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'OK Google, lemme help Beyoncé beat Adele in iHeart awards'

The iHeartRadio Music Awards' "Most Powerful Female Voice" title will go to the star with the most votes cast via a Google Home smart speaker.

Joan E. Solsman Former Senior Reporter
Joan E. Solsman was CNET's senior media reporter, covering the intersection of entertainment and technology. She's reported from locations spanning from Disneyland to Serbian refugee camps, and she previously wrote for Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal. She bikes to get almost everywhere and has been doored only once.
Expertise Streaming video, film, television and music; virtual, augmented and mixed reality; deep fakes and synthetic media; content moderation and misinformation online Credentials
  • Three Folio Eddie award wins: 2018 science & technology writing (Cartoon bunnies are hacking your brain), 2021 analysis (Deepfakes' election threat isn't what you'd think) and 2022 culture article (Apple's CODA Takes You Into an Inner World of Sign)
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Joan E. Solsman
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Beyoncé missed out on a best-album Grammy earlier this month for "Lemonade" because of Adele's five-trophy sweep.

 Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images

Beyoncé or Adele? Google wants to make it easy to pick sides!

The tech giant is launching a partnership with the iHeartRadio Music Awards letting you vote for the winner of an award category with the two divas running against each other -- so long as you do it through Google Home.

By saying "OK Google, start iHeartRadio Awards voting," the dulcet tones of iHeart radio celeb Ryan Seacrest will guide you through the process of voting for singer with the Most Powerful Female Voice.

It's a first-time gimmick for Google Home, the voice-activated speaker Google is pitting against Amazon's popular Echo in the hope of ruling your future "smart home" of connected devices. It's unlikely anyone will rush out to buy a $129 Google Home just to vote (though maybe I shouldn't underestimate the Beyhive). But it is part of Google's underlying effort to make more of these voice applications feel natural and mainstream.

Nominees for the category include Adele and Beyoncé. who have been in the spotlight since even winner Adele said "Lemonade" should have won the best album at the Grammys two weeks ago -- plus Rihanna, Ariana Grande, Carrie Underwood and Florence Welch of Florence and the Machine.

The voting campaign will run for two weeks until midnight PT on the evening of March 5, after the full awards broadcast. The winner will be announced on social media the next day. (Google votes aren't good enough for the glitzy broadcast that night? The company said timing of the event meant the award couldn't be included live.)

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