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The 41st NAACP Image Awards nominees were announced today during a press conference at The SLS Hotel at Beverly Hills.  Taye Diggs ("Private Practice" - ABC), Michael Strahan ("Brothers" - FOX) and "FOX NFL Sunday"), Wanda Sykes ("The Wanda Sykes Show" - FOX), Kyle Massey ("That's So Raven," "Cory in the House" - Disney Channel), Chris Massey ("Zoey 101" - Nickelodeon) and Tatyana Ali (Young and the Restless - CBS) joined NAACP Image Awards Committee Chair, Clayola Brown, and Vicangelo Bulluck, Executive Producer of the telecast, to announce the categories and nominees.  The 41st NAACP Image Awards will air live on Friday, February 26 (8:00 - 10:00 PM ET/PT Tape-Delayed) on FOX.

This year, over 1,200 entries were received. From those entries, a special committee of 300 industry professionals and NAACP leaders from across the country selected five nominees in each of the 53 categories. Any artist, manager, publicist, production company, record label, studio, network or publishing house could submit an entry to the NAACP Image Awards. The final selections are voted on by NAACP members, and winners will be announced during the live airing of the 41st NAACP Image Awards.

The ABC network leads with a total of 22 nominations, followed by NBC with 13, CBS with 12, and FOX, Lifetime and TNT with 9 each.  "Grey's Anatomy" received 6 nominations, followed by "Everybody Hates Chris" and "Tyler Perry's House of Payne" both receiving 4 nominations, followed by "Ugly Betty" with 3.  

In the Recording Category, Columbia Records leads with 7 nominations, followed by Atlantic Records and Def Jam both with 5 nominations.  J Records/MBK Entertainment received 4, and Interscope Records with 3.  Jay-Z and Maxwell both received 5 nominations, followed by Alicia Keys with 3 and Mary J. Blige, Whitney Houston, and Rihanna with 2 each.

In the Motion Picture category, Lionsgate received 13 nominations.  Warner Bros. Pictures follows with 7 nominations, Columbia Pictures with 4, and Overture Films with 3.

Returning event sponsors for the 41st NAACP Image Awards include Ford Motor Company, UAW/Chrysler, Sprint, and FedEx.

Founded on February 12, 1909, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is the nation's oldest and largest civil rights organization. Its half-million adult and youth members throughout the United States and the world are the premier advocates for civil rights in their communities, and monitor equal opportunity in the public and private sectors. For more information on the NAACP IMAGE AWARDS, please visit naacpimageawards.net.

THE 41st NAACP IMAGE AWARDS NOMINATION RESULTS*

TELEVISION CATEGORIES

Outstanding Comedy Series

• "30 Rock" (NBC)
• "Everybody Hates Chris" (CW)
• "Glee" (FOX)
• "Tyler Perry's House of Payne" (TBS)
• "Ugly Betty" (ABC)

Outstanding Actor in a Comedy Series

• Daryl "Chill" Mitchell - "Brothers" (FOX)
• Donald Faison - "Scrubs" (NBC)
• Dulé Hill - "Psych" (USA Network)
• LaVan Davis - "Tyler Perry's House of Payne" (TBS)
• Tyler James Williams - "Everybody Hates Chris" (CW)

Outstanding Actress in a Comedy Series

· America Ferrera - "Ugly Betty" (ABC)

· Cassi Davis - "Tyler Perry's House of Payne" (TBS)

· CCH Pounder - "Brothers" (FOX)

· Sherri Shepherd - "Sherri" (Lifetime)

· Tichina Arnold - "Everybody Hates Chris" (CW)

Outstanding Drama Series

· "Cold Case" (CBS)

· "Grey's Anatomy" (ABC)

· "HawthoRNe" (TNT)

· "Lincoln Heights" (ABC Family)

• "The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency" (HBO)

Outstanding Actor in a Drama Series

· Anthony Anderson - "Law & Order" (NBC)

· Hill Harper - "CSI: NY" (CBS)

· LL Cool J - "NCIS: Los Angeles" (CBS)

· Laurence Fishburne - "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" (CBS)

· Taye Diggs - "Private Practice" (ABC)

Outstanding Actress in a Drama Series

· Chandra Wilson - "Grey's Anatomy" (ABC)

· Jada Pinkett Smith - "HawthoRNe" (TNT)

· Jill Scott - "The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency" (HBO)

• Regina King - "Southland" (NBC)
• Sandra Oh - "Grey's Anatomy" (ABC)

Outstanding Actor in a Daytime Drama Series

· Bryton James - "The Young and The Restless" (CBS)

· Cassius Willis - "The Young and The Restless" (CBS)

· Cornelius Smith, Jr. - "All My Children" (ABC)

· Terrell Tilford - "One Life To Live" (ABC)

· Texas Battle - "The Bold and the Beautiful" (CBS)

Outstanding Actress in a Daytime Drama Series

· Daphne Duplaix - "One Life to Live" (ABC)

· Debbi Morgan - "All My Children" (ABC)

· Eva Marcelle - "The Young and the Restless" (CBS)

· Tatyana Ali - "The Young and The Restless" (CBS)

· Tonya Lee Williams - "The Young and the Restless" (CBS)

Outstanding News/ Information - (Series or Special)

· "Anderson Cooper 360: President Obama's African Journey" (CNN)

· "CNN Presents: Reclaiming the Dream 2" (CNN)

· "The Inauguration of Barack Obama, 44^th President of the United States" (BET)

· "Judge Mathis" (Syndicated)

· "Leading Women: India.Arie, Dr. Maya Angelou" (Centric)

Outstanding Talk Series

• "Lopez Tonight" (TBS)
• "The Mo'Nique Show" (BET)
• "The Tyra Banks Show" (CW)
• "The View" (ABC)
• "The Wanda Sykes Show" (FOX)

Outstanding Reality Series

· "American Idol 8" (FOX)

· "America's Next Top Model" (CW)

· "Dancing With the Stars" (ABC)

· "Extreme Makeover" (ABC)

· "Real Housewives of Atlanta" (Bravo)

RECORDING CATEGORIES

Outstanding New Artist

• Jeremih (Def Jam)
• Keri Hilson (Mosley Music Group/Zone 4 Inc/Interscope Records)
• K'Jon (Universal Republic Records)
• Kristinia DeBarge (Def Jam)
• Melanie Fiona (SRC/Universal/Motown)

Outstanding Male Artist

• Anthony Hamilton (SoSo Def/Jive Records)
• Charlie Wilson (Jive Label Group)
• Jay-Z (Atlantic Records)
• Maxwell (Columbia Records)
• Ne-Yo (Def Jam)

Outstanding Female Artist

• Alicia Keys (Columbia Records)
• India.Arie (Universal Republic Records)
• Mary J. Blige (Matriarch/Geffen)
• Rihanna (Def Jam)
• Whitney Houston (Artista Records)

Outstanding Jazz Album

• "Detroit" - Gerald Wilson Orchestra (Mack Avenue Records)
• "He and She" - Wynton Marsalis (Blue Note Records)
• "Kind of Brown" - Christian McBride & Inside Straight (Mack Avenue Records)
• "Poetically Justified" - Marcus Johnson (Three Keys Music)
• "The Real Thing" - Vanessa Williams (Concord Records)

Outstanding Gospel Album - (Traditional or Contemporary)

• "A City Called Heaven" - Shirley Caesar (Light Records)
• "How I Got Over" - Vickie Winans (Destiny Joy)
• "Love Unstoppable" - Fred Hammond (Verity Records)
• "Still" - BeBe & CeCe Winans (B & C Records)
• "We Are All One: Live In Detroit" - Donnie McClurkin (Verity Records)

Outstanding Song

• Bad Habits" - Maxwell (Columbia Records)
• "Blame It" - Jamie Foxx ft. T-Pain (J Records/MBK Entertainment)
• "Empire State of Mind" - Jay-Z ft. Alicia Keys (Atlantic Records)
• "God In Me" - Mary Mary (Columbia Records)
• "Pretty Wings" - Maxwell (Columbia Records)

Outstanding Album

· "The Blueprint 3" - Jay-Z (Atlantic Records)

· "BLACKsummers'night" - Maxwell (Columbia Records)

· "The Element of Freedom" - Alicia Keys (J Records/MBK Entertainment)

· "Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel" - Mariah Carey (Def Jam)

· "Stronger With Each Tear" - Mary J. Blige (Matriarch/Geffen)

LITERATURE CATEGORIES

Outstanding Literary Work - Fiction

• "Basketball Jones" - E. Lynn Harris (deceased) (Doubleday)
• "Before I Forget" - Leonard Pitts, Jr. (Agate Bolden)
• "Life is Short But Wide" - J. California Cooper (Doubleday)
• "The Book of Night Women" - Marlon James Riverhead Books)
• "The Long Fall" - Walter Mosley (Riverhead Books)

Outstanding Literary Work - Non-Fiction

· "Brain Surgeon": A Doctor's Inspiring Encounters With Mortality and Miracles - Arnold Mann with Keith Black, MD (Grand Central Publishing)

· "Family Affair: What It Means to be African American Today" - Gil L. Robertson, IV (Agate Bolden)

· "Freedom in My Heart: Voices From the United States National Slavery Museum" - Cynthia Jacobs Carter (National Geographic Books)

· "In Search of Our Roots: How 19 Extraordinary African Americans Reclaimed Their Past" - Henry Louis Gates, Jr. (Crown)

· "Our Choice: A Plan to Solve the Climate Crisis" - Al Gore (Rodale Inc.)

Outstanding Literary Work - Debut Author

· "3^rd Generation Country" - BeNeca Ward (Xlibris Corporation)

· "A Question of Freedom" - R. Dwayne Betts (Avery Books)

· "Black Water Rising" - Attica Locke (Harper)

· "Kiss the Sky: A Novel" - Farai Chideya (Atria Books)

· "Lime Tree Can't Bear Orange" - Amanda Smyth  (Three Rivers Press)

Outstanding Literary Work - Children

· "Child of the Civil Rights Movement" - Paula Young Shelton (Random House Children's Books)

· "Negro Speaks of Rivers" - Langston Hughes (Author), E.B. Lewis (Illustrator) (Disney-Jump at the Sun/Disney Book Group)

· "Our Children Can Soar: A Celebration of Rosa, Barack, and the Pioneers of Change" - Michelle Cook (Bloomsbury Children's Books)

· "Peeny Butter Fudge" - Toni Morrison and Slade Morrison (Paula Wiseman Books/Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing)

· "Sugar Plum Ballerinas: Toeshoe Trouble" - Whoopi Goldberg (Disney-Jump at the Sun/Disney Book Group)

Outstanding Literary Work - Youth/Teens

· "Claudette Colvin: Twice Towards Justice" - Phillip Hoose (Macmillan Children's Publishing Group/Farrar Straus and Giroux)

· "Just Another Hero" - Sharon Draper (Atheneum/Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing)

· "Mare's War" - Tanita S. Davis (Random House Children's Books)

· "Michelle Obama: Meet the First Lady" - David Bergen Brophy (Collins-An Imprint of HarperCollins Children's Books)

· "Rock and the River" - Kekla Magoon (Aladdin/Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing)

MOTION PICTURE CATEGORIES

Outstanding Motion Picture

• "The Blind Side" (Warner Bros. Pictures)
• "Invictus" (Warner Bros. Pictures)
• "Michael Jackson's: This Is It" (Columbia Pictures)
• "Precious: Based on the Novel "Push" by Sapphire" (Lionsgate)
• "The Princess and the Frog" (Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures)

Outstanding Actor in a Motion Picture

• Denzel Washington - "The Taking of Pelham 123" (Columbia Pictures)
• Idris Elba - "Obsessed" (Screen Gems)
• Jamie Foxx - "Law Abiding Citizen" (Overture Films)
• Morgan Freeman - "Invictus" (Warner Bros. Pictures)
• Quinton Aaron - "The Blind Side" (Warner Bros. Pictures)

Outstanding Actress in a Motion Picture

• Anika Noni Rose - "The Princess and the Frog" (Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures)
• Gabourey Sidibe - "Precious: Based on the Novel "Push" by Sapphire" (Lionsgate)
• Sandra Bullock - "The Blind Side" (Warner Bros. Pictures)
• Sophie Okonedo - "Skin" (Jour De Fete Films)
• Taraji P. Henson - "Tyler Perry's I Can Do Bad All By Myself" (Lionsgate)

Outstanding Independent Motion Picture

• "American Violet" (Samuel Goldwyn Company)
• "Amreeka" (National Geographic Entertainment)
• "Endgame" (Montery Entertainment)
• "Medicine for Melancholy" (IFC Films)
• "Precious: Based on the Novel "Push" by Sapphire" (Lionsgate)

Outstanding Foreign Motion Picture

"The Maid" (Elephant Eye Films)

• "Rudo y Cursi" (Sony Pictures Classics)
• "Sin Nombre" (Focus Features)
• "Skin" (Jour De Fete Films)
• "The Stoning of Soraya M." (Mpower Pictures)

DOCUMENTARY CATEGORY

Outstanding Documentary (Theatrical or Television)

• "Capitalism: A Love Story" (Overture Films)
• "Crips and Bloods: Made in America" (Gravitas Ventures)
• "Crude" (First Run Features)
• "Good Hair" (Roadside Attractions)
• "More than a Game" (Lionsgate)

*Partial listing.

Click here for a complete list of the 41st NAACP Image Awards Nominees.