Vanessa Williams, Isaiah Washington, Chandra Wilson, Shaun Robinson and DB Woodside
Join NAACP Executives at the Press Conference to Announce The "38th NAACP Image Awards" Nominations

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif., (January 9, 2007) -- The 38th NAACP Image Awards Nominations were announced today during a press conference at the Peninsula Hotel in Beverly Hills. Vanessa Williams, Isaiah Washington, Chandra Wilson, Shaun Robinson and DB Woodside, joined Bruce S. Gordon, President and CEO of the NAACP along with NAACP Image Awards Committee Chairman, Clayola Brown, and Vicangelo Bulluck, Executive Producer, to announce the nominees for the 38th NAACP Image Awards.

The NAACP Image Awards honors projects and individuals that promote diversity in the arts in television, recording, literature and motion pictures. The theme of this year's show is "Youth Create Change. The 38th NAACP Image Awards will air live on Friday, March 2nd (8:00 – 10:00 p.m. ET/PT) on FOX.

The CBS network leads with a total of 19 nominations, followed by The CW with 17. "Everybody Hates Chris" received 8 nominations, including the directing category. "Girlfriends" received 6 nominations, including the directing and writing categories.

Sony Urban leads the Recording category with 7 nominations, including 4 for Beyoncé, which tied Mary J. Blige for the individual high. Capitol and Universal records followed with 5 nominations apiece.

In the Motion Picture category, Lionsgate Films received 8 nominations, including two in the directing and writing categories. Sony and Dreamworks/Paramount followed with 7 nominations each. "Dreamgirls" garnered 8 nominations, including best soundtrack. "Akeelah and the Bee" and "The Pursuit of Happyness" both received 5 nominations, with an Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture nomination for newcomer Jaden Christopher Syre Smith.

This year, over 1,200 entries were received. From those entries, a special committee of 300 industry professionals and NAACP leaders from across the country selected five nominees in each of 35 categories. Any artist, manager, publicist, production company, record label, studio, network or publishing house could submit an entry to the NAACP Image Awards. The final selections are voted on by NAACP members, and winners will be announced during the live airing of the 38th NAACP Image Awards.

Major sponsors of the 38th NAACP Image Awards are FedEx, Verizon, and General Motors. Additional sponsors include American Airlines, Anheuser-Busch Companies, Chrysler, Diageo and Sprint.

Founded in 1909, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is the nation's oldest and largest civil rights organization. Its half-million adult and youth members throughout the United States and the world are the premier advocates for civil rights in their communities and monitor equal opportunity in the public and private sectors.