Taylor Swift And Sam Smith Lead Billboard Music Award Nominations

RTR4GW3L (640x437) — IN PHOTOT : Pop star Taylor Swift (L) and British soul-pop artist Sam Smith performs during the 42nd American Music Awards in Los Angeles, California in this combination photo from November 23, 2014 file photos. Swift and Smith were among the early Grammy nominees in the top categories announced by the Recording Academy on December 5, 2014. REUTERS/Mario Anzuoni

The nominations for the 2015 Billboard Music Awards were unveiled on Tuesday, April 7. Taylor Swift and Sam Smith lead with more than a dozen nominations each.

Swift has 14 nominations and Smith, 13. They are competing against each other in several categories, including Top Artist, Top Billboard 200 Album and Top Radio Songs Artist. Swift's "Shake It Off" and Sam Smith's "Stay With Me" are also nominated for the Hot 100 Song. (Watch videos below.)

Iggy Azalea is a finalist in 11 categories with 12 entries, competing against herself for Top Rap Song for her hits “Fancy” featuring Charli XCX and “Black Widow” featuring Rita Ora. Newcomer Meghan Trainor is the artist with the fourth-most finalist categories, competing against Azalea for the title of Top New Artist, in addition to eight other categories.

Other acts receiving multiple nominations in the 41-category field are Iggy Azalea, Meghan Trainor, John Legend, Ariana Grande and Pharrell Williams.

According to BillboardMusicAwards.com, Ludacris and Fall Out Boy bassist Pete Wentz announced five categories on Tuesday morning. TV host Chrissy Teigen, "Empire" star Jussie Smollett announced the remaining categories at a news conference at Twitter's office in Santa Monica, Calif.

"I had so much fun hosting the Billboard Music Awards last year and I can't wait to be back!" Ludacris told E! News in a statement last week. This will be the 37-year-old rapper's second time hosting. He served as a co-host last year. Teigen, meanwhile, will host the show for the first time. The model joked that her "extensive" collection of all 53 "Now That's What I Call Music" compilations indicated that she is qualified to host the awards.

The Billboard Music Awards finalists are based on key fan interactions with music, including album and digital songs sales, radio airplay, streaming, touring and social interactions on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, Spotify and other popular online destinations for music between March 10, 2014 and March 8, 2015.

The rest of the nominations can be found at Billboard.com. The awards show will air live from Las Vegas MGM Grand Garden Arena on May 17.

Video: Taylor Swift - 'Shake It Off'