The One That Counts

Forget about your Grammys and MTV Awards. The real proof you’ve made it is when you’ve got one of these puppies holding down your mantle (or rattling around in your tour bus).
Owners of this trophy are a pretty exclusive club.

The nominees are out for the 20th anniversary Pollstar Concert Industry Awards and the list reads like a who’s who of the concert world. This year’s awards will be presented Jan. 30 in a private ceremony at the spankin’ new Club Nokia L.A. Live in Los Angeles.

Picking up the nods for Major Tour Of The Year are AC/DC, Bon Jovi, Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band, Coldplay, Kenny Chesney and Madonna.

Nods for Most Creative Tour Package go to Jay-Z/Mary J. Blige, Journey/Heart/Cheap Trick, Keith Urban/Carrie Underwood, : Slipknot/Disturbed, Reba McEntire/Kelly Clarkson and Robert Plant/Alison Krauss.

Artists on the list for Most Creative Stage Production include AC/DC, Kanye West (hope he’s not judged on his Bonnaroo performance), Madonna, Nine Inch Nails, Rascal Flatts, Trans-Siberian Orchestra and Walking With Dinosaurs (who accepts the award if they win?).

And from 2008’s crop of fresh faces, Duffy, Jonas Brothers, Katy Perry and Sara Bareilles all pick up noms for Best New Touring Artist.

Nominations were made by a select group of nearly 200 industry professionals. Voting this year will be done entirely on the Web by subscribers to PollstarPro (our sister site for folks in the business), who will receive an e-mail with their own unique link for online voting (no hanging chads).