Idolator: everybody's a winner

Another Day, Another Set Of British Award Nominations

Dan Gibson — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 14:30:00 EDT

The oft-empty portion of my heart that just wants to watch awards shows every hour of every day makes too many of my days meaningless and my nights lonely. If only I could relocate to England, where there's an award programme for every man, woman and child. Today's set of nominations are from the Q Awards, to be presented Oct. 6, and let's just say the Fleet Foxes should invest in some nice suits for the occasion.

I don't dislike Fleet Foxes as much as some people around here, but a nomination for Best Album? Really? Also, I spent some time trying to discern the difference between a "New Act" and a "Breakthrough Artist" but then my head started to hurt, and I wanted to take a nap.

Also, if I live to be a thousand years old, I don't think I'll be able to understand the British love of Kings of Leon. I'm just not able to piece it together.

BREAKTHROUGH ARTIST:
Duffy
Adele
Santogold
Bon Iver
Gabriella Cilmi

BEST NEW ACT:
Fleet Foxes
Glasvegas
The Ting Tings
The Last Shadow Puppets
Vampire Weekend

BEST TRACK:
Keane - Spiralling
Duffy - Mercy
Coldplay - Violet Hill
Katy Perry - I Kissed A Girl
The Ting Tings - That's Not My Name

BEST VIDEO:
Hot Chip - Ready To The Floor
Coldplay - Violet Hill
The Ting Tings - That's Not My Name
Vampire Weekend - A-Punk
Goldfrapp - Happiness

BEST LIVE ACT:
Kaiser Chiefs
Kings Of Leon
Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds
The Verve
Rage Against The Machine

BEST ALBUM:
Coldplay - Viva La Vida Or Death And All His Friends
Fleet Foxes - Fleet Foxes
The Last Shadow Puppets - The Age Of The Understatement
Vampire Weekend - Vampire Weekend
Nick Cave And The Band Seeds - Dig!!! Lazarus, Dig!!!

BEST ACT IN THE WORLD TODAY:
Coldplay
Oasis
Muse
Metallica
Kings Of Leon

Coldplay lead Q Awards nominations [Music Week]

Kerrang! Awards Prove That At Least A Few People Who Aren't EMI's Lawyers Still Care About 30 Seconds To Mars

Maura Johnston — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 10:30:00 EDT

Last night, the troubled British rock magazine Kerrang! held its annual awards show, and the slate of nominees and winners represented something of a slight stylistic shift for the mag, which has probably noticed the circulation gains experienced by Metal Hammer and adjusted its coverage accordingly. Out go My Chemical Romance and 30 Seconds To Mars; in come the Dillinger Escape Plan and, um, 30 Seconds To Mars, which was the "big" winner on the evening because it won two awards (Best International Band and Best Single). Full list of winners after the jump.

Best International Band: 30 Seconds To Mars
Best British Band: Bullet For My Valentine
Spirit Of Independence Award: Dillinger Escape Plan
Best Live Band: Machine Head
Best Album: Avenged Sevenfold
Best Single: 30 Seconds To Mars, "From Yesterday"
Best Video: Coheed & Cambria, "Feathers"
Best British Newcomer: Slaves To Gravity
Best International Newcomer: Black Tide
Inspiration Award: Metallica
Hall Of Fame Award: Rage Against The Machine
Kerrang! Icon Award: Slipknot
Classic Songwriter Award: Def Leppard

Kerrang Awards 2008 [Official site]

Iron Maiden To British Award Committee: "Thanks For Missing Us, But We Never Went Away"

Maura Johnston — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 13:30:00 EDT

The dudes in Iron Maiden weren't all that pleased by the recent announcement of nominees for the Vodafone Live Music Awards, the British awards ceremony that reminds the world just how awesome live music is. It would seem that the band was nominated for "Best Live Return," which is given to the artist that has the greatest comeback show of the year. Only problem? The band never really stopped touring, and as a result Bruce Dickinson & Co. were so offended by being lumped in with such reuniters as the Verve, the Spice Girls, and Led Zeppelin, they actually asked to be unnominated. This resulted in some last-minute scuttling and the following mea culpa from the organizers (via the bad-press-releases clearinghouse Lost In Showbiz):

To: Tony Harding
Date: 7-8-2008 18:09
Subject: "Iron Maiden today advised that they do not wish to be featured in this year's Vodafone Live Music Awards category for Best Live Return"

Iron Maiden today advised that they do not wish to be featured in this year's Vodafone Live Music Awards category for Best Live Return. Although nominated in this year's category for Best Live Return following their triumphant recent show at Twickenham Stadium, they felt that since they have always toured regularly throughout their careers it would not be at all appropriate for them to be included for an award for a Best Live Return.

Vodafone spokesperson commented "We respect and support the band's decision and have complied with their request to be removed from this year's shortlist. We are also extremely pleased to announce that James will be replacing them in the category of Best Live Return".

Tony Harding Digital Comms Executive

Jeez, what with this year having no shortage of bands making reunion cash grabs, you'd think that the people at Vodafone would have at least done a little research setting up the sacrificial lambs for Led Zeppelin's inevitable victory.

Left Hand, Meet Right Hand [Lost In Showbiz]
Earlier: The British Sure Do Give Out Lots Of Awards

The British Sure Do Give Out Lots Of Awards

Dan Gibson — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 15:30:00 EDT

Just in case you can't get quite enough hot awards action between last weekend's Teen Choice Awards, the nomination process for the Video Music Awards, and the mystery surrounding the Mercury Prize, the shortlist for the Vodafone Live Music Awards was announced today! Apparently, this is a British award designed to remind people that live music is awesome. And the nominees are:

Best Live Act
The Verve
Kaiser Chiefs
Primal Scream
Muse

Best Male
Mark Ronson
Dizzee Rascal
Morrissey
Paul Weller

Best Female
Amy Winehouse
Duffy
Kate Nash
Estelle

Best International Act
Foo Fighters
Jay Z
N*E*R*D
Kings Of Leon

Best Live Return
The Verve
Spice Girls
Led Zeppelin
Iron Maiden

XFM Live Breakthrough
The Ting Tings
Glasvegas
Foals
The Wombats

4Music Festival of the Year
Reading And Leeds Festivals
Glastonbury
T In The Park
Latitude

Sony Ericsson Tour of the Year
Take That
Sugababes
Shockwaves NME Awards Tour 2008
Girls Aloud

The Best International Act reminds us of the odd British love affair with the Kings Of Leon, and it took a few looks at the best male category before the idea that Mark Ronson is nominated as "best" anything really sunk in, but the real highlight is the Sony Ericsson Tour of the Year category. First of all, it's the Sugababes vs. Girls Aloud in a battle to determine pop supremacy once and for all. Secondly, the category's winner is decided by the public. I don't know if Idolator has the readership to tip the scales for the Sugababes, but it's worth a shot. (Also, I don't want to ask for too much, but if the Spice Girls could beat out Led Zeppelin somehow, I'd be rather pleased.)

Shortlist for Vodafone Live Music Awards announced [NME]
The Vodafone Live Music Awards 2008 [Official site]

Teen Choice Awards Pick A Couple Of Age-Appropriate Winners For Once

Maura Johnston — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 09:30:00 EDT

As opposed to last year, when the Teen Choice Awards spread the wealth among a bunch of olds (Fergie, Timbaland), this year's slate of music-related winners was highly concentrated. By which I mean that if a nominee in one of the Fox-produced event's music categories wasn't associated with the Jonas Brothers, Miley Cyrus, or Chris Brown, it didn't stand a chance of emerging from the evening with a surfboard. (But hey, at least this resulted in good news for Lil Mama.) Music winners after the jump.

_ Choice Music Single: Jonas Brothers, "When You Look Me in the Eyes."
_ Choice Hook-Up: Jordin Sparks and Chris Brown, "No Air."
_ Choice Music Male Artist: Chris Brown.
_ Choice Music Female Artist: Miley Cyrus.
_ Choice Music R&B Artist: Chris Brown.
_ Choice Breakout Group: Jonas Brothers.
_ Choice Music Love Song: Jonas Brothers, "When You Look Me in the Eyes."
_ Choice Music R&B Track: Chris Brown, "Forever."
_ Choice Music Rap/Hip-Hop Track: Lil Mama featuring T-Pain and Chris Brown, "Shawty Get Loose."
_ Choice Summer Song: Jonas Brothers, "Burnin' Up."

The Jonas Brothers also won "Choice Male Hottie" and "Choice Red Carpet Fashion Icon Male" as a single entity, which is something of a neat trick that I'm sure will serve as some sort of impetus for their inevitable breakdown/breakup. Other music-related winners in non-music related categories, all of whom have something to do with some sort of music-related TV show during some point in their career:
_ Choice TV Show Comedy: "Hannah Montana."
_ Choice TV Reality Music Competition: "American Idol."
_ Choice TV Actress Comedy: Miley Cyrus, "Hannah Montana."
_ Choice TV Male Reality/Variety Star: David Cook, "American Idol."
_ Choice Male Hottie: Jonas Brothers.
_ Choice Female Hottie: Vanessa Hudgens.
_ Choice Red Carpet Fashion Icon Female: Carrie Underwood.
_ Choice Red Carpet Fashion Icon Male: Jonas Brothers.
_ Choice Most Fanatic Fans: David Archuleta.

Teen Choice Awards Winners [AP]

Mercury Prize Shortlist Offers A Glimpse Into Used-CD Bins Of The Future

Dan Gibson — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 10:45:00 EDT

Fresh off last year's coronation of the Klaxons as the best band in Britain, this year's Mercury Prize nominations feature quite a range of popular music, from summer jam tournament runner-up Estelle to a few acts that will send you scurrying to Google.

Here is the shortlist:

Adele - 19
British Sea Power - Do You Like Rock Music?

Burial - Untrue
Elbow - The Seldom Seen Kid

Estelle - Shine
Laura Marling - Alas I Cannot Swim

Neon Neon - Stainless Style

Portico Quartet - Knee-Deep in the North Sea

Rachel Unthank & The Winterset - The Bairns
Radiohead - In Rainbows
Robert Plant & Alison Krauss - Raising Sand
The Last Shadow Puppets - The Age of the Understatement

Radiohead is the likely favorite, especially considering the idea of giving an award to Elbow or British Sea Power instead is too difficult to imagine. However, the Mercury Prize does throw its share of curveballs; the Klaxons beating Amy Winehouse last year, Antony & the Johnsons beating out Coldplay, Bloc Party and M.I.A. in 2005. If nothing else, looking through shortlists of the past is an amusing flashback to my poorly chosen music purchases of previous years. MJ Cole! Gemma Hayes! Artists for War Child! What do these artists have in common? Their CDs are all stored in my garage. Forget the prize, who from this year's nominees will join that prestigious group?

Mercury Music Prize 2008 nominations announced [Guardian]

Emmy nominations are out, and the folks at ...

Maura Johnston — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 09:30:00 EDT

Emmy nominations are out, and the folks at Sub Pop are no doubt enjoying the two nods garnered by songs from Flight Of The Conchords ("The Most Beautiful Girl (In The Room)" and "Inner City Pressure"). Too bad both of them are probably going to lose to that beaten-to-death song about Sarah Silverman boinking Matt Damon, which after listen two is just as insufferable and annoying as her "comedic" persona. Ah, well, now that she's done with Kimmel, there's always next year! [emmys.tv]

BET Awards Honor The Young, The Old, The Dead, And The-Dream

Anthony Miccio — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 15:45:00 EDT

The list of winners from last night's BET Awards is full of fascination and surprise for any nerd who can't help but care. Did the right "feat. T-Pain" win Best Collaboration? (Yes.) Is Missy Elliott doing better than any female artist who actually released an album in the last year? (Lil' Mama was robbed!) Did UGK deserve "Best Group" and "Best Video" more than Playaz' Circle and Ashanti or was it just a tribute to the passing Pimp C? (Both.) Kanye over Lil' Wayne? (Weezy will have to settle for Viewer's Choice.) Chris Brown over Ne-Yo? (A tragic tear under a tilted hat.)

(Winners in italics.)

Video of the Year
Ashanti "The Way That I Love You"
Alicia Keys "Like You'll Never See Me Again"
Mary J. Blige "Just Fine"
UGK feat. OutKast "Int'l Player's Anthem (I Choose You)"
Kanye West feat. T-Pain "Good Life"
Erykah Badu "Honey"

Best Video Director
Erykah Badu and Mr. Roboto
Benny Boom
Gil Green
Chris Robinson
Hype Williams

Best Female R&B Artist
Alicia Keys
Mary J. Blige
Keyshia Cole
Rihanna
Mariah Carey

Best Male R&B Artist
Raheem DeVaughn
Trey Songz
Ne-Yo
Chris Brown
J. Holiday

Best Group
Danity Kane
UGK
Day 26
Playaz Circle
Gnarls Barkley

Best New Artist
Flo Rida
Estelle
Chrisette Michele
Soulja Boy
The-Dream

Best Gospel Artist
The Clark Sisters
Deitrick Haddon
Kirk Franklin
Marvin Sapp
Trin-I-Tee 5:7

BETJ Award
Raheem DeVaughn
Chaka Khan
Ledisi
Jill Scott
Angie Stone

Best Female Hip-Hop Artist
Kid Sister
Trina
Lil' Mama
Missy Elliott
Eve

Best Male Hip-Hop Artist
Snoop Dogg
Jay-Z
Lil' Wayne
Common
Kanye West

Best Collaboration
DJ Khaled feat. Lil' Wayne, Big Boi, Ludacris, Fat Joe & Young Jeezy-"I'm So Hood (remix)"
Keyshia Cole feat. Lil' Kim & Missy Elliott-"Let It Go"
Kanye West feat. T-Pain-"Good Life"
Flo Rida feat. T-Pain-"Low"
Chris Brown feat. T-Pain-"Kiss Kiss"

Viewer's Choice
Chris Brown feat. T-Pain-"Kiss Kiss"
Lil' Wayne feat. Static Major-"Lollipop"
Keyshia Cole feat. Missy Elliott & Lil' Kim-"Let It Go"
Alicia Keys-"No One"
Soulja Boy-"Crank Dat (Soulja Boy)"
Jordin Sparks feat. Chris Brown-"No Air"

UGK feat. Outkast - International Players' Anthem [Daily Motion]

"Mojo" Takes The Idea Of Everyone Being A Winner Very Seriously

Maura Johnston — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 12:30:00 EDT

The UK magazine Mojo loves to look back as it looks forward, so it's probably no surprise that its Mojo Honours, the reader-generated awards given out last night, were led by Duffy's "Mercy," a cauldron of throwbacks that flounced away with the evening's Song Of The Year Award. In addition to a few cursory nods in the direction of new-ish music (Dig!!! Lazarus Dig!!! won Best Album, while Led Zeppelin got the Best Live Act nod for its one show earlier this year), a bunch of seemingly interchangeable laurels went to Mojo staples.

No, really: Over the course of one night, the awards given away included the "Icon Award," which went to the Sex Pistols; the "Hero Award," which went to Motorhead"; the Inspiration Award," which went to Genesis; the "Outstanding Contribution To Music Award," which went to John Fogerty; and the "Maverick Award," which went to Mark E. Smith. What do you think would have happened if they'd switched, say, the Maverick Award and the Hero Award? Probably not much, I'd reckon. Full list of awards (hey, it also includes the "Legend Award," the "special Award," and the "Vision Award"!) below.

Song of the Year Award: "Mercy," Duffy
Best Breakthrough Act: The Last Shadow Puppets
Best Album Award: Dig!!! Lazarus Dig!!!, Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
Hero Award: Motorhead
Icon Award: Sex Pistols
Best Live Act Award: Led Zeppelin
Classic Songwriter Award: Neil Diamond
Hall of Fame: The Specials
Lifetime Achievement Award: Genesis
Special Award: Judy Collins
Legend Award: Irma Thomas
Classic Album Award: Loveless, My Bloody Valentine
Inspiration Award: John Fogerty
Outstanding Contribution to Music Award: Paul Weller
Roots Award: Toots Hibbert
Les Paul Award: John Martyn
Maverick Award: Mark E. Smith
Vision Award: Julien Temple for The Future is Unwritten
Compilation of the Year Award: Juno soundtrack
Catalogue Release of the Year: Pillows & Prayers: Cherry Red Records 1981-1984

(I guess Phil Collins tried something bad at the buffet?)

Duffy wins big with Mercy at Mojo Awards [Telegraph via ONTD]

Eurovision Gets Timbalanded

Maura Johnston — Tue, 27 May 2008 09:00:00 EDT

It could be residual inspirational song ear-cheese from last week's American Idol finale, but on first listen I was pretty convinced that Dima Bilan's "Believe," which won the 2008 Eurovision song contest on Saturday night, was an amalgam of this country's Lite-FM staples of the past 12 years—the Enrique Iglesias opening, the bits of Lonestar's "Amazed" and Mariah Carey's various mid-'90s ballads that are strewn throughout. (Although the yoga-ish dancing is, uh, quite original.) Finding out that the recorded version of the track was produced by Timbaland was merely the icing on my "this song would not exist without the songs it is made up of" cake, and it should serve as an ominous sign that the iconic producer has moved on from simply ripping himself off to taking "inspiration" from the songs that his earliest productions provided a radio respite from.

Here's the second-place finisher, Ani Lorak's "Shady Lady":

Those lighted panels are positively Scherzingerian. (As are the vapid "I'm famous, step off" lyrics.) Fellow Americans, we have so much to answer for.

And finally, the French entry, via Sebastien Tellier and his defiant English speaking:

How did this come in 19th out of 25? You can't even blame the whole east vs. west divide, just bad taste.

Russia wins 53rd Eurovision Song Contest [Eurovision site]
Dima Bilan - Believe (Winner Of Eurovision 2008!) [YouTube]
Sebastien Tellier - Divine (Final) [YouTube]

Kenny Chesney Is Not All That Impressed By The Wisdom Of Crowds

Maura Johnston — Mon, 19 May 2008 14:45:00 EDT

Sure, Kenny Chesney may have won his fourth straight Entertainer Of The Year Award at last night's Academy of Country Music Awards, but he's not all that happy with it! Why? Because he feels like the newly introduced element of fan voting has turned the award "into a sweepstakes to see who can push people's buttons the hardest on the Internet," instead of recognition from the winner's peers. If he'd added in "and a gimmick to cheaply drive up traffic to whatever Web site is hosting the awards for future purposes of advertising pitches," I would be in 100% agreement with him!

"I think it's a complete disrespect of the artist — what they've lowered us to, to get entertainer of the year. ... Because of that, it really diminishes the integrity of the music that we're making and how much work goes into it. That's what really matters. That's what entertainer of the year really is. It's not about flying somebody to some shows and giving free songs away — and giving this and that — and seeing how hard you can push people's buttons on the Internet. As much as I love the ACMs and what they've done for my life, that's how I really feel about it.. And I can say that because I won tonight."

In being named entertainer of the year four times in a row, he ties Brooks' ACM record of four consecutive wins by a solo artist. Alabama won the award five straight years.

"I'm honored to be up here for four years in a row to tie Garth's record, believe me," Chesney said. "I may not ever win it again, but I know I've achieved this. I just think we all need to be careful how we give this award away in the future. ... If somebody stands up here in the future, they should do it because they sacrificed a tremendous amount."

Might this be a slam at none other than the noxious Rascal Flatts, who gave free live MP3s to people who voted in the Entertainer Of The Year category for a day last week—and still lost thanks to the ACM higher-ups discounting said bribed ballots? God, I hope so.

To promote participation among its fan base, Rascal Flatts last week offered a free MP3 download — a previously unreleased live version of "Winner at a Losing Game" — to those voting for the band in the entertainer category. Although Rascal Flatts did not violate any of the ACM's guidelines, the offer was removed from the group's Web site after just one day. According to The Tennessean newspaper, the ACM identified those online votes and did not count them in the final tally.

Asked about his attitude about the MP3 campaign, Chesney said, "My first reaction to it wasn't anything towards the act that put out the MP3 offer because I love them boys. And they deserve to be up here at some point. No doubt about it. It's just an example of how they [the industry] have made us conduct ourselves to stand up here. I could talk about it all night, but it should be about the music, and it should be about the integrity of it and how much work goes into making it. That's all I thought about. ... It wasn't anything directed towards anybody. It was just the whole thing. I don't think I'm wrong."

Ah, Kenny. "About the music"? In 2008! Gosh, you make it all sound so... quaint.

href="http://www.cmt.com/news/country-music/1587688/kenny-chesney-criticizes-acm-for-fan-voting-in-entertainer-category.jhtml">Kenny Chesney Criticizes ACM for Fan Voting in Entertainer Category [CMT; HT to all our awesome commenters]

Miranda Lambert Is The Academy Of Country Music Awards' Kind Of Crazy

Maura Johnston — Mon, 19 May 2008 08:53:00 EDT

Miranda Lambert's Crazy Ex-Girlfriend took home the Album Of The Year prize at last night's ACM Awards, which were held in Las Vegas. Sugarland, Brad Paisley, Rascal Flatts, and Kenny Chesney each won two awards on the evening; among Chesney's hardware was the Entertainer Of The Year Award, which was voted on by some half-million fans in the first year that the ACM opened the award-giving floodgates to the masses. Lest you think that Chesney's win was some sort of margarita-lubricated fluke, know that this is actually the fourth straight year he's won the award. Because everybody loves a party! Full list of winners after the jump.

Entertainer Of The Year: Kenny Chesney
Top Male Vocalist: Brad Paisley
Top Female Vocalist: Carrie Underwood
Top Vocal Group: Rascal Flatts
Top Vocal Duo: Brooks & Dunn
Top New Male Vocalist: Jack Ingram
Top New Female Vocalist: Taylor Swift
Top New Duo Or Vocal Group: Lady Antebellum
Album Of The Year: Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, Miranda Lambert
Single Of The Year: "Stay," Sugarland
Song Of The Year: "Stay," Sugarland
Video Of The Year: "Online," Brad Paisley
Vocal Event Of The Year: "Find Out Who Your Friends Are," Tracy Lawrence with Tim McGraw and Kenny Chesney
Crystal Milestone Award: Garth Brooks
ACM/Home Depot Humanitarian Award: Rascal Flatts

Winners announced for the 43rd annual Academy Of Country Music Awards {PR Newswire]

The Mojo Honours Help A Lazy Blogger Break Through

Anthony Miccio — Thu, 01 May 2008 10:45:00 EDT

While I'm a good boy about keeping up with the pop singles chart, when it comes to classier, indie-oriented stuff I tend to focus on the familiar. Last night I hunkered down with Sun Kil Moon's April, The Gutter Twins' Saturnalia, and Portishead's Third, all great albums from artists who made their biggest impression well over a decade ago. So it's not a total surprise that I hadn't heard any of the five nominees for the Mojo Honours' Breakthrough Act Of 2008. But it gave me an excuse to get familiar with singles from Duffy, Foals, Bon Iver, Pete Molinari, and the Last Shadow Puppets.

Bon Iver

Wait, is this the guy who got dumped, went out into the woods, and came back with a Secretly Canadian album? I think I checked out his MySpace page when reading Pitchfork's 2007 best of. His songs sound like TVOTR having a cathartic singalong by a campfire after a friend's funeral. Not feeling the falsetto—I'll stick with Sun Kil Moon.

Duffy

Dusty In Memphis is an album I've heard and think is alright, only I never get around to buying it. Or even downloading it. Once I've gotten that, some other Dusty albums, and maybe some Joss Stone, then I'll give one of Duffy's albums a listen. I didn't think we were running low on Starbucks soul, but I guess some record company felt they were missing out. This isn't blue-eyed, this is albino. Plus, she looks like Stifler's mom.

Pete Molinari

Nice hat, New Bob Dylan. "Absolutely Sweet Louise?" Is this, like, a parody?

Foals

I don't think being British completely makes up for what a tool the singer appears to be, but they seem to do the yelpy herky-jerk thing as good as our Supersystem did, if not our Polyrock.

Last Shadow Puppets

Hey, this is an Arctic Monkeys spin-off that sounds more like a side project than a fresh start! Oh, boo. "Breakthrough artist," Mojo? Would Electronic been up for this in '91?

So what have we learned today? Is being the kind of person who hears new bands and immediately mentions an older act they resemble better than being the kind of magazine that praises groups for religiously aping older bands? Is there really no greater way to "break through" than to dress like an eight-year-old and hold your guitar up to your chest? Has there been a New Dylan worse than Pete Molinari and, if so, has he been arrested? Whatever the answers to those questions might be, I've learned that I should just stick with our homegrown sources of Best New Music, and that I'm not quite old enough for Mojo yet.

Shortlist announced! [Mojo]

As if she hasn't been battling herself enough ...

Maura Johnston — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 09:15:00 EDT

As if she hasn't been battling herself enough these days, Amy Winehouse will face off against Amy Winehouse in the "Best Song Musically & Lyrically" category of this year's Ivor Novello Awards, which are given to UK songwriters and composers who pass muster with their peers. Going up against "Love Is A Losing Game" and "You Know I'm No Good" is the very Rod Stewarty "Let Me Out" by Ben's Brother, which could win if Winehouse splits the vote, Lord help us. Other nominees include Kate Nash, Klaxons, a band named Cherry Ghost that could pass for Coldplay in a blind taste test, and that awful ringtoney Beyonce/Shakira collaboration. Click on Amy for the list of nominees that have been announced so far.

BEST SONG MUSICALLY & LYRICALLY
Let Me Out - Ben's Brother
Love is a Losing Game - Amy Winehouse
You Know I'm No Good - Amy Winehouse

BEST CONTEMPORARY SONG
Foundations - Kate Nash
Golden Skans - Klaxons
People Help The People - Cherry Ghost

BESTSELLING BRITISH SONG
Beautiful Liar - Beyonce & Shakira
Rehab - Amy Winehouse
Grace Kelly - Mika

MOST PERFORMED WORK
Ruby - Kaiser Chiefs
Shine - Take That
Starz in Their Eyes - Just Jack

ALBUM AWARD
In Rainbows - Radiohead
Man on the Roof - Stephen Fretwell
Thirst for Romance - Cherry Ghost

ORIGINAL FILM SCORE
Atonement
Becoming Jane
La Vie En Rose

TELEVISION SOUNDTRACK
Oliver Twist
Primo
Who Killed Mrs de Ropp?

Amy Winehouse nominated for three Ivor Novello Awards [Times]

The CMT Awards Take "One-Hit Wonder" Jokes To An Uncomfortable New Level

Maura Johnston — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 09:15:00 EDT

Last night's CMT Music Awards—the country-music television network's version of its sister network MTV's Video Music Awards—veered into "a little more than slightly excruciating" territory when co-host Miley Cyrus tripped her way through a Taylor Swift intro in which she talked about texting the glittery-guitar-hoisting country protege incessantly, an endless setup to what would be one of many "ha ha, Dad, I'm paying your bills!" zingers that the Hannah Montana star sent in the direction of her father/svengali, "Achy Breaky Heart" singer Billy Ray Cyrus. (Yes, he performed the line dance that sent him and his mullet to stardom back in 1992, the same year his cash cow was sired.) The opening skit, in which Trace Adkins and his really greasy mop tried currying favor with everyone from Donald Trump to the three remaining Presidential candidates in order to get passes to the show, also mined that route; its final punchline was that Billy Ray was making extra scratch by scalping tickets, which were of course hot properties because of his daughter's presence. That girl is going to be so messed up in three years. Full list of winners—which includes three awards for Kellie Pickler, two for Taylor Swift, and one for that super-creepy video where Jon Bon Jovi and Leann Rimes make out—after the jump.

_ Video of the year: Taylor Swift, "Our Song."
_ Male video: Trace Adkins, "I Got My Game On."
_ Female video: Taylor Swift, "Our Song."
_ Group video: Rascal Flatts, "Take Me There."
_ Duo video: Sugarland, "Stay."
_ Breakthrough video: Kellie Pickler, "I Wonder."
_ Collaborative video: Bon Jovi featuring LeAnn Rimes, "Till We Ain't Strangers Anymore."
_ Performance of the year: Kellie Pickler, "I Wonder" from 41st Annual CMA Awards.
_ Supporting character of the year: Rodney Carrington from Trace Adkins' "I Got My Game On."
_ Wide open country video: Alison Krauss and Robert Plant, "Gone, Gone, Gone (Done Moved On)."
_ Tearjerker video: Kellie Pickler, "I Wonder."
_ Comedy video: Brad Paisley, "Online."
_ Video director: Michael Salomon for Toby Keith's "High Maintenance Woman" and Trace Adkins' "I Got My Game On."

Pickler, Swift big winners at CMT Music Awards [Reuters]
[Photo: AP]

Bob Dylan was awarded a "special citation" ...

Maura Johnston — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 16:30:00 EDT

Bob Dylan was awarded a "special citation" from the Pulitzer Prize committee today, only the 38th person to receive such an honor in the 92-year history of the prize. "With Dylan we are recognizing a body of work," prize administrator Sig Gissler told the Columbia Spectator. "The Citation also reflects the effort of the Board over the last four years to broaden the scope of the music prize," which was given to Bang On A Can founder David Lang this year and which discovered the genre of jazz sometime around 1996. At this rate, Radiohead will win the music Pulitzer by 2045! If the awards still exist, that is. [Columbia Spectator]

Feist Feels The Weight Of Toting Around Five Juno Statues

Maura Johnston — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 09:15:00 EDT

Starbucks fave and allegedly swoonworthy singer-songwriter Feist was the big winner at last night's Juno Awards—you know, the Grammys of Canada?—sweeping the Single of the Year, Album of the Year, and Pop Album Year categories and taking home the awards for Artist of the Year and Songwriter of the Year as well. But the fans were not having any of it, handing Michael Bublé his only award of the night through voting on the Juno Web site. Yeah, you tell them what side of the smooth-music coin you like, people of Canada! Full list of winners—which is absent of the words "Avril," "Lavigne," and "Celine," but does have Finger Eleven and Ozzy Osbourne—after the jump.

Single: "1234," Feist
Album: The Reminder, Feist
Pop album: The Reminder, Feist
Group: Blue Rodeo
New group: Wintersleep
Country recording: Paul Brandt
Juno fan choice award: Michael Bublé
International album: Good Girl Gone Bad, Rihanna
Artist: Feist
New artist: Serena Ryder
Songwriter: Feist
Adult alternative album: Small Miracles, Blue Rodeo
Alternative album: Neon Bible, Arcade Fire
Rock album: Them vs. You vs. Me, Finger Eleven
Vocal jazz album: Make Someone Happy, Sophie Milman
Contemporary jazz album: Almost Certainly Dreaming, The Chris Tarry Group
Traditional jazz album: Debut, Brandi Disterheft
Instrumental album: The Utmost, Jayme Stone
Francophone album: L'échec du matériel, Daniel Bélanger
Children's album: Music Soup, Jen Gould
Classical album, Solo or chamber ensemble: Alkan Concerto for Solo Piano, Marc-André Hamelin
Classical album, Large ensemble or soloist(s) with large ensemble: Korngold, Barber & Walton Violin Concertos, James Ehnes, Bramwell Tovey, Vancouver Symphony Orchestra
Classical album, vocal or choral performance: Surprise, Measha Brueggergosman
Classical composition: Constantinople, Christos Hatzis
Rap recording: The Revolution, Belly
Dance recording: All U Ever Want, Billy Newton-Davis vs. Deadmau5
R&B/soul recording: Revival, Jully Black
Reggae recording Don't Go Pretending, Mikey Dangerous
Aboriginal recording The Dirty Looks, Derek Miller
Roots & traditional album, solo: Right of Passage, David Francey
Roots & traditional album, group: Key Principles, Nathan
Blues album: Building Full of Blues, Fathead
Contemporary Christian/gospel album: Holy God, Brian Doerksen
World music album: Agua Del Pozo, Alex Cuba
Jack Richardson producer of the year: Joni Mitchell, Shine by Joni Mitchell
Recording engineer: Kevin Churko, Black Rain by Ozzy Osborne
CD/DVD artwork design: Neon Bible, Arcade Fire
Video: "C'mon," Blue Rodeo
Music DVD: 666 Live, Billy Talent

High five for Feist [Globe and Mail]
[Photo: AP]

Vitamin B12 aficionado Justin Timberlake ...

Anthony Miccio — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 14:00:35 EDT

Vitamin B12 aficionado Justin Timberlake will be hosting the ESPY Awards on July 20. "I'll do my best to deliver a great show, as I do not want to be roughed up backstage by these athletes who are bigger, faster and stronger than me," said Justin. Rrrrrright. [AP]

"NME" Attempts To Establish Its Brand In US By Piggybacking Off Other Brands

Maura Johnston — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 11:30:22 EDT

The NME—which has taken to branding itself as "The World's Fastest Music News Service," which I guess is their way of sidestepping allegations about its accuracy—will hold the American version of its Shockwaves Awards on April 23 in Los Angeles, and you aren't invited. But don't worry! You can stream the whole thing on MySpace, thanks to one of those partnership deals that press releases trumpet as "exclusive" and jaded eyes read as "last-ditch attempts to make people on this side of the pond care about a brand that doesn't really mean much to them unless they're really into overly breathless prose and/or Billy Childish."

And there are more:

• Best Video is sponsored by Heavy.com—"one of the web's leading consumer video companies and the leader for 18-34 year old males," which means I guess that you can expect to see lots of boobs in the nominees;

• Best New American Alternative/Indie Band is sponsored by Yahoo! Music; and

• American Alternative/Indie Album of the Year is sponsored by Entertainment Weekly's Web site, because there's no better way to establish your brand in a new country than to hitch it to that of a competitor that's had deathwatch rumors swirling around it for the better part of the past few years.

Nominations are open now, although for some reason a) the NME wants your street address to let you through to registration and b) you have to click through 18 pages in order to nominate an entire slate. So I guess this is going to be another awards show whose nominees are decided by hapless interns working in service of their image-conscious bosses, right?

Earlier: NME To Bring Its Incessant Arctic Monkeys Longing To The US

The PLUG Awards Give The Kids One More Chance To Honor The Arcade Fire

Maura Johnston — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 13:00:00 EST

Last night, the PLUG Independent Music Awards—the only awards show in town where having categories honoring "Album Of The Year" and "Indie Rock Album Of The Year" seems both indulgent and redundant—were presented at Terminal 5, in a ceremony that was hosted by Patton Oswalt, apparently ditched last year's dumb skits, and culminated in a Nick Cave show. While there weren't many surprises in the list of honorees (apparently, many people who vote in Internet music polls like the Arcade Fire and live in New York City), I'd like to give a special shout-out to Online Record Store Of The Year iTunes, who proved that the right combination of canny song placement and driving the labels crazy with your success can give you bucketloads of cred among the indie cognoscenti. Full list of winners after the jump.

ALBUM OF THE YEAR: Arcade Fire, Neon Bible

INDIE ROCK ALBUM OF THE YEAR: Animal Collective, Strawberry Jam

AMERICANA ALBUM OF THE YEAR; Iron & Wine, The Shepherd's Dog

METAL ALBUM OF THE YEAR: The Dillinger Escape Plan, Ire Works

HIP-HOP ALBUM OF THE YEAR: Aesop Rock, None Shall Pass

PUNK ALBUM OF THE YEAR: Gogol Bordello, Super Taranta!

ELECTRONIC/DANCE ALBUM OF THE YEAR: Justice, †

DJ ALBUM OF THE YEAR: Hot Chip, DJ Kicks

AVANT ALBUM OF THE YEAR: Liars

ARTIST OF THE YEAR: Radiohead

FEMALE ARTIST OF THE YEAR: St. Vincent

MALE ARTIST OF THE YEAR: Andrew Bird

NEW ARTIST OF THE YEAR: Justice

SONG OF THE YEAR: The National - "Fake Empire"

MUSIC VIDEO OF THE YEAR: Battles - "Atlas"

ALBUM ART PACKAGING OF THE YEAR: Menomena - Friend And Foe

RECORD LABEL OF THE YEAR: Merge

LIVE ACT OF THE YEAR: Arcade Fire

LIVE MUSIC VENUE OF THE YEAR: Bowery Ballroom

MUSIC FESTIVAL OF THE YEAR: Coachella

MUSIC WEBSITE OF THE YEAR: Pitchfork Media

MUSIC BLOG OF THE YEAR: Stereogum

MAGAZINE OF THE YEAR: Paste

ZINE OF THE YEAR: Wax Poetics

RECORD STORE OF THE YEAR: Other Music

ONLINE RECORD STORE OF THE YEAR: iTunes

ONLINE RADIO STATION OF THE YEAR: KCRW

COLLEGE/NON-COMMERCIAL RADIO STATION OF THE YEAR: KEXP

SPECIALTY SHOW OF THE YEAR: Sirius: Left Of Center - Blog Radio

PLUG Awards [Official site]

NME To Bring Its Incessant Arctic Monkeys Lauding To The US

Maura Johnston — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 11:20:20 EST

Hot on the heels of its Alex Turner-loving, George Bush-hating awards show last week, the NME has decided that it's going to bring a version of the NME Awards to the United States, and that said awards will be "in recognition of great American alternative talent past, present and future." The voting process—which is going on right now, and which will allow the magazine to harvest even more e-mail addresses in its attempt to become a force in the American "alternative/independent" music scene, even though the precise definition of that slashed term is still a bit dodgy thanks in part to the past few years' watercolor-like runniness between "indie" and music that is actually, y'know, independent—will culminate in a private ceremony held in Los Angeles next month. (What, you thought that voting would get you in? Silly kids! That's not how pseudo-event-styled democracy works!) The full list of categories that you can nominate artists for, after you offer up your name, address, year of birth, and blood type to the mag's publishers, is after the jump.

Alternative/Independent Band Of The Year
Best Alternative/independent Solo Artist
Best Alternative/Independent Track.
Best New Alternative/Independent Solo Artist
Best International Alt/Indie Band
Best International Alt/Indie Solo Artist
Best International Alt/Indie Live Act
Best International Alt/Indie Album
Best International Alt/Indie Track
Best New International Alt/Indie New Band
Best New International Alt/Indie Solo Artist
Best New International Alt/Indie Live Act

You can also probably guess that since overly wordy Brit Kate Nash is on the "NME Awards Tour" that's currently winding around America, she'll be up for at least two of those "international" awards. Or all of them! She has a band backing her, right?

NME Awards USA 2008 [NME.com]
[Photo: AP]

The NME Shockwaves Awards: Those Brits Sure Do Like The Arctic Monkeys

Maura Johnston — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 15:35:10 EST

The only awards show anywhere that could pit Hero Of The Year Pete Doherty against Villain Of The Year George W. Bush: The NME Shockwaves Awards, the 55-year-old ceremony that honors the breathless British tabloid's favorite—and least favorite—artists and albums. The Arctic Monkeys came up as the big winners this time out, winning Best Band, Best Video, and Best Track (but losing Best Album to the Klaxons); also the Manic Street Preachers were awarded the Godlike Genius Award, which will no doubt get some old-school Britpop fans out of the messageboard woodwork. Of course, the NME being "cheeky" means that there were some least-faves as well, and among them are Worst Band recipients the Hoosiers (who I keep thinking are "the Hooters") and the Worst Dressed honoree Amy Winehouse. Full list of winners after the jump. [NME]

Best British Band: Arctic Monkeys
Best International Band: The Killers
Best Solo Artist: Kate Nash
Best New Band: The Enemy
Best Live Band: Muse
Best Album: Klaxons, Myths Of The Near Future
Best Track: Arctic Monkeys, 'Fluorescent Adolescent'
Best Video: Arctic Monkeys, 'Teddy Picker'
Best Music DVD: Nirvana, Unplugged In New York
Best Live Event: Carling Weekend: Reading And Leeds Festivals
Best TV Show: The Mighty Boosh
Best Radio Show: Zane Lowe (Radio 1)
Best Film: Control
Best Web Site: Facebook
Best Venue: Wembley Stadium
Hero Of The Year: Pete Doherty
Villain Of The Year: George Bush
Best Dressed: Noel Fielding
Worst Dressed: Amy Winehouse
Worst Album: Britney Spears, Blackout
Worst Band: The Hoosiers
Sexiest Man: Noel Fielding
Sexiest Woman: Kylie Minogue
Godlike Genius: Manic Street Preachers
Philip Hall Radar Award: Glasvegas
John Peel Award for Musical Innovation: Radiohead
Best Dancefloor Filler: The Wombats 'Let's Dance to Joy Division'
Best Album Artwork: The Good The Bad And The Queen
Best Band Blog: Radiohead (www.radiohead.com/deadairspace)
Best Music Blog: The Modern Age (www.themodernage.org)

The big winners at tonight's Brit Awards: ...

Maura Johnston — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 22:20:05 EST

The big winners at tonight's Brit Awards: the Arctic Monkeys (Best British Group, Best British Album), Take That (pictured; Best Live Act, Best British Single), and the Foo Fighters (Best International Group, Best International Album). Also, Amy Winehouse performed twice, although her collaboration with Mark Ronson lost in the Best British Single competition to, yes, Take That. Boy bands will never die! Full list of winners after the jump. [Photo: AP]

Best British Male: Mark Ronson
Best British Female: Kate Nash
Best British Group: Arctic Monkeys
Best British Breakthrough: Mika
Best Live Act: Take That
Best British Album: Favourite Worst Nightmare: Arctic Monkeys
Best British Single: 'Shine': Take That
Best International Male: Kanye West
Best International Female: Kylie Minogue
Best International Group: Foo Fighters
Best International Album: Echoes, Silence, Patience and Grace: Foo Fighters
Critics' Choice Award: Adele
Outstanding Contribution: Sir Paul McCartney

The Kids Choice Awards: More Songs About Girls

Maura Johnston — Mon, 11 Feb 2008 10:15:25 EST

In the shadow of the Grammys and their tributes to the aged come the nominations for the Kids Choice Awards, the Nickelodeon-sponsored awards for tween faves that have somehow been around for 21 years. While the four music-related categories do include single nods to Disney stars Miley Cyrus (Best Female Singer; she's also up for Television Actress) and the Jonas Brothers (Best Music Group, where they're up against Boys Like Girls, Fall Out Boy, and Linkin Park), the true winner is somehow Fergie, who is up against Cyrus in the Best Female Singer category and whose "Big Girls Don't Cry" is a nominee for Best Song, a category where three of the four nominees have the world "Girl" in them. Full list of music nominees after the jump.

Song: Beautiful Girls (Sean Kingston), Big Girls Don't Cry (Fergie), Don't Matter, (Akon), Girlfriend (Avril Lavigne.)

Male Singer: Bow Wow, Chris Brown, Soulja Boy, Justin Timberlake.

Music Group: Boys Like Girls, Fall Out Boy, Jonas Brothers, Linkin Park.

Female Singer: Beyonce, Fergie, Miley Cyrus, Alicia Keys.

Kids Choice Awards Announces Nominees [AP]
[Photo: AP]

The Grammys' Album Of The Year Upset: Who Should Have Won?

Maura Johnston — Mon, 11 Feb 2008 00:00:20 EST

Judging by the reactions from my living room, my instant-messenger conversations, and the comments section on our Grammy liveblog, people were more than a little surprised when the Album Of The Year winner was announced... and said winner wasn't Kanye West or Amy Winehouse, but Herbie Hancock, whose Joni Mitchell homage River: The Joni Letters took home the night's final prize. I actually wasn't too surprised by Hancock's victory—to quote myself, "if you didn't at least think that Herbie Hancock paying tribute to Joni Mitchell would sway at least half the people who voted for Steely Dan over Eminem a few years back you haven't been paying attention"—but apparently a lot of people were! (Perhaps they forgot that Norah Jones and Corinne Bailey Rae and Tina Turner and Leonard Cohen were also on the album.) So let's put it to all of you: If you had a vote in the Grammy balloting, what would you have chosen as this Grammy year's Album Of The Year? Poll after the jump.

[Photo: AP]

Michael Jackson To Stand On Stage For A To-Be-Determined Length Of Time This Sunday

Maura Johnston — Tue, 05 Feb 2008 10:00:31 EST

With the Grammys only five days away—can you taste the excitement?—more news of who's going to appear on the Sunday night telecast has crossed the transom:

• Michael Jackson will appear onstage at Sunday night's ceremony, but he has apparently "won a stare-down" against the producers, who wanted him to perform a medley of reworked Thriller hits. So instead, he'll just... stand around? Wave his glove in the air? Who knows. The upside: The chance of an Akon appearance just dropped by about 66%. [Rush & Molloy]
• In news that is sure to excite the Oprah crowd, Andrea Bocelli and Josh Groban are going to duet on a Celine Dion song. Also, Fergie is performing with John Legend and John Fogerty is going to share a stage with Little Richard and Jerry Lee Lewis. [Centre Daily]
• Amy Winehouse went to the US embassy in London yesterday in order to secure a visa for travel to the States; while her dad doesn't want her to perform because of her fragile state, her label and Grammy organizers are hoping she'll show up. Because they care that much. (NB: I don't think reporting this bit of news breaks our Winehouse embargo; Jess disagrees.) [E!]
[Photo: AP]

The Grammys: The User-Generated Excitement Sort Of Continues

Maura Johnston — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 09:30:28 EST

The Grammys have picked the people who are going to perform on stage with the Foo Fighters—in a John Paul Jones-conducted orchestra—during next week's telecast, and judging by the 15 people picked the orchestra is going to be heavy on the strings and trumpets, and light on pretty much everything else. Three of the finalists will then compete for a "featured" slot, and judging by the view counts on the videos—none of which have broken the magic 100,000 viewed mark—said slot will likely go to a violin player. Above, the audition of one of the chosen, 18-year-old Chicago resident Andrew Pearson. It's pretty straightforward, thus further cementing the fact that we won't be witnessing any Robyn Troup-being-ogled moments during this year's ceremony—which is probably why the committee rejected a flutist named Charmian, whose performance of "The Pretender" made me think that she was going to bust into "Hips Don't Lie" at any moment:

Perhaps she thought that the orchestra would actually break out in a dance at the song's end?

Grammy gig is a classical gas [Chicago Sun-Times]
My Grammy Moment [YouTube]

Despite the fact that his four-disc set These ...

Maura Johnston — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 17:15:34 EST

Despite the fact that his four-disc set These Days is up for multiple awards—including Album of the Year—Vince Gill probably won't be performing at the Grammys on Feb. 10, thanks to his being "offered several performance scenarios, none of which were worthy of his stature or nominations." One of those "scenarios" involved Gill performing for 90 seconds, or 22.5 seconds per These Days disc. What, the powers that be at the Grammys couldn't at least whittle the face time that non-nominee/sis-of-Beyonce Solange Knowles is going to get so that the viewing public could actually hear a nominated song? [Tennessean; HT Velvet Rope / Photo: Getty]

Shortlist Prize Puts Together A Familiar-Looking List

Maura Johnston — Tue, 22 Jan 2008 17:10:54 EST

The Shortlist Prize, the music award that, thanks to some inside tumult, had its list of potential nominees winnowed down by a guy from Snow Patrol and a non-Brandon Flowers member of the Killers, announced its 10-album finalist list today. Which is, you know, Oscar day and all, meaning that its announcement would fall even more by the wayside than it might on a normal day. But that's OK, because this list—which were deduced to be the best among those albums "released in the US from January through November 2007 ... [that] had not been certified gold for domestic sales of 500,000 units"—will probably look familiar to anyone who was paying even the most cursory attention to the music press last month. Can you figure out which albums made the cut? Check out the nominees, put your list together, and then click!

Arcade Fire, Neon Bible
Burial, Untrue
Feist, The Reminder
Justice, &8224;
LCD Soundsystem, Sound Of Silver
M.I.A., Kala
Spoon, Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga
Stars, In Our Bedroom After The War
Wilco, Sky Blue Sky
Working for a Nuclear Free City

So how'd you do? I got 8 out of 10, thanks to my sentimentalism for PJ Harvey and my figuring that people would still be spooging over Strawberry Jam. But hey, for once, we at least won't have to have the "Wilco was robbed" argument, right?

Shortlist Assured Of Minimal Attention By Announcing Finalists On Oscar Day [The Set List]
Earlier: Meaningless Music Award Announces Nominees

The Oscar Nominations: Radiohead Guitarist Out, Princess Giselle In

Maura Johnston — Tue, 22 Jan 2008 09:15:44 EST

The Oscar nominations have been announced, and with them come this question from Jess and me: Have you seen Enchanted? Because if you have, then congratulations, you've heard three of the five nominees for Best Original Song, which went heavy on the Alan Menken and light on everything else this year. Also: Jonny Greenwood's score for There Will Be Blood was deemed ineligible for a nomination because "the majority of the music was not composed specifically for the film." Between that and the Flaming Lips snub, the organizers can kiss the idea of the Stereogum demo tuning in on Feb. 24 goodbye! Full list of music-related nominations after the jump.

Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original score)
• "Atonement" (Focus Features) Dario Marianelli
• "The Kite Runner" (DreamWorks, Sidney Kimmel Entertainment and Participant Productions, Distributed by Paramount Classics): Alberto Iglesias
• "Michael Clayton" (Warner Bros.) James Newton Howard
• "Ratatouille" (Walt Disney) Michael Giacchino
• "3:10 to Yuma" (Lionsgate) Marco Beltrami

Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original song)
• "Falling Slowly" from "Once" (Fox Searchlight) Music and Lyric by Glen Hansard and: Marketa Irglova
• "Happy Working Song" from "Enchanted" (Walt Disney): Music by Alan Menken; Lyric by Stephen Schwartz
• "Raise It Up" from "August Rush" (Warner Bros.): Nominees to be determined
• "So Close" from "Enchanted" (Walt Disney): Music by Alan Menken; Lyric by Stephen Schwartz
• "That's How You Know" from "Enchanted" (Walt Disney): Music by Alan Menken; Lyric by Stephen Schwartz

2008 Oscar Nominations Announced, ABC Takes To Crossing Fingers [Defamer]
Jonny Greenwood's 'Blood' Scored Deemed Ineligible For Oscar Nomination [The Playlist]

Amy Winehouse Will Make It To The Grammys--But Will She Sing?

Maura Johnston — Thu, 17 Jan 2008 11:40:58 EST

The latest on the Grammys, according to Entertainment Weekly: The Feb. 10 gala will go on, strike or no strike; while it's still unknown whether members of the Screen Actors Guild will participate, on Tuesday two other music unions, the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists and the American Federation of Musicians, said that their members should participate in the program. The resulting show will probably be low on the banter—and the 50th-anniversary pomp, unless Clive Davis goes off on an unscripted monologue about how he was involved in every one of the music biz's good old days—and high on the paparazzi/rubberneckers, because Amy Winehouse has apparently gotten rid of her visa problems, thus clearing her way to attend the event. But!

According to EW, it's unknown whether or not the six-times-nominated Winehouse will get up on stage at the event, and given that her recent track record at awards shows has been less than stellar in recent months this is probably going to be unclear until sometime around midnight on Feb. 9. I would actually lean against her performing, if only because I think she still needs to take baby steps toward actually being comfortable on stage before she gives singing in public another go. But I'm betting that the suits at CBS are lobbying for a Winehouse performance, what with the Britney trainwreck at the Video Music Awards leading to massive ratings for what was ultimately a resounding failure of a night.

Grammys expected to go on with Amy Winehouse in attendance — but what about Beyonce? [Hollywood Insider; HT DHMBIB]
[Photo: AP]

Brit Award Nominations Prove That There's Still An Audience That Cares About Mika

mjohnston — Mon, 14 Jan 2008 14:38:12 EST

Brian May-beloved crooner Mika, TV talent show winner Leona Lewis, and the Robbie Williams-less Take That each snagged four nominations for this year's Brit Awards. Other nominees of note include Bat For Lashes, PJ Harvey, and the NME-beloved Klaxons, but the real throwdown's going to be in the International Album category, where the Arcade Fire's Neon Bible squares off against the Eagles' Long Road Out Of Eden. It's good against evil! Righteousness against Don Henley! The bright light of the new millennium's indie hopes against the calculating, money-hungry baby boomer generation! (OK, OK, I'm being a bit hyperbolic. And Kings of Leon are probably going to win that category anyway.) Full list of nominees after the jump.

Male Solo Artist:
Jamie T
Mark Ronson
Mika
Newton Faulkner
Richard Hawley

Female Solo Artist:
Bat For Lashes
Kate Nash
KT Tunstall
Leona Lewis
PJ Harvey

Group:
Arctic Monkeys
Editors
Girls Aloud
Kaiser Chiefs
Take That

British Album:
Arctic Monkeys - Favourite Worst Nightmare
Leona Lewis - Spirit
Mark Ronson - Version
Mika - Life In Cartoon Motion
Take That - Beautiful World

Breakthrough Act:
Bat For Lashes
Kate Nash
Klaxons
Leona Lewis
Mika

Live Act:
Arctic Monkeys
Kaiser Chiefs
Klaxons
Muse
Take That

Single:
Leona Lewis - Bleeding Love
Mika - Grace Kelly
Take That - Shine
Kaiser Chiefs - Ruby
Sugababes - About You Now
Mark Ronson ft Amy Winehouse - Valerie
Kate Nash - Foundations
The Hoosiers - Worried About Ray
James Blunt - 1973
Mutya Buena - Real Girl

International Male Solo Artist:
Bruce Springsteen
Kanye West
Michael Buble
Rufus Wainwright
Timbaland

International Female Solo Artist:
Alicia Keys
Bjork
Feist
Kylie Minogue
Rihanna

International Group:
Arcade Fire
Eagles
Foo Fighters
Kings Of Leon
White Stripes

International Album:
Arcade Fire - Neon Bible
Eagles - Long Road Out Of Eden
Foo Fighters - Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace
Kings Of Leon - Because Of The Times
Kylie Minogue - X

Critics' Choice Award:
Adele

Outstanding Contribution To Music:
Sir Paul McCartney

Pop goes the Brits: Take That, Leona Lewis and Mika lead nominations [Guardian]

Grammys To Once Again Open Their Stage Doors To The Unwashed

mjohnston — Thu, 03 Jan 2008 14:50:32 EST

Surely you all remember the incredibly awkward part of last year's Grammys, when American Idol reject Robyn Troup got the chance to perform with (and get leered at by) Justin Timberlake and T.I. thanks to her winning the "My Grammy Moment" contest. Well, perhaps as a way to make this show "work" in the writers' strike era, that contest is back, and it's looking for instrumentalists to perform with the Foo Fighters. You know, I am fully aware that he didn't really play drums, but it's times like this that I wish the Metallica Drummer guy was still around, uploading videos to YouTube from the privacy of his living room.

My Grammy Moment [YouTube]

The Best Short Form Music Video Grammy: Feist Plus Four Acts That Aren't Feist

jharv — Thu, 06 Dec 2007 14:30:19 EST

So when Maura dropped the Grammy bomb on y'all a little earlier, the full list had yet to become available thanks to the Grammy Web site choking, which means we missed out on the all-important music video nominees! We like to think the fact that the award probably won't even be handed out during the broadcast is a tribute to the fact that the videos themselves were barely aired outside of YouTube. (I hadn't even seen two of them until a few minutes ago.) Still, we wondered, have you seen these videos (if not, they're after the jump)? And more importantly, which do you think actually deserves the nod in this less-relevant-than-ever category for the always-relevant Grammys?

The Grammy Nominations: Kanye West Is Stronger Than Amy Winehouse

mjohnston — Thu, 06 Dec 2007 12:20:28 EST

We're running through the complete list now, but for the time being, since Grammy.com seems to be completely hosed, here's a rundown of nominees in the biggest Grammy categories. Kanye West leads all nominees with eight nods, while Amy Winehouse picked up six; initial surprises include "Hey There Delilah" getting nominated for song of the year (!) and Bruce Springsteen being shut out of the Album Of The Year running in favor of Herbie Hancock. PHooray, you can all argue about Wilco again!

GENERAL FIELD
Nominees for Album Of The Year are:
Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace — Foo Fighters
These Days — Vince Gill
River: The Joni Letters — Herbie Hancock
Graduation — Kanye West
Back To Black — Amy Winehouse

Nominees for Record Of The Year are:
"Irreplaceable" — Beyoncé
"The Pretender" — Foo Fighters
"Umbrella" — Rihanna Featuring Jay-Z
"What Goes Around...Comes Around" — Justin Timberlake
"Rehab" — Amy Winehouse

Best New Artist nominees are:
Feist
Ledisi
Paramore
Taylor Swift
Amy Winehouse

Song Of The Year nominees include:
"Before He Cheats" — John Kear & Chris Tompkins, songwriters (Carrie Underwood)
"Hey There Delilah" — Tom Higgenson, songwriter (Plain White T's)
"Like A Star" — Corinne Bailey Rae, songwriter (Corinne Bailey Rae)
"Rehab" — Amy Winehouse, songwriter (Amy Winehouse)
"Umbrella" — Shawn Carter, Kuk Harrell, Terius "Dream" Nash & Christopher Stewart, songwriters (Rihanna Featuring Jay-Z)

POP FIELD

Nominations for Best Pop Vocal Album go to:
Lost Highway — Bon Jovi
The Reminder — Feist
It Won't Be Soon Before Long — Maroon 5
Memory Almost Full — Paul McCartney
Back To Black — Amy Winehouse

Best Pop Collaboration With Vocals nods go to:
"Steppin' Out" — Tony Bennett & Christina Aguilera
"Beautiful Liar" — Beyoncé & Shakira
"Gone Gone Gone (Done Moved On)" — Robert Plant & Alison Krauss
"The Sweet Escape" — Gwen Stefani & Akon
"Give It To Me" — Timbaland Featuring Nelly Furtado & Justin Timberlake

Best Pop Instrumental Performance nominees are:
"Off The Grid" — Beastie Boys
"Paris Sunrise #7" — Ben Harper & The Innocent Criminals
"Over The Rainbow" — Dave Koz
"One Week Last Summer" — Joni Mitchell
"Simple Pleasures" — Spyro Gyra

DANCE FIELD
For Best Dance Recording, the nominees are:
"Do It Again" — The Chemical Brothers
"D.A.N.C.E." — Justice
"Love Today" — Mika
"Don't Stop The Music" —Rihanna
"Love Stoned/I Think She Knows" — Justin Timberlake

ROCK FIELD
Nominations for Best Solo Rock Vocal Performance go to:
"Timebomb" — Beck
"Only Mama Knows" — Paul McCartney
"Our Country" — John Mellencamp
"Radio Nowhere" — Bruce Springsteen
"Come On" — Lucinda Williams

Best Rock Album nominees are:
Daughtry — Daughtry
Revival — John Fogerty
Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace — Foo Fighters
Magic — Bruce Springsteen
Sky Blue Sky — Wilco

Nods for Best Rock Song go to:
"Come On" — Lucinda Williams, songwriter (Lucinda Williams)
"Icky Thump" — Jack White, songwriter (The White Stripes)
"It's Not Over" — Chris Daughtry, Gregg Wattenberg, Mark Wilkerson & Brett Young, songwriters (Daughtry)
"The Pretender" — Dave Grohl, Taylor Hawkins, Nate Mendel & Chris Shiflett, songwriters (Foo Fighters)
"Radio Nowhere" — Bruce Springsteen, songwriter (Bruce Springsteen)

R&B FIELD
Nominees for Best R&B Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocals are:
"Same Girl" — R. Kelly Featuring Usher
"Disrespectful" — Chaka Khan Featuring Mary J. Blige
"Hate That I Love You" — Rihanna Featuring Ne-Yo
"Baby" — Angie Stone Featuring Betty Wright
"Bartender" — T-Pain Featuring Akon

For Best Contemporary R&B Album, the nominees are:
Konvicted — Akon
Just Like You — Keyshia Cole
Fantasia — Fantasia
East Side Story — Emily King
Because Of You — Ne-Yo

Best Urban/Alternative Performance nods go to:
"Make A Baby" — Vikter Duplaix
"That's The Way Of The World" — Dwele
"Daydreamin'" — Lupe Fiasco Featuring Jill Scott
"Fantasy" — Meshell Ndegeocello
"Dream" — Alice Smith

RAP FIELD
Best Rap/Sung Collaboration nods go to:
"I Wanna Love You" — Akon Featuring Snoop Dogg
"Kiss, Kiss" — Chris Brown & T-Pain
"Let It Go" — Keyshia Cole Featuring Missy Elliott & Lil' Kim
"Umbrella" — Rihanna Featuring Jay-Z
"Good Life" — Kanye West Featuring T-Pain

Nominees for Best Rap Song are:
"Ayo Technology" — N. Hills, Curtis Jackson, Timothy Mosley & Justin Timberlake, songwriters (50 Cent Featuring Justin Timberlake & Timbaland)
"Big Things Poppin' (Do It)" — Clifford Harris & Byron Thomas, songwriters (T.I.)
"Can't Tell Me Nothing" — A. Davis & Kanye West, songwriters (Kanye West)
"Crank That (Soulja Boy)" — Soulja Boy Tell'Em, songwriter (Soulja Boy Tell'Em)
"Good Life" — A. Davis, F. Najm & K. West, songwriters (Kanye West Featuring T-Pain)

For Best Rap Album, the nominees are:
Finding Forever — Common
Kingdom Come — Jay-Z
Hip Hop Is Dead — Nas
T.I. vs T.I.P. — T.I.
Graduation — Kanye West

COUNTRY FIELD
Nods for Best Country Collaboration With Vocals go to:
"Days Aren't Long Enough" — Steve Earle & Allison Moorer
"Because Of You" — Reba McEntire & Kelly Clarkson
"I Need You" — Tim McGraw & Faith Hill
"Lost Highway" — Willie Nelson & Ray Price
"Oh Love" — Brad Paisley & Carrie Underwood

For Best Country Song, the nominees are:
"Before He Cheats" — Josh Kear & Chris Tompkins, songwriters (Carrie Underwood)
"Give It Away" — Bill Anderson, Buddy Cannon & Jamey Johnson, songwriters (George Strait)
"I Need You" — Tony Lane & David Lee, songwriters (Tim McGraw & Faith Hill)
"If You're Reading This" — Tim McGraw, Brad Warren & Brett Warren, songwriters (Tim McGraw)
"Long Trip Alone" — Brett Beavers, Dierks Bentley & Steve Bogard, songwriters (Dierks Bentley)

Nominations for Best Country Album are:
Long Trip Alone — Dierks Bentley
These Days — Vince Gill
Let It Go — Tim McGraw
5th Gear — Brad Paisley
It Just Comes Natural — George Strait

JAZZ FIELD
For Best Contemporary Jazz Album, the nominees are:
Party Hats — Will Bernard
Downright Upright — Brian Bromberg
Re-Imagination — Eldar
River: The Joni Letters — Herbie Hancock
He Had A Hat — Jeff Lorber

Nods for Best Jazz Vocal Album go to:
Avant Gershwin — Patti Austin
Red Earth - A Malian Journey — Dee Dee Bridgewater
Music Maestro Please — Freddy Cole
Nightmoves — Kurt Elling
On The Other Side — Tierney Sutton

Foo Fighters, Vince Gill, Herbie Hancock, Kanye West and Amy Winehouse Vie for Album Of The Year at 50th Annual GRAMMY® Awards Feb. 10, 2008 [BusinessWire]