Billboard just announced the finalists for their 2012 Billboard Music Awards, and several country acts were included in the prestigious list of nominees. The winners will be officially announced at the awards show Sunday, May 20 at Las Vegas' MGM Grand and will be accompanied by a live telecast on ABC at 8PM ET.

Among the finalists were country-specific names like Taylor Swift, Lady Antebellum, Scotty McCreery, Jason Aldean, Zac Brown Band and Blake Shelton. Swift is up for Top Touring Artist alongside other musical greats like Bon Jovi and U2, as well as Top Country Artist. Lady A received nominations in several categories as well -- including one for Top Duo/Group and another for Top Country Artist.

'Idol' winner McCreery has really risen to the top, landing a 2012 Billboard Music Awards nomination for Top New Artist against the likes of other genre runners Foster the People, Bad Meets Evil, Big Sean and Wiz Khalifa. He's also up for Top Country Album in his own genre. Other artists looking at potential nods for Top Country Artist this year include Jason Aldean, Zac Brown Band and Blake Shelton, as well as Swift.

The Billboard Music Awards are based on chart rankings and fan interactions with an artist's music, including album sales and downloads, radio airplay, track downloads and touring, in addition to streaming and social networking across social sites like Facebook, Twitter, Spotify and others. Data is tracked by Billboard, Nielsen Entertainment and Next Big Sound, and this year's awards will be based on all activity between March 1, 2011 and February 29, 2012.

Carrie Underwood will be taking the stage at this year's awards to perform from her record 'Blown Away,' which will drop May 1, just a few weeks before the awards show.

Nominees for 2012 Billboard Music Awards:

Top New Artist:

Bad Meets Evil

Big Sean

Foster The People

Scotty McCreery

Wiz Khalifa