December 10, 2003 - Below are the winners of the 2003 Billboard Music Awards, handed out Dec. 10 at the MGM Grand Casino in Las Vegas and broadcast live on Fox television. Winners are culled from charts in the Billboard "Year in Music" spotlight issue, which ranks reflecting overall performance on the weekly Billboard charts from December 2002 through November 2003. The weekly charts are determined by sales data from Nielsen SoundScan and radio information compiled by Nielsen Broadcast Data Systems. Read more.

Here are the 2003 Billboard Music Awards winners:

Artist of the year: 50 Cent
New female artist of the year: Beyoncé
Duo/group of the year: 3 Doors Down
New group artist of the year: Evanescence

Hot 100 female artist of the year: Beyoncé
Hot 100 group of the year: 3 Doors Down
Hot 100 producer of the year: R. Kelly
Hot 100 songwriter of the year: R. Kelly
Hot 100 award for most weeks at No. 1: Beyoncé (17 weeks with "Crazy in Love" featuring Jay-Z and "Baby Boy" featuring Sean Paul)

R&B artist of the year: 50 Cent
R&B/hip-hop group of the year: Lil Jon & the East Side Boyz
R&B producer of the year: R. Kelly
R&B songwriter of the year: R. Kelly
New R&B artist of the year: Beyoncé
New male R&B artist of the year: Chingy

Rap artist of the year: 50 Cent

Country artist of the year: Shania Twain
Country albums artist of the year: Shania Twain
Country album of the year: "Up!" (Mercury)

Modern rock artist of the year: Audioslave
Modern rock track of the year: "Headstrong," Trapt

Rock artist of the year: Audioslave
Rock track of the year: "Headstrong," Trapt

No. 1 Classical crossover artist of the year: Josh Groban
No. 1 Classical crossover album of the year: "Closer," Josh Groban (Warner Bros.).

Independent album artists of the year: Lil Jon & the East Side Boyz
Independent album of the year: "Kings of Crunk," Lil Jon & the East Side Boyz (TVT)

Bestselling single of the year: "This Is the Night"/"Bridge Over Troubled Water," Clay Aiken

Mainstream top 40 track of the year: "Where Is the Love," Black Eyed Peas

Digital track of the year: "Hey Ya!," OutKast

No. 1 Rhythmic top 40 title of the year: "Right Thurr," Chingy

Soundtrack single of the year: "Bring Me To Life," Evanescence

Century Award: Sting

December 3, 2003 - Rapper 50 Cent leads the finalists for the 2003 Billboard Awards, which will be presented Dec. 10 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. The Shady/Aftermath/Interscope artist is a contender in six categories, including artist of the year, album of the year ("Get Rich or Die Tryin'"), R&B/Hip-Hop artist of the year and Hot 100 single of the year ("In Da Club").

R&B stars R. Kelly (pictured above) and Beyoncé are each finalists in five categories, while Sean Paul and the Dixie Chicks are contenders in four.

Jive's Kelly is up for artist of the year, R&B/Hip-Hop artist of the year, Hot 100 male artist of the year, Hot 100 producer of the year and Hot 100 single of the year ("Ignition"). Columbia's Beyoncé is a finalist in the new artist of the year, R&B/Hip-Hop new artist of the year, Hot 100 female artist of the year and Hot 100 single of the year ("Crazy in Love" featuring Jay-Z) categories.

"Crazy in Love" also finds Beyoncé and Jay-Z as finalists in a new category: digital track of the year. Other finalists are Black Eyed Peas ("Where Is the Love?"), Coldplay ("Clocks") and OutKast ("Hey Ya!").

VP/Atlantic dancehall star Sean Paul will contend for awards in the artist of the year, rap artist of the year, Hot 100 male artist of the year and Hot 100 single of the year ("Get Busy") categories. Monument/Columbia trio the Dixie Chicks are up for duo/group artist of the year, country artist of the year, Hot 100 duo/group artist of the year and album of the year ("Home").

Other multiple-category finalists include Chingy, Justin Timberlake and 3 Doors Down (three each) and matchbox twenty, Norah Jones, Shania twain, Aaliyah, Floetry, Linkin Park and Audioslave (two each).

The awards show will be broadcast live on Fox at 8 p.m. ET (tape-delayed on the West Coast). The winners reflect the weekly charts published by Billboard from December 2002 and November 2003.

Click here to view the full list of finalists for the 2003 Billboard Music Awards.

2003 Billboard Music Awards Finalists - for more go to http://www.billboard.com/bb/index.jsp

Below are the finalists, by category, for the 2003 Billboard Music Awards, which will be presented Dec. 10 in Las Vegas (artists are listed in alphabetical order):