2010 Grammy Nominees

The nominees for the 52nd Annual Grammy Awards have been announced. Beyonce leads the tally with 10 nominations. Taylor Swift follows with 8. Here are some of the highlights:

Record of the Year
(Awarded to the Artist and to the Producer(s), Recording Engineer(s) and/or Mixer(s), if other than the artist.)
"Halo" - Beyonce
"I've Gotta Feelin'" - The Black Eyed Peas
"Use Somebody" - Kings of Leon
"Poker Face" - Lady Gaga
"You Belong With Me" - Taylor Swift

Album of the Year
I Am...Sasha Fierce - Beyonce
The E.N.D. - The Black Eyed Peas
The Fame - Lady Gaga
Big Whiskey and the Groogrux King - Dave Matthews Band
Fearless - Taylor Swift

Song of the Year
(A Songwriter(s) Award. A song is eligible if it was first released or if it first achieved prominence during the Eligibility Year. Singles or Tracks only.)
"Poker Face" - Lady Gaga
"Pretty Wings" - Maxwell
"Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It)" - Beyonce
"Use Somebody" - Kings of Leon
"You Belong With Me" - Taylor Swift

Best New Artist
Keri Hilson
MGMT
Silversun Pickups
The Ting Tings
Zac Brown Band

Best Female Pop Vocal Performance
"Hometown Glory" - Adele
"Halo" - Beyonce
"Hot N Cold" - Katy Perry
"Sober" - Pink
"You Belong With Me" - Taylor Swift

Best Male Pop Vocal Performance
"This Time" - John Legend
"Love You" - Maxwell
"Make It Mine" - Jason Mraz
"If You Don't Know Me By Now" - Seal
"All About The Love Again" - Stevie Wonder

Best Pop Performance By A Duo Or Group W/ Vocals
"I've Gotta Feelin'" - The Black Eyed Peas
"We Weren't Born To Follow" - Bon Jovi
"Never Say Never" - The Fray
"Sara Smile" - Daryl Hall & John Oates
"Kids" - MGMT

Best Dance Recording
"Boom Boom Pow" - The Black Eyed Peas
"When Love Takes Over" - David Guetta & Kelly Rowland
"Poker Face" - Lady Gaga
"Celebration" - Madonna
"Womanizer" - Britney Spears

Best Rock Perfromance By A Duo Or Group W/ Vocals
"Can't Find My Way Home" - Eric Clapton & Steve Winwood
"Life In Technicolor II" - Coldplay
"21 Guns" - Green Day
"Use Somebody" - Kings of Leon
"I'll Go Crazy If I Don't Go Crazy Tonight" - U2

Best Rap Solo Performance
"Best I Ever Had" - Drake
"Beautiful" - Eminem
"D.O.A." - Jay-Z
"Day N Nite" - Kid Cudi
"Casa Bey" - Mos Def

For more of the nominees, click here.

2009 Grammy Nominations Announced

Lil Wayne leads the pack with nine nominations followed by Coldplay with seven. Jay-Z, Kanye West, and Ne-Yo each earned six nominations apiece. Below are a few highlights. For a full listing, click here.

RECORD OF THE YEAR

Adele, "Chasing Pavements"

Coldplay, "Viva La Vida"

Leona Lewis, "Bleeding Love"

M.I.A., "Paper Planes"

Robert Plant and Alison Kraus, "Please Read The Letter"

BEST NEW ARTIST
Adele

Duffy

The Jonas Brothers

Lady Antebellum

Jazmine Sullivan

.

ALBUM OF THE YEAR

Alison Krauss & Robert Plant, Raising Sand

Coldplay, Viva La Vida

Ne-Yo, Year Of The Gentleman

Lil Wayne, Tha Carter III

Radiohead, In Rainbows

BEST DANCE RECORDING
Daft Punk, "Harder Better Faster Stronger"

Hot Chip, "Ready For The Floor"

Lady Gaga & Colby O'Donis, "Just Dance"

Madonna, "Give It 2 Me"

Rihanna, "Disturbia"

Sam Sparro, "Black & Gold"

BEST RAP/SUNG COLLABORATION

Estelle feat. Kanye West, "American Boy"

Flo Rida feat. T-Pain, "Low"

John Legend feat. Andre 3000, "Green Light"

Lil Wayne feat. T-Pain, "Got Money"

Lupe Fiasco feat. Matthew Santos, "Superstar"

BEST SHORT-FORM MUSIC VIDEO
Erykah Badu, "Honey"

Gnarls Barkley, "Who's Gonna Save My Soul"

Alicia Keys & Jack White, "Another Way To Die"

Radiohead, "House Of Cards"

Weezer, "Pork & Beans"

The 50th Annual Grammy Awards

Maynard James Keenan of Tool once said of the Grammys, "I think the Grammys are nothing more than some gigantic promotional machine for the music industry. They cater to a low intellect and they feed the masses. They don't honor the arts or the artist for what he created. It's the music business celebrating itself. That's basically what it's all about."

This year, being the fiftieth anniversary seemed no exception. There was plenty of celebration, plenty of mixing the old and new. Alicia Keys opened up with Frank Sinatra for instance. He was still black and white. Kid Rock performed with Keely Smith. She was still black and white...but she she was still alive. Beyonce teamed up with Tina Turner after proclaiming her a queen. Aretha had a problem with that.

It was such a stark contrast having the vetran performers and the young guns perform beside each other. It was so blatently evident what years of experience can do by watching John Fogerty, Little Richard, and Jerry Lee Lewis perform as compared with Rihanna, Carrie Underwood, or even just watching Miss Miley/Hannah Montana/Mini Hilary Duff present an award. Fogerty, Richard, and Lewis didn't even use synthesizers.

Highlights of the night include Carrie Underwood singing "Before He Cheats" with a troupe of backup dancers, Amy Winehouse's performance live via satelitte in London, and Kanye rapping both "Stronger" and "Hey Mama". West took home four more Grammys bringing his grand total to 10. During his acceptance speach, the "wrap it up" music started playing but he promptly put his foot down, especially when he talked about his late mother. His "Hey Mama" performance really said it all though.



Herbie Hancock won album of the year. Winehouse won record of the year, song of the year, and best new artist. "Umbrella" was awarded best rap/sung collaberation which is kind of funny seeing that Jay-Z's rap contribution to the song was limited and tacted onto the front for good measure. Oh well, that song deserved to win something didn't it? For a complete listing of the year's winners, see:

http://www.rockonthenet.com/archive/2008/grammys.htm