ROMAINE VIRGO, MAVADO, I-OCTANE, KHAGO, KIPRICH TOP NOMINEES FOR 2011 LINKAGE AWARDS IN NYC

New York: Reggae rising star Romaine Virgo, who made international headlines last year when he became the first ever reggae artist to perform on one of country music's most revered stages - the Country Music Awards in Nashville, Tennessee - is again in the spotlight, this time for securing a whopping 4 nominations for the 2011 Linkage Awards. Other multiple nominees include Mavado who grabbed 3 nominations and I-Octane, Kiprich, Tony Matterhorn and Khago who nabbed two nominations each. The Linkage Awards will be staged on Sunday, March 11, 2012 at the Macedonia Center in Mt. Vernon, New York. 

Romaine scored nominations for "Recording Artiste of the Year," "Best Male Vocalist," "Most Consistent Male Artist," "Song Of The Year" while Mavado earned nominations for "Male DJ of the Year," "Most Consistent Artiste" and "Entertainer of the Year" 

Last year's big winner, I-Octane who pocketed all of three awards, was nominated for "Recording Artiste of the Year" and "Most Consistent Artist" this year. 

In the competitive "Song of the Year" award category, Virgo will go head to head again Laza Morgan (One By One), Beres Hammond (She Stop Loving Me) and the combination single "Live Your Life" by Richie Stephens and Gentleman which was voted "Song of the Year 2011" on Irie Jam radio in New York.