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June 18th is just around the corner now - we can smell it, and it smells like sweet, sweet roses and cupcakes. With sprinkles on top. But we digress…what you’re really here to do is to vote for your Favourite International Artist! All the heavy hitters are represented on the nominees list this year - you got your Kelly Clarkson, your Kanye West, your James Blunt, a bit of Rihanna, and, the icing on the cake, a Mariah Carey.

So let’s discuss:

Kelly’s had a pretty stellar few years now, since being voted the very first American Idol - a string of radio and video hits…songs written for her by no less than Xtina…and an air of legitimacy that no other Idol can hope to match. She’s the real deal with the pipes to match. And gosh darn it, she just seems so nice. So earthy and unpretentious. She should get your vote based on that alone, no? That said, we imagine it will only be a few years until she starts demanding velvet drapes, white M&Ms and private jets everywhere she goes, so vote now to appease her in advance of this!

Kanye. What *can’t* you say about him. The man is ubiquitous - he’s everywhere, a true king of all media - and he hasn’t even starred in his first film yet or put out a cookbook. It’s probably only a matter of time until he sets his sights on the White House…and he’ll probably win; he really can do no wrong in our eyes. His second album was bigger than the first with the help of friends like Jamie Foxx and Pam Anderson - and as his video for Touch The Sky indicated, he’s not stopping there. The sky truly is the limit for this superstar and we’re with him every cloud-hop along the way.

This past year, James Blunt falsettoed his way into the hearts of women worldwide. The whole shirtless/washboard abs thing didn’t hurt either, we suspect, but the truth is, he croons sweet nothings with the best of them. He definitely takes the cake for syrupy sweet ballad of the year, and that might be enough to take him over the top here. We do think, however, that he’s treading dangerously close to the Dave-Navarro-put-your-dang-shirt-on line…so we suggest he release a clothing line and layer up with some of his own gear. Much better, thanks.

Looking back over the year, of all the artists on this list, Rihanna might have shone the brightest. She’s young, hot, and has a knack for singing on tracks that insert themselves into your brain and refuse to leave - in a good way. Oh and she has some dude named Jay-Z in her corner. That’s good enough for us. We are a little bit afraid to imagine what kind of a juggernaut she’ll be in a few years. Rihanna Industries, anyone?

Finally, Mariah. We could rehash the whole career meltdown thing, but really, you’ve heard it all before and it’s a moot point now. Mariah has had the comeback of all comebacks - possibly the only person who could beat her in that department would be Michael Jackson, and there’s no imminent sign of that. She’s resurrected her career, her cred, her album sales, her status as a single woman and just about everything else. She’s a legitimate musical force again and churning out monster hits that are just as comfy on urban radio as they are on adult contemporary stations. That’s serious.

So there you have it - the nominees for Favourite International Artist. Do your research, count to ten and then vote for who YOU want to win - cause your votes will decide who takes home the hardware! Happy votin’!

Posted on Monday, May 22nd, 2006 at 11:41 am by Justin and is filed under MMVA2006.

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