2012 SOUL TRAIN AWARDS HEADS TO LAS VEGAS

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The Hippest Trip in America is Headed to Planet Hollywood in Sin City for Music’s Most Soulful Night 

 The Soul Train Awards 2012

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Cedric the Entertainer

Beyonce

Soul Train Awards ’12, hosted by the Original King of Comedy and “Soul Man” actor Cedric “The Entertainer,” is headed to Las Vegas for its annual night of music and honors. Featuring a Lifetime Achievement Award presentation to New Edition and soon-to-be-announced live performances from today’s music superstars, Soul Train Awards ‘12 will premiere simultaneously on BET and Centric on Sunday, November 25th at 9pm*. Every year, Soul Train Awards acknowledges the achievements of today’s most famed entertainers in multiple categories. This year, with two nominations, including Album of the Year, R. Kelly will be the most nominated artist in Soul Train Awards history. R&B superstar Usher is also making Soul Train Awards history with five nominations including nods for Song of the Year and Album of the Year; surpassing both Michael Jackson and Beyonce in total nominations in a lifetime.

International songstress Estelle leads women in nominations with three nods including Song of the Year for "Thank You" and Best Female Soul/R&B Artist. Rapper Nas also receives three nominations, including Album of the Year for "Life is Good." Singers Trey Songz and John Legend, who received two nods each, will compete in the Song of the Year category with Estelle, Usher, Tyrese and Wale. The late Whitney Houston and Amy Winehouse each received a posthumous nomination. Whitney Houston in the Best Gospel Inspirational Performance category for her collaboration with Jordin Sparks on "Celebrate" from the Sparkle soundtrack, and Amy Winehouse in the Best International Performance Category for "Our Day Will Come."

The Soul Train Awards is a presentation of Centric and Sunseeker Media and directed by Manny Rodriguez. Paxton Baker, Tami Willis-Arasli, Derek Lewis, Centric; Bart Phillips, Sunseeker Media; and Soul Train Holdings' Kenard Gibbs will all be the executive producers of the network telecast, along with Cedric Kyles and Eric Rhone.

Soul Train Awards ‘12 will air on BET and Centric on Sunday, November 25th at 9pm*.

For more information, please visit www.centrictv.com.

*All times ET/PT

SOUL TRAIN AWARDS '12 – NOMINEES AND AWARD CATEGORIES

Best New Artist

Elle Varner

Emeli Sande

J. Cole

Luke James

Robert Glasper

Centric Award

Daley

Esperanza Spalding

Gary Clark Jr.

Leah Labelle

Santigold

Best Gospel/Inspirational Performance

BeBe Winans-America America

Fred Hammond-I Feel Good

Marvin Sapp-My Testimony

Mary Mary-Go Get It

Whitney Houston and Jordin Sparks-Celebrate

Best Hip-Hop Song of the Year

2 Chainz feat. Drake-No Lie

Wale feat. Miguel-Lotus Flower Bomb

Nas-Daughters

Kanye West feat. Big Sean, Pusha T and 2 Chainz-Mercy

Young Jeezy feat. Ne-Yo-Leave You Alone

Best R&B/Soul Female Artist

Beyoncé

Estelle

Keyshia Cole

Mary J. Blige

Melanie Fiona

Best R&B/Soul Male Artist

Miguel

Robin Thicke

Trey Songz

Tyrese

Usher

Album of the Year

The One- Eric Benet

Channel Orange-Frank Ocean

Life Is Good-Nas

Write Me Back-R. Kelly

Looking For Myself-Usher

Song of the Year

Estelle-Thank You

John Legend feat. Ludacris-Tonight (Best You Ever Had)

Trey Songz- Heart Attack

Tyrese-Stay

Usher-Climax

Wale feat. Miguel-Lotus Flower Bomb

The Ashford & Simpson Songwriter’s Award

Thank You-Estelle (Writers: Arden Altino, Akene “The Champ” Dunkley, Jerry Duplessis, Doug F. Edwards, Thomas D. Richardson, Aliaune Thiam)

Tonight (Best You Ever Had)-John Legend feat. Ludacris (Writers: Allen Arthur, Christopher “Ludacris” Bridges, Keith Justice, Miguel Pimentel “Miguel”, Clayton Reilly, John Stephens)

Daughters-Nas (Writers: Nasir Jones, Ernest D. Wilson, Patrick Adams, Gary DeCarlo, Dale Frashuer, Paul Leka)

Share My Love-R. Kelly (Writer: Robert Kelly)

Climax-Usher (Writers: Usher Raymond IV, Sean “Redd Stylez” Fenton, Thomas “Diplo” Pentz, Ariel Rechtshaid)

Best Dance Performance

Beyoncé-Love On Top

Chris Brown-Turn Up The Music

Nicki Minaj-Starships

Rihanna-Where Have You Been

Usher-Scream

CentricTV.com Awards:

CENTRICTV Best Caribbean Performance

Cover Drive-Bajan Style

Damien "Junior Gong" Marley-SuperHeavy

Jimmy Cliff-Rebirth

Matisyahu-Spark Seeker

Sean Paul-Tomahawk Technique

CENTRICTV Best International Performance

Amy Winehouse-Our Day Will Come

Daley feat. Marsha Ambrosius-Alone Together

Emeli Sande-Next To Me

Estelle-Thank You

Gotye feat. Kimbra-Somebody (That I Used To Know)

Rebecca Ferguson-Nothing’s Real But Love

CENTRICTV Best Traditional Jazz Artist/Group

Chris Botti-Impressions


Kenny Garrett-Seeds From The Underground

Melody Gardot-The Absence

The Robert Glasper Experiment-Black Radio

Tony Bennett-Isn't It Romantic

CENTRICTV Best Contemporary Jazz Artist/Group

Ben Tankard-Full Tank

Brian Culbertson-DREAMS

Cassandra Wilson-Another Country

Esperanza Spalding-Radio Music Society

Peter White-Here We Go

About CENTRIC:

Centric is a 24-hour music and entertainment channel that reflects the lifestyle and sophistication of today's African-American and multicultural adult viewer. With a finger on the pulse of an ever-changing beat, its compelling music content fuses Soul, R&B, Neo-Soul, Hip Hop, Reggae, Gospel, Jazz, Old School, New School and everything in between with today's hottest artists. It is a unique of mix of music, culture and lifestyle programming that embodies the lives, tastes and aspirations of the CENTRIC viewer: All you. All day. All night.

About BET Networks:

BET Networks, a subsidiary of Viacom Inc. (NYSE: VIA, VIA.B), is the nation's leading provider of quality entertainment, music, news and public affairs television programming for the African-American audience. The primary BET channel reaches more than 90 million households and can be seen in the United States, Canada, the Caribbean, the United Kingdom and sub-Saharan Africa. BET is the dominant African-American consumer brand with a diverse group of business extensions: BET.com, a leading Internet destination for Black entertainment, music, culture, and news; CENTRIC, a 24-hour entertainment network targeting the 25- to 54-year-old African-American audience; BET Digital Networks - BET Gospel and BET Hip Hop, attractive alternatives for cutting-edge entertainment tastes; BET Home Entertainment, a collection of BET-branded offerings for the home environment including DVDs and video-on-demand; BET Event Productions, a full-scale event management an d production company with festivals and live events spanning the globe; BET Mobile, which provides ringtones, games and video content for wireless devices; and BET International, which operates BET in the United Kingdom and oversees the extension of BET network programming for global distribution.

About Soul Train Holdings:

Soul Train is a registered trademark of Soul Train Holdings, LLC, a limited liability company headquartered in Los Angeles, CA. Soul Train is the longest running, first-run, nationally syndicated program in television history. During its 37 year run, the show featured such staples as the Soul Train line and performers as important and diverse as: Al Green, Ike & Tina Turner, Marvin Gaye, Michael Jackson, Stevie Wonder, Elton John, Whitney Houston, David Bowie, Janet Jackson and Beyonce, to name a few. Soul Train Holdings was created following the acquisition of the iconic franchise and catalog of more than 1,100 hours of archival footage from Don Cornelius Productions in June 2008 by InterMedia Partners and Madvision entertainment and is part of Vibe Holdings LLC. Vibe Holdings is a leading multi-cultural media company consisting of treasured and celebrated brands including Vibe Magazine, Vibe.com, Uptown Magazine and Soul Train. VIBE Holdings is owned by InterMedia Partners, Magic Johnson Enterprises and Ron Burkle's Yucaipa Companies.



Photos By: Sara de Boer/Retna