has nominations for Best Solo Performer, Best Video Clip, Best Festival, Tour or Concert, Best Album and Best Song. The group Maldita Nerea, meanwhile, are nominated for Best Group, Breakthrough Performer, Best Video Clip, Best Festival, Tour or Concert and Best Song.

Also in the running in the National section is Miguel Bosé, with three nominations for Best Video Clip, Best Festival, Tour or Concert and Best Album.

Dani Martín, Pignoise, David Bisbal, Estopa and Robert Ramirez have two nominations. There's also a special award for new talent, with Maldita Nerea, Pol 3.14, Funambulista all nominated.

In the international section, Camila has three nominations, including one for best Mexican performer. David Guetta, Kesha, Lady Gaga, Shakira, Juanes and Diego Torres each have two nominations.

In the International Spanish Language section, three performers are competing in the categories Best Performer and Best Song: Shakira (Waka Waka), Juanes (Yerbatero) and Camila (Mientes). Also competing for Best International Spanish Language Performer are Pitbull, Wisin and Yandel. And Best International Spanish Language Song nominees also include Diego Torres for Guapa and Paulina Rubio for Ni Rosas Ni Juguetes.

Voting opens at midnight on October 16, 2010,  and closes at 11.59pm on December 3, 2010 at www.los40.com.

The awards ceremony will take place on December 10 at the Palacio de Deportes in Madrid. The event is sponsored by Ballantine's, who are excited to once again support the best of national and international music. Proceeds from ticket sales for the gala will go to a number of different aid and humanitarian projects run by NGO's Fundación Anar and AMREF (African Foundation for Medicine and Research).

 Further information:

Premios 40 Principales 2010 (in Spanish)