Mariah Carey was poised to keep her comeback going Saturday as a leading contender for the 37th Annual NAACP Image Awards, including best song and album.

Carey, Kanye West and Alicia Keys had four nominations each going into the awards honoring achievement by blacks in movies, television, music and literature, while Terrence Howard had two acting nominations for the films “Crash” and “Hustle & Flow.”

“Crash,” about racial tensions in Los Angeles, led movie contenders with six nominations, including best picture, four of the five supporting-actor slots - for Howard, Chris “Ludacris” Bridges, Don Cheadle and Larenz Tate - and for Thandie Newton as supporting actress.

Other best-picture nominees included “Hustle & Flow,” in which Howard plays a pimp and drug peddler trying to start a rap-music career, “Coach Carter,” “Diary of a Mad Black Woman” and “Hitch.”

Carey’s bid for four Image Awards came just weeks after she took home three Grammy Awards, out of eight nominations. Many were surprised she didn’t win more, given that her “Emancipation of Mimi” was one of the best-selling albums of the year.

Still, Carey’s return to pop grace in 2005 astounded the music industry. Her platinum form of the 1990s had appeared lost for good after a series of debacles that included an emotional breakdown, a movie flop and the buy-out of her Virgin Records contract.

Best-album nominees at Saturday night’s Image Awards include Carey (”The Emancipation of Mimi”), Keys (”Alicia Keys Unplugged”) and West (”Late Registration”). All three also had best-song nominations - Keys for “Unbreakable,” Carey for “We Belong Together” and West for “Diamonds From Sierra Leone.”

Kimberly Elise had two nominations - for best movie actress (”Diary of a Mad Black Woman”) and actress in a TV drama (”Close to Home”).