Kanye West, Alicia Keys and Mariah Carey earned four nominations each for the NAACP Image Awards, including best song and album, while Terrence Howard had two acting nominations for the films “Hustle & Flow” and “Crash.”
“Crash,” an ensemble drama weaving multiple story lines over a tumultuous 36-hour stretch in Los Angeles, led movie contenders with six nominations, including best picture and four of the five supporting-actor slots, for Howard, Chris “Ludacris” Bridges, Don Cheadle and Larenz Tate.
Thandie Newton earned a supporting-actress nomination for “Crash.”
Howard had a lead-actor nomination for “Hustle & Flow,” in which he plays a pimp and drug peddler trying to start a rap-music career. The film also was nominated for best film.
Other best-picture nominees were “Coach Carter,” “Diary of a Mad Black Woman” and “Hitch.”
Best-album nominees included Keys (“Alicia Keys Unplugged”), Carey (“The Emancipation of Mimi”) and West (“Late Registration”). All three had best-song nominations, Keys for “Unbreakable,” Carey for “We Belong Together” and West for “Diamonds From Sierra Leone.”
Kimberly Elise had two nominations, for best movie actress (“Diary of a Mad Black Woman”) and actress in a TV drama (“Close to Home”).
Other television nominees included Halle Berry for best actress in a movie, miniseries or dramatic special (“Their Eyes Were Watching God”), Dennis Haysbert for best actor in a drama series (“24”), and “The Bernie Mac Show” and “Everybody Hates Chris” for best comedy series.
The 37th annual Image Awards, for achievement by blacks in movies, television, music and literature, will be presented Feb. 25 in Los Angeles, with the ceremony airing on Fox on March 3.