Pitt, Jolie co-star in People’s Choice nominations

By Steve Gorman

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, the
rumored Hollywood paramours who co-starred in “Mr. & Mrs.
Smith,” led the field of People’s Choice Award contenders
announced on Thursday with three nominations each.

Jolie was nominated as favorite female movie star, along
with Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman, and clinched a separate
bid as favorite female action star, competing in that category
against Catherine Zeta-Jones and Jennifer Garner.

The Oscar-winning actress shared a third nomination with
Pitt in the category for favorite on-screen matchup.

Pitt also picked up bids for favorite male action star and
favorite leading man.

He and Jolie, who played married assassins ordered to kill
each other in the box-office hit, have been romantically linked
in media reports since last year, and the rumors heated up
after Pitt and ex-wife Jennifer Aniston split in January.

Pitt and Aniston’s divorce became final in October, not
long after he and Jolie were photographed together with Jolie’s
adopted children in Canada. More recent pictures showed the two
performers and her kids on the beach at his Malibu home.

The multiple nominations of both Jolie and Pitt raised the
prospect that they might arrive together at the January 10
awards presentation, which will be televised on CBS.

In April, the two stars topped People magazine’s list of
the year’s “50 Most Beautiful People.”

Unlike the Oscars and other entertainment awards in which
nominees and winners are chosen by industry peers, the People’s
Choice Awards are determined by the public. In previous years,
polling for the awards was conducted by the Gallup
Organization.

This year, Web-based market research group Knowledge
Networks recruited a group of “pop-culture-involved” men and
women aged 18 to 54 to nominate their favorites from
pre-selected candidates in various categories.

The top three selections for each category became nominees,
and the winners will be chosen by a majority of online votes
cast at the Web site www.pcavote.com.

SANDLER AND ROCK GET NODS

Other multiple nominees include comic actors Adam Sandler
and Chris Rock, going head to head in the race for “favorite
funny male star” against Will Smith.

Rock and Sandler also were nominated together as best
“match-up” for their work in “The Longest Yard” against
Pitt-Jolie in “Smith” and Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson in
“Wedding Crashers.”

In addition, Sandler will vie for the title of favorite
leading man against Pitt and Jamie Foxx, while the television
sitcom produced and narrated by Rock, “Everybody Hates Chris,”
was nominated as favorite new TV comedy.

Comedian Ray Romano snagged two TV nominations for his hit
show, “Everybody Loves Raymond,” which ended its nine-year run
on CBS in May and won an Emmy Award in September as best comedy
series.

In music, nominees for favorite female performers were
country star Faith Hill, pop singer Gwen Stefani and “American
Idol” veteran Kelly Clarkson.

Their male counterparts are R&B star Usher and country
crooners Toby Keith and Tim McGraw. Nominated for favorite
group was the hip-hop ensemble Black Eyed Peas, R&B trio
Destiny’s Child and punk-pop group Green Day.