The nominees for the 2010 MTV Africa Music Awards with Zain were announced Saturday. Popular artists Rihanna and Eminem join a host of African music stars who are in the running for an MTV Africa Music Award.

Nominees include South African band The Parlotones, who are up for Best Video... and Nigerian group P-Square, who are nominated for an impressive three awards - Best Video, Best Group, and Artist of The Year.

Rihanna and Eminem are nominated in the international category.

Preparing to fight it out in the Best Female category are Nneka from Nigeria, Mozambique's Lizha James and Barbara Kanam from the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Nigeria's 2 Face, South Africa's Black Coffee, and the Democratic Republic of Congo's Fally Ipupa compete in the Best Male category.

The MTV Africa Music Awards with Zain kicked off in 2008 and were created to recognize the best in African music.

Alex Okosi, Vice President of MTV Networks Africa, said, "It really celebrates the genres that African music fans love, and it is something that we are very excited to be bringing to the global community."

The awards are held in a different African city each year - this year they will be held in Lagos, Nigeria.

Okosi promises that fans can expect a "bigger and better" show than last year.

The winners of the awards will be revealed on Saturday December 11th at Lagos' Eko Expo Centre.