AMAs: Song of the Summer list

The American Music Awards opened fan voting Tuesday and put “Song of the Summer” on the ballot alongside its main 2026 nominations. (theamas.com) The awards show said nominations for the 52nd American Music Awards would be announced on April 14, 2026, with voting running from April 14 through May 8. The ceremony is scheduled for May 25 at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas and will air on CBS and Paramount+. (theamas.com) “Song of the Summer” is one of 50 categories on this year’s ballot. The American Music Awards added the category to a slate that also includes Artist of the Year, Song of the Year, Best Music Video and genre-specific awards across pop, country, hip-hop, rhythm and blues, Latin, rock, dance, K-pop, Afrobeats and Americana. (theamas.com) The American Music Awards says its nominees are based on fan engagement measured through streaming, song and album sales, radio airplay and tour grosses. The show says Billboard and Luminate track those metrics, while winners are decided entirely by fan voting. (theamas.com) That setup makes the summer-song field less like a critics’ list and more like a snapshot of which releases are already pulling audience attention in April. Billboard’s voting page for the awards was live this week as the nomination rollout began. (billboard.com) The 2026 show is also building on a larger television reset for the franchise. CBS and Dick Clark Productions said the 2025 broadcast reached more than 10 million unique viewers across its premiere and encore airings, the largest audience for the show since 2019. (theamas.com) The American Music Awards first handed out trophies in 1974, and the show now describes itself as the world’s largest fan-voted music awards program. In 2026, it is returning on Memorial Day with Queen Latifah set to host. (theamas.com) For now, the practical deadline is May 8. After that, the “Song of the Summer” race moves from nomination buzz to a winner’s reveal on May 25. (theamas.com)