Reggae, rising-star Romain Virgo secured a whopping four nominations for the 2011 Linkage Awards.

Virgo made international headlines last year when he became the first-ever reggae artiste to perform on one of country music's most revered stages, the Country Music Awards in Nashville, Tennessee.

Other multiple nominees include Mavado, who grabbed three 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 Centre in Mt Vernon, New York.

Virgo scored nominations for Recording Artiste of the Year, Best Male Vocalist, Most Consistent Male Artist and 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 of the year.

award category

In the competitive Song of the Year award category, Virgo will go head-to-head against 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.

Stephens who is scheduled to perform at the Linkage Awards said, "I feel honoured that Live Your Life is up for the all-important Song of the Year award. The song has done extremely well at home and in the international market. I thank my loyal fans and the media for their love and support and thank Gentleman for providing a shoulder to lean on when I needed it most. I would be delighted if we walked away with the top prize" he said.

Event founder Dexter 'Linkage' Blake announced that reggae singers Marcia Griffiths, Beres Hammond, Denroy Morgan, Wayne Wonder, Sanchez, Ken Boothe, DJ Lady G, and radio personalities Barry G - (Mello FM, Jamaica), Jabba (Hot 97, NY), DJ Norie (Power 105, NY) and DJ Roy (Irie Jam Radio, NY) will be honoured for their contribution to the entertainment industry.