Nickelback, Blige lead Billboard award finalists

NEW YORK (Billboard) - The past 12 months have been particularly good for one Canadian rock band, three Nashville upstarts, a once-imprisoned southern rapper and an R&B diva in the throes of a major comeback.

Now, Nickelback, Rascal Flatts, T.I. and

Mary J. Blige are being recognized for their achievements as finalists in a leading five categories each for the 2006 Billboard Music Awards.

The 17th annual honors will be handed out December 4 live on Fox (for East Coast viewers) from Las Vegas' MGM Grand Garden Arena. The show will boast performances by

Janet Jackson, the Killers,

Gwen Stefani, Fergie, the Fray, Mary J. Blige and Ludacris featuring Pharrell and Young Jeezy.

The hard-touring Nickelback is up for artist of the year and rock artist of the year, as well as duo/group of the year. Its 2005 release "All the Right Reasons" will vie for album of the year and rock album of the year. The set has sold 4 million copies in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan.

Rascal Flatts, which owns the second-highest selling album of 2006 with "Me and My Gang," is a finalist for artist of the year, duo/group of the year and country artist of the year. "Gang" is also up for country album of the year.

Rapper T.I. is up for R&B/hip-hop artist of the year, male R&B/hip-hop artist of the year, rap artist of the year, R&B/hip-hop album of the year and rap album of the year ("King").

Blige, meanwhile, earned finalist nods in the female artist, R&B/hip-hop artist, female R&B/hip-hop artist, R&B/hip-hop album and R&B/hip-hop single categories. Her 2005 album "The Breakthrough" has been one of this year's most consistent sellers, having shifted 2.6 million copies to date.

Among the other multiple award finalists are Chris Brown, Ne-Yo,

Jamie Foxx,

Kenny Chesney and the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Sean Paul. In addition,

Tony Bennett with receive Century Award, Billboard's highest honor for creative achievement.

Billboard Music Award winners are determined by performance on Billboard's weekly charts.

Reuters/Billboard