Superheroes will battle for People's Choice honors
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Superheroes Batman and Iron Man and adventurer Indiana Jones, will battle for top film honors at the upcoming People's Choice Awards which annually bestows honors on favorite celebrities in film, TV and music.
Among nominees named on Monday for People's Choice Awards was pop star Britney Spears who earned a nod as a "scene stealing" guest star on television but was shut out of music categories.
The People's Choice Awards, which will be given out on January 7, are one of Hollywood's earliest shows in its season of honors leading to the Oscars, the film industry's top prizes.
But unlike the more prestigious Oscars or any of the many other honors given out by entertainment groups, People's Choice winners are voted on by movie, TV and music fans.
Australian actor Heath Ledger was nominated with his "The Dark Knight" co-star Christian Bale for best on-screen matchup, as well as in the favorite cast category for the Batman movie released after Ledger's accidental death in January. Ledger played the villainous Joker to Bale's heroic Batman.
"Iron Man" star Robert Downey Jr. and Bale were also nominated for favorite male action star, while "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" will fight it out with "The Dark Knight" and "Iron Man" for the favorite movie and favorite action movie award.
New categories for this year's 35th Annual People's Choice Awards include favorite superhero, favorite TV drama diva, favorite film cast, favorite scene-stealing guest star and favorite star under 35.
Spears, 26, is nominated for her two guest appearances earlier this year in the TV sitcom "How I Met Your Mother" in which she played a sassy office assistant.
But Spears does not appear in the music categories, which are dominated by Rihanna, Alicia Keys and Carrie Underwood on the female side. R&B star Chris Brown had most mentions in the male music sections.
The four singers were also among the favorite under 35 year-old nominees, along with teen favorites Daniel Radcliffe, Miley Cyrus, Zac Efron, Chace Crawford, Shia LaBeouf and Justin Timberlake.
The winner will be chosen by a public online vote at the www.pcaVOTE.com Web site from November10 thru December 7. The awards will be handed out in Los Angeles in a live TV broadcast on the CBS broadcast network.
(Reporting by Jill Serjeant)
