HOT GALLERY: Get to Know 2012’s Teen Choice Awards Before They Were Stars

It may seem that LMFAO’s Redfoo and SkyBlu emerged from nowhere to take over the world with addictive songs like “Party Rock Anthem” and “Sexy and I Know It.” But in fact, Stefan Kendal Gordy (that would be Redfoo) and Skyler Austen Gordy (SkyBlu) were born into the biz: Redfoo’s father (and SkyBlu’s grandfather) is none other than legendary Motown founder Berry Gordy (Redfoo is SkyBlu’s uncle, for those keeping track). The Choice Music Group nominees have claimed that their band name stands for “Loving My Friends and Others” and not that other more typical abbreviation, but there’s no denying that their whole vibe (wardrobe and pseudo-supernatural videos included) is decidedly irreverent. Plus, they throw down some crazy party beats. And how’s this for unexpected—Redfoo used to be a day trader and still gets involved in investing his earnings.

Look at that winning smile and the natural way he’s holding that guitar—is there any surprise that Blake Shelton grew up to be a country star? The Oklahoma native moved to Nashville as a teen to make it as a singer, and a few years later his debut album—featuring the hit “Austin”—was released. He describes his latest album, Red River Blue, as more “upbeat” and “happy”—appropriate, given that the state of his life (he’s happily married to fellow singer Miranda Lambert) and career (The Voice has made him one of the most recognizable faces in country music; plus, he’s got that adorable bromance with fellow host Adam Levine). Just take a listen to the single “Honey Bee” to get a sense of what all this good fortune is doing for the Choice Male Artist nominee’s outlook.

The Maroon 5 lead singer, who grew up in Los Angeles, has felt pretty confident about himself ever since making a last-second winning shot in a YMCA basketball game at age 7. “I had my first taste of what it was like to be cool, which was seductive,” he said about the experience. By the time he graduated from high school, Levine was a member of the band Kara’s Flowers—whose album flopped, but the band eventually morphed into Maroon 5. And the rest, as they say, is history. Maroon 5 is nominated in the Choice Single by a Group category for the ubiquitous “Moves Like Jagger,” featuring Levine’s cohost on The Voice, Christina Aguilera. Who can resist that catchy whistling—not to mention Levine’s gyrations? The video is intercut with clips of Mick himself showing off his moves with his compadre David Bowie in their 1985 hit “Dancing in the Street.” “Moves Like Jagger” really is everywhere—here’s Maroon 5 at a 2011 Victoria’s Secret fashion show performing the song. Watch for Levine planting a smooch on his then-girlfriend of two years Anne Vyalitsyna, who reportedly broke the news to People magazine that she was breaking up with the singer only a few months later.

We first got to know Anna Paquin when she played Holly Hunter’s precocious daughter in the harrowing, beautiful movie The Piano—a role for which she won an Oscar at the tender age of 11. Born in Canada, Paquin and her family moved to New Zealand (where The Piano was filmed) when she was a child. Eventually she moved to Los Angeles, where she graduated from high school and appeared in A Walk on the Moon, She’s All That, Almost Famous, and the X-Men movies. When was cast as Sookie Stackhouse in the HBO series True Blood<,/em> Paquin earned more than just a (literally) killer role, a Golden Globe award and this year’s nomination for Choice TV Actress: Fantasy/Sci-Fi—she met her husband, costar Stephen Moyer. The two are expecting twins in the fall. Next up (in addition to motherhood!) is the movie Straight A’s, with Ryan Phillippe and Luke Wilson.