Familiar Names Lead People’s Choice Nominees
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Neither Julia Roberts nor George Clooney has opened a film so far this year, but both stars made the cut in nominations announced on Tuesday for the annual fan-driven People’s Choice Awards.
Roberts and Clooney, who will reunite later this year in “Ocean’s Twelve,” the highly anticipated sequel to the 2001 hit remake of caper “Ocean’s Eleven,” were nominated as favorite female movie star and favorite male star, respectively.
Roberts, whose last film, “Mona Lisa Smile,” debuted in December 2003 and quickly faded, will face off against fellow nominees Nicole Kidman, Julianne Moore, Charlize Theron and Reese Witherspoon. Roberts was voted favorite film actress in the previous year’s competition.
Clooney, last seen a year ago opposite Catherine Zeta-Jones in the darkly comic “Intolerable Cruelty,” is up against Tom Cruise, Johnny Depp, Tom Hanks and Denzel Washington.
Unlike the Oscars and other entertainment awards shows, in which nominees and winners are selected by industry peers, the People’s Choice Awards are determined by the public.
In previous years, polling for the awards was conducted by the Gallup Organization. This year, Entertainment Weekly magazine recruited a group of 6,000 readers to nominate their favorites from pre-selected candidates in various film, music and television categories.
The top five selections for each category became nominees. The winners will be announced January 9 in a ceremony televised on CBS.
Organizers said nominees for other categories, including favorite film drama and comedy, will be revealed in December.
In TV categories, two of ABC’s new series — “Desperate Housewives” and “Lost” — made the cut for favorite new drama. “Lost” also scored a nod for Matthew Fox as favorite male TV star. Veteran NBC sitcom “Will & Grace” was the most recognized TV series, garnering nominations for favorite TV comedy and for co-stars Debra Messing and Megan Mullally.
Other nominees announced on Tuesday are as follows:
* favorite musical group — Evanescence, Maroon 5, No Doubt, OutKast, U2;
* Favorite male singer — Eminem, Josh Groban, John Mayer, Prince, Usher;
* Favorite female singer — Sheryl Crow, Norah Jones, Alicia Keys, Avril Lavigne and Sarah McLachlan;
* Favorite TV comedy — “Arrested Development” (Fox), “Everybody Loves Raymond” (CBS), “Scrubs” (NBC), “That ’70s Show” (Fox), “Will & Grace” (NBC);
* Favorite TV drama — “Alias” (ABC), “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation” (CBS), “Gilmore Girls” (WB); “The O.C.” (Fox) and “The Sopranos” (HBO).
* Favorite reality show competition — “Extreme Makeover” (ABC), “American Idol” (Fox), “The Apprentice” (NBC), “Survivor” (CBS) and “Last Comic Standing” (NBC).
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