The other awards tonight: The ASCAPS

I don't often get surprised by the winners of awards, but tonight's ASCAP prizes have left me agape.

Corinne Bailey Rae's Go Put Your Record On has been named 'song of the year' and even more confusingly in the arse-end of 2008, Dido has picked up songwriter of the year. Have I missed something? There's some talk that she's about to release a single later this month, but how can a year stretch so far to include the release of Bailey Rae's track and the release of Dido's new material?

Jonny Greenwood picked up an award for his There Will Be Blood soundtrack.

Asinine headline of the week

Did the Daily Mail really find it necessary to ask this question:

So why was Corinne Bailey Rae so deeply in love with her husband found dead in a drugs den?

Aside from being a pointless question in the first place - because the heart wants what the heart wants, Alison Boshoff - the second half is clumsy and a little cruel. Presumably, when Bailey Rae fell in love with Jason he wasn't, at that point, dead in a drugs dead?

Funkobit: Jason Rae

Jason Rae, member of the Haggis Horns and husband of Corinne Bailey Rae, has been found dead in his Leeds home.

Rae played saxophone with the Haggis Horns, who gigged regularly in Yorkshire and worked with artists as diverse as Amy Winehouse and Nightmares On Wax. Jason had met Corinne while she was working as cloakroom attendant during her time studying in Leeds; they married in 2001.

West Yorkshire Police have arrested a man in connection with the death; it's believed Rae died of an overdose. A 32 year-old man is being investigated on suspicion of supplying controlled drugs.

Rae no Reet

Corinne Bailey Rae was being lined up to play Aretha Franklin in a biopic. That was until, erm, Franklin saw her perform:

Yeah, I just saw Corinne. I thought she was very nice - she's a very nice singer.

"I almost cast her as one of the characters in my play and in the movie, but when I saw her on TV... well, her pictures look one way and when I saw her on TV she looked a little different so I don't think so."

We could have saved you the time, you know, Aretha. We think the word you're looking for is "wan". Or maybe the phrase "nice to the point of inoffensive non-existence."

And that is what the Grammys are all about

Yes, yes, being recognised by your peers is always nice, but the real joy of winning the Grammys is the sales bounce. Having come away garlanded with prizes last week, the Dixie Chicks saw a 700% sales rise; Corinne Bailey-Rae bounced back up the album charts to number four; 132% up on last week.

More disappointingly, after debuting in the Top 20 last week, Bloc Party have fallen back to number 68 this week, managing just 17,000 sales. Lily Allen is enjoying her third week at the lower end of the top 40.

Lady Sov won't put a record on

One of those great meetings-of-minds of our time, between two figures who aren't quite as important as their managers would lead them to believe. Join us to relive when Lady Sovereign met Corinne
Bailey Rae:

[D]uring a recording for T4 [Sov] met the pop singer and told her that "she should be called Corinne 'Boring' Rae."

She went on: "Corinne just said 'Whatever' and turned on her heels like she was the Queen.

We're not quite sure what Sovereign was expecting Rae to do - burst into tears? Admit "yes, you're right - I really should investigate a job at Marks and Spencers"? Retort "you're not a patch on Princess Superstar"?

Not to mention that there's something a bit rich about someone who has taken a name which suggests she is both a "Lady" and in some way "sovereign" calling someone else on acting "like she was the Queen."

Still, Sovereign's pressing need to tell Rae she was dull - Corinne Boring Rae, clever wording, cheers - was motivated by more than just the desire to show off her witty wordplay skills:

I think she's fake. She's too nice. She sings about life being as sweet as roses. But it's not, it's crap."

Now, we don't like Rae much ourselves, but we're not entirely sure what she's meant to be faking. It's not like, say, she was stepping out with Rupert Grint, earning a nice income from Universal Records, doing adverts for mobile phone companies, and sampling Gensis songs while pretending to still be a badass hoodie from a Wembley estate, for example. Or, indeed, pretending that life is crap while piling up royalties from Ugly Betty and seemingly every XBox football game going.

And what became of it at last, quoth little Peterkin? Ah, that I cannot say, says he, but it went out live on ITV

Another quick rush round the Brits coverage from the web, starting with the viewing figures. They're not exactly great news for ITV, which managed an average of just 5.3million, coming second to a football match on BBC1 (Bolton versus what used to be Arsenal) which reached an average of 5.7million.

The Brits started with 6.3 million, from which it went downhill, although half-time at the football brought a small peak, reports MediaGuardian. This performance is better than last year (average of 4.6 million) but not as good as 2005's.

After pointing out that we were unable to click through to find The Times' Brit coverage during this morning's post, we got an email from Wapping with a link to Caitlin Moran's coverage of the awards. Do you wonder, like I do, if Caitlin still keeps in touch with former Naked City cohists Johnny Vaughan, Andrew Collins and Wigan's Stuart Maconie? It'd be an interesting little gathering that, don't you think? Anyway, Caitlin points out Russell Brand bears more than a passing resemblance to Timothy Claypole, before wondering just why the Brits have the reputation for danger:

For these days, the Brit Awards is nothing more than a gigantic works do, organised to allow people in marketing at Warner Bros to put on their second-best suits, get drunk and letch at that hot chick from Parlophone.

Its prominent place in the media calendar does, more often than not, make as much sense as televising Zoo magazine’s Christmas party. Less sense, in fact — I bet Zoo has shackled bears dancing on hot trays and one of those vodka luges shaped like the great god Pan.

Well, there were those women dressed up in costumes somewhere between Goth weekend in Whitby on a budget and "marriage minded Lithuanian seeks man, any age", a jarring note of old school-isms. If they'd gone with a proper bordello theme, or had some pretty boys naked but for feather dusters to escort winners to the stage, we might understand the blind eye being turned, but this was just a spot of business as usual: the men helm the stage, the women wear their undies and take a supporting role.

Random Ramblings was poised to bring us all the action, but:

Unfortunately I dozed off during Snow Patrol so I have no idea whether it descended into anarchy, as Russell mooned the audience and James Morrisson chucked a bucket of water over Gordon Brown. Somehow I doubt it. I doubt if any politicians actually turned out this year as they would certainly have come in for some stick. Not like the old days.

He says that almost as if it's a pity that you can't rely on Noel Gallagher to sob his heart out as Tony Blair makes a promise about how the promised land is just around the corner.

Talking of whom, and somewhat inexplicably, Punk Rock suggested that Noel Gallagher deserved the lifetime achievement award for, uh, the sense he talks:

Gallagher did deserve the Brits’ Outstanding Contribution to Music Award – if only because in recent years the Oasis badboy and king of Nineties Britpop has become a rare voice of reason on the British music scene. They are sad times indeed when otherwise unremarkable statements of common sense become worthy of note. Yet Gallagher’s tirades against the ridiculous and famous are soundbites of rationality in a pop culture dominated by the bien-pensant and self-regarding.

The man bought Mike Oldfield's seaside villa and yacht, Punk Rock. He is the very model of a modern self-regarding ridiculous machine, surely?

And if he really was outside the pop-back-slap-circle-jerk, why would they have offered him a prize for being a good egg? And why would he have accepted it?

Elsewhere, Lily Allen had apparently been a bad loser ever before she'd officially lost, with Starpulse quoting her telling MTV she'd been carved up before she'd even got into the auditorium:

"I already know I won't win any awards. I bet you £100 I'll get nothing.

"The judging committee are all industry insiders and they're predominantly from Universal (Records) - and I'm on EMI. I think you'll find that 70 per cent of the artists here tonight are on Universal. I'll leave you with that."

Well, of course it's all a bit of a stitch up, but is she right that Universal scoop 70% of the prizes?

Let's see:
* British Male Solo Artist James Morrison - Polydor (U)
* British Female Solo Artist Amy Winehouse - Island/Universal (U)
* British Group Arctic Monkeys - Domino (Indie)
* MasterCard British Album Arctic Monkeys - Domino (I)
“Whatever people say I am, that’s what I’m not”
* British Single Take That “Patience” MCA-Polydor (U)
* British Breakthrough Act Fratellis - Island (U)
* British Live Act Muse - Warners
* International Male Solo Artist Justin Timberlake - Jive (Sony/BMG)
* International Female Solo Artist Nelly Furtado - Geffen (U)
* International Group The Killers - Island (U)
* International Album Killers “Sam’s Town” - Island (U)
* International Breakthrough Act Orson - Mercury (U)
* Outstanding Contribution to Music Oasis - Sony/BMG

So, out of 13 awards, 8 went to artists on Universal - just over sixty per cent. Spookily, if you take away the acts voted for, in some way, by the public, you get a figure of 62.5% wins by Universal acts. Almost like there was some sort of quota.

On the other hand, Allen was rejected in the public polls, not even making the shortlist for best single, which might just suggest she's not as good as people are supposed to think she is, and, given a secret ballot, nobody pretends they like her any more. It's a lesson either way.

Some of the other lessons we've learned were detailed by Drowned In Sound:

# Hitting duff notes on the telly doesn’t matter when the viewers have already voted your single their favourite of the last year: see Take That.
# James Morrison, right, he’s really bad.
# Fearne Cotton’s accent is well weird sometimes. Is she from London or Lancashire? Or, like, Greenland. What?

Apparently, we also learned that Joss Stone is hot, or so I'm Not Obsessed would have you believe:

At first, I wasn’t LOVING the pink hair. I thought Joss Stone looked like she was trying too hard. But it seems she has grown into this new person since she’s made the change. Very confident and sexy!

We can only presume he was watching in black and white. On a small screen. Through a window. Or else he has a thing for 1980s gym bunnies.

Putting the counterpoint on Joss is Missy:

Then there was Joss Stone. Oh dear. There she was wondering around the stage failing to get the crowd going and sending love to Robbie in Rehab. If you want to send wishes to Robbie, send a card to his agent, don't sound like Madonna! And the hair!

Then there were certain international bands who won and were, lets face it, a tiny bit OTT. Accept an award with grace not by screaming and crying with excitment. They should take a tip from Amy Winehouse who was very modest thanking her boyfriend and parents.

Of course, turning up on stage so drunk you can't remember which way is forward helps keep the thank you speech to the point.

The mystery about who it was who was down the front trying to at least shake some of the apathy out of the audience is answered on the Brit School Blog, written by the kids at the school underwritten by the Brits foundation:

The BRIT School students were at the forefront of the show, in the pit, with the best view of the artists performing.

Although the only real highlight of the evening was the Arctic Monkeys "not turning up" video, it upset Denni Schanpp, especially because:

They dressed up in hideous costumes—different ones each time—which must have taken longer for them to put on than to get to the event, because they did make it to the Oasis (Musical Achievement) after-party!

Celebrities not turning up to award ceremonies where they are honoured are a pet peeve of mine. I can understand it (grudgingly) if they are actually on tour/playing a gig or—as in Robbie's case—in rehab. I cannot understand it if they feel that they are too big to grace the event with their presence, because it makes me feel like an idiot sitting in front of the telly watching it.

Yeah, shame on the Monkeys for not bothering with hanging about for two hours just to get to mumble a thank you - if they were that keen on not going, they should have eaten three packets of Pro-Plus a day for ten years like Robbie, and had an excuse to check into a health farm. Youngsters today, eh?

Splash enjoyed the Brits so much, they didn't mind not having sex:

I don’t know about you, but I thoroughly enjoyed watching The BRIT Awards last night. It made the perfect date for valentine’s night. The BRITS was sexy, well dressed, funny and all round entertaining, who needs a man!

Well, if you idea of a perfect date is one spent all evening being forced to watch someone celebrating their own dubious achievements and dominating you with their questionable taste, the Brits surely would be the perfect date. Plus, there's someone from accounts I could hook you up with.

Hang about a moment, though, because Lily Allen appears to have changed her mind about the dark conspiracy at the heart of the Brits voting - she didn't lose out because she was victim of block voting, she's quoted by VIP Glamour as saying, it's just bad luck:

“When I heard about the nominations I felt like it was a bit of a burden. I hate being in competitions because I never win. I’ll go home with nothing. I just know I will.”
“Corinne Bailey Rae? I think she’s a bit boring, sorry. She’s a lovely girl but I don’t think her music stands out and I’d be a bit annoyed if she won Best Female Artist. I’d be really happy if Amy Winehouse wins, though. She’s brilliant.”

But Amy Winehouse is on Island, isn't she? Part of the Opus Dei of the Brit panel, isn't it? Shouldn't you be supporting EMI's CBR?

Kudos to Guardian blogger Alex Needham, who watched the ITV2 aftershow show so nobody else had to:

the quote of the night came from Ana Matronic out of the Scissor Sisters backstage on ITV2: "I'm sweating like a blind lesbian in a fish market".

Last word, I think, to Wateracre, and his post headlined "The Brit Awards cause opinions from 11 years ago to become again timely and relevant":

Christ Almighty, Oasis are shit.

Grammys tell Blunt: You're not that beautiful

We can't help but wonder if James Blunt's failure to convert any of the five Grammy nominations into a prize is partly because, like the rest of us, the Grammy academy went "didn't You're Beautiful come out like five or six years ago?"

Or maybe they just thought it was shocking.

In fact, it was a bit of a bad night all round for British music: Blunt, Corinne Bailey Rae, KT Tunstall and the Arctic Monkeys all discovered there was an end to how far they could coast on charm alone, and will now be recalibrating their hopes from "winning a prize on US network television" down into "might get a grope off Russell Brand."

The Dixie Chicks did splendidly, winning five prizes - best album, record of the year, song of the year, country album and country performance. This, of course, is the US midterm election replayed as prize ceremony. Indeed, so much did they dominate the ceremony that Yahoo lists the winners of everything under "Dixie Chicks news".

The Red Hot Chili Peppers scooped four awards - scandalously, Stadium Arcadium's so-so packaging beat out that goth compilation which came in a corset; it also picked up rock album, Rock Song (Dani California), and rock performance.

Despite Fergie sounding more bored than a dull child being forced to revise latin ("check it out" indeed), the Black Eyed Peas' My Humps was given best pop performance by a bunch. Christina Aguilera's Aint No Other Man was the best female pop and John Mayer's Waiting On The World To Change was the bloke's version.

Poor Justin Timberlake struggled with flu to make sure he didn't miss out a chance to boost the post-Christmas market ("didn't let down his fans"), but it was still The Police's first gig in, ooh, three or four years that won the most excited reviews - even although SFGate's Culture blog was less than thrilled:

The once-blonde trio played its hit, "Roxanne." In a word, it was "jazzy." Sting missed all the high notes, which is pretty much missing the point of the entire song.

But no other tunes were forthcoming. No "Every Breath You Take." No "Message In A Bottle." Not even a stupid medley with just the chorus from "Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic."

The most surprising thing was how little all the members have aged. Seriously, it looked like 1983 up there. Especially if you were watching it on a black and white TV and pretended the drummer's hair wasn't gray.

Oh, and it was kind of weird that Sting didn't break out in a lute solo while having Tantric sex with a tree from the Amazon jungle.

Roxanne (not, we suspect, their real name), commenting on Monsters and Critics didn't put on a red light, either:

They should have picked up a phone and sung it in.
Don't bother getting back together.
That was awful and painful to watch.

The Associated Press reports that Randy Jackson seemed desperate to try and use Carrie Underwood's Grammy to somehow "prove" that American Idol is more than just a passing talent show - why, it's at the very heart of American cultural life:

"These kids definitely help to validate what we do," Jackson said. "... People talking about how mean and crazy we are — Simon (Cowell) calling people names and all that kind of stuff — the truth of the matter is that at the end of the season, someone great that wouldn't have had a chance otherwise, wins it and gets a shot at a career and I'm really happy about that."

If it is true that Carrie Underwood is that good, and it's true that she wouldn't have got a shot without American Idol, doesn't that not so much validate you, Abdul and Cowell shouting at thousands of hapless wannabes on TV less than condemn the whole music industry whose foul heart you are currently celebrating, Jackson?
Ryan Seacrest, of course, hosts both Idol and the Grammys, so he doesn't care either way. He wasn't afraid to ask the difficult questions, grilling John Mayer on the important issue of if he'd shagged Jessica Simpson (he didn't phrase it like that, of course - the FCC were Tivoing the show). MTV reports that Mayer answered in Japanese. We hope the delay on the broadcast was long enough to let someone translate the response.

And is Underwood really that good? Cinemablend certainly wasn't impressed:

Shame on Carrie Underwood for an inexcusably bland rendition of “Desperardo.” Here is a song that is loaded with passion and heart, and she served it up cold on a big plate of blah. It takes more than just reciting lyrics, Carrie … you have to at least pretend to be feeling them. Especially if you’re going to win the Best New Artist award over your far more exceptional peers.

Deserving an extra prize, surely, is Ludacris. Probably for chutzpah. The LA Daily News was almost delighted by his decision to thank Bill O'Reilly at Fox News for his help in securing the best rap award, as it was by Mary J Blige's refusal to take the subtle hint of an orchestra as loud as an angry hell-hound trying to get her off stage:

After winning best R&B album, Blige thanked her husband and children then started down a long list of names. The orchestra music began to get louder but Blige wasn't going anywhere. She kept reading names and as the music got louder, so did she until she was at the end of her list.

Apparently at the end, they were throwing depth charges.
Fahsionista's Fashion & Style blog nominated red-carpet best-dressed: Aguilera, Fergie and Blige. They do, however, bemoan the one-note dresses:

Grammy's red carpet Best Dressed vary, except they were all missing one thing: the color!

Mind you, the Grammys didn't embrace grey so tightly as to give a prize to James Blunt.
ClayCrane made it through the whole slew of prize-givings, and also had something to say about fashion:

One of the best performances of the night was from the Dixie Chicks who sang their “you just can’t take it” anthem, "Not Ready to Make Nice", which is an ode to all the rednecks fools of country music. The voice and performance was flawless…but to see Natalie Maines stuffed in that white dress, which resembled a middle school prom “cream puff” gown was insulting to their "political statement."

Hang about, though... did the Dixies even deserve to be flouncing about on stage in a puffy white dress? Tisbury Lane pulled on a tinfoil hat:

Grammys are rigged. I swear they are. The Academy is ridiculous. The Dixie Chicks and Mary J Blige did NOT deserve to walk away with that many Grammys. The Dixie Chicks especially did NOT deserve album of the year, over Justin Timberlake and John Mayer. Not in the least bit.

Yes... they must be rigged. Or, possibly, voted for by morons.Why go to the trouble of rigging an election when your candidate will win anyway?
Newspaper man Driving to Oahu suggested his paper run the following headline to mark the Chick's victory:

GRAMMYS HATE AMERICA
Recording industry jumps on worldwide bandwagon

- he was, we should point out, joking.
Young at Heart, however, wasn't:

Anyways, I'm actually kind of shocked that the Dixie Chicks were there, much less won what was it, 4 awards? I got nervous every time they went up on stage, kinda like I got nervous when Kanye West came out. Now I haven't heard all of "Not Ready To Make Nice" but I can guess from what I did hear of it tonight what point they were trying to make.

And really not joking? That'd be Live Free or Die:

Why in the holy living fuck did the Dixie Chicks win a jagillion awards at the Grammys? They suck. They always have. They are a bunch of whiny cunts who don't deserve a record deal. I hope their tour bus crashes.

Charming.
The oddest performance of the night caught the attention of GingerSnaps. Yes, yes, The Police doing Roxanne is some sort of classic, but:

Lionel [Richie]...omg..."Hello"...I'm back in 1985 again...

Funky Brown Chick rated the man-candy on offer:

Justin Timberlake was surprising sexy last night — baby’s growing up nice and gooood.

Most interesting blog coverage of the Grammys must be Arty Velarde, who sketched the event for his blog.
Without Arty's stamina was New and Used Records, who set out to liveblog the whole thing but sometime around 9.55pm collapsed in a howl of rage:

That's it - I can't handle this anymore.

But if they think they had it bad, spare a thought for Hurry up Fashion:

I sat through three hours of Grammy whoredom waiting for the Police on the Grammys, all to discover that they played the opening segment of which I missed. Duh!

So, the winners in full - and we mean full, polka prizes and all:

Album of the Year: "Taking the Long Way," Dixie Chicks.

Record of the Year: "Not Ready to Make Nice," Dixie Chicks.

Song of the Year: "Not Ready to Make Nice," Martie Maguire, Natalie Maines, Emily Robison and Dan Wilson (Dixie Chicks).

New Artist: Carrie Underwood.

Female R&B Vocal Performance: "Be Without You," Mary J. Blige.

Pop Vocal Album: "Continuum," John Mayer.

Pop Collaboration With Vocals: "For Once in My Life," Tony Bennett and Stevie Wonder.

Country Album: "Taking the Long Way," Dixie Chicks.

Rap Album: "Release Therapy," Ludacris.

Rock Album: "Stadium Arcadium," Red Hot Chili Peppers.

R&B Album: "The Breakthrough," Mary J. Blige.

Producer of the Year, Non-Classical: Rick Rubin.

Traditional Pop Vocal Album: "Duets: an American Classic," Tony Bennett.

Female Pop Vocal Performance: "Ain't No Other Man," Christina Aguilera.

Male Pop Vocal Performance: "Waiting on the World to Change," John Mayer.

Pop Performance by a Duo or Group With Vocal: "My Humps," Black Eyed Peas.

Pop Instrumental Performance: "Mornin'," George Benson (& Al Jarreau).

Pop Instrumental Album: "Fingerprints," Peter Frampton.

Rock Instrumental Performance: "The Wizard Turns On ... ," the Flaming Lips.

Rock Song: "Dani California," Flea, John Frusciante, Anthony Kiedis and Chad Smith (Red Hot Chili Peppers);

Solo Rock Vocal Performance: "Someday Baby," Bob Dylan.

Rock Performance by a Duo or Group With Vocal: "Dani California," Red Hot Chili Peppers.

Hard Rock Performance: "Woman," Wolfmother.

Metal Performance: "Eyes of the Insane," Slayer.

Alternative Music Album: "St. Elsewhere," Gnarls Barkley.

Dance Recording: "Sexy Back," Justin Timberlake and Timbaland.

Electronic/Dance Album: "Confessions on a Dance Floor," Madonna.

Rap Solo Performance: "What You Know," T.I.

Rap Performance by a Duo or Group: "Ridin," Chamillionaire featuring Krayzie Bone.

Rap/Sung Collaboration: "My Love," Justin Timberlake featuring T.I.

Rap Song: "Money Maker," Christopher Bridges and Pharrell Williams (Ludacris featuring Pharrell).

Urban/Alternative Performance: "Crazy," Gnarls Barkley.

Male R&B Vocal Performance: "Heaven," John Legend.

R&B Performance by a Duo or Group With Vocals: "Family Affair," (Sly and the Family Stone), John Legend, Joss Stone With Van Hunt.

Traditional R&B Vocal Performance: "God Bless the Child," George Benson and Al Jarreau featuring Jill Scott.

R&B Song: "Be Without You," Johnta Austin, Mary J. Blige, Bryan-Michael Cox and Jason Perry (Mary J. Blige).

Contemporary R&B Album: "B'Day," Beyonce.

Traditional Blues Album: "Risin' With the Blues," Ike Turner.

Contemporary Blues Album: "After the Rain," Irma Thomas.

Female Country Vocal Performance: "Jesus, Take the Wheel," Carrie Underwood.

Male Country Vocal Performance: "The Reason Why," Vince Gill.

Country Performance by a Duo or Group With Vocal: "Not Ready to Make Nice," Dixie Chicks.

Country Collaboration With Vocals: "Who Says You Can't Go Home," Bon Jovi and Jennifer Nettles.

Country Instrumental Performance: "Whiskey Before Breakfast," Bryan Sutton and Doc Watson.

Country Song: "Jesus, Take the Wheel," Brett James, Hillary Lindsey and Gordie Sampson (Carrie Underwood).

Bluegrass Album: "Instrumentals," Ricky Skaggs and Kentucky Thunder.

Contemporary Jazz Album: "The Hidden Land," Bela Fleck and the Flecktones.

Jazz Instrumental Solo: "Some Skunk Funk," Michael Brecker.

Jazz Instrumental Album, Individual or Group: "The Ultimate Adventure," Chick Corea.

Large Jazz Ensemble Album: "Some Skunk Funk," Randy Brecker With Michael Brecker, Jim Beard, Will Lee, Peter Erskine, Marcio.

Jazz Vocal Album: "Turned to Blue," Nancy Wilson.

Instrumental Composition: "A Prayer for Peace," John Williams, composer (John Williams), from "Munich — Soundtrack."

Instrumental Arrangement: "Three Ghouls," Chick Corea, arranger (Chick Corea), from "The Ultimate Adventure."

Instrumental Arrangement Accompanying Vocalist(s): "For Once in My Life," Jorge Calandrelli, arranger (Tony Bennett and Stevie Wonder), from "Duets: an American Classic."

Gospel Performance: "Victory," Yolanda Adams.

Gospel Song: "Imagine Me," Kirk Franklin (Kirk Franklin).

Rock or Rap Gospel Album: "Turn Around," Jonny Lang.

Pop/Contemporary Gospel Album: "Wherever You Are," Third Day.

Southern, Country, or Bluegrass Gospel Album: "Glory Train," Randy Travis.

Traditional Gospel Album: "Alive in South Africa," Israel and New Breed.

Contemporary R&B Gospel Album: "Hero," Kirk Franklin.

Short Form Music Video: "Here It Goes Again," OK Go.

Long Form Music Video: "Wings for Wheels: The Making of Born to Run," Bruce Springsteen.

Producer of the Year, Classical: Elaine Martone.

Classical Album: "Mahler: Symphony No. 7," Michael Tilson Thomas, conductor, Andreas Neubronner, producer (San Francisco Symphony).

Orchestral Performance: "Mahler: Symphony No. 7," Michael Tilson Thomas, conductor (San Francisco Symphony).

Opera Recording: "Golijov: Ainadamar: Fountain of Tears," Robert Spano, conductor, Kelley O'Connor and Dawn Upshaw; Valerie Gross and Sid McLauchlan, producers (Women of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra Chorus, Atlanta Symphony Orchestra).

Choral Performance: "Part: Da Pacem," Paul Hillier, conductor (Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir).

Instrumental Soloist(s) Performance (with Orchestra): "Messiaen: Oiseaux Exotiques (Exotic Birds)," John McLaughlin Williams, conductor; Angelin Chang (Cleveland Chamber Symphony).

Instrumental Soloist Performance (without Orchestra): "Chopin: Nocturnes," Maurizio Pollini.

Chamber Music Performance: "Intimate Voices," Emerson String Quartet.

Small Ensemble Performance: "Padilla: Sun of Justice," Peter Rutenberg, conductor (Los Angeles Chamber Singers' Cappella).

Classical Vocal Performance: "Rilke Songs," Lorraine Hunt Lieberson (Peter Serkin), track from Lieberson: Rilke Songs, The Six Realms, Horn Concerto.

Classical Contemporary Composition: "Golijov: Ainadamar: Fountain of Tears," Osvaldo Golijov (Robert Spano).

Classical Crossover Album: "Simple Gifts," Bryn Terfel (London Voices; London Symphony Orchestra).

Compilation Soundtrack Album for Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media: "Walk the Line," Joaquin Phoenix and Various Artists.

Score Soundtrack Album for Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media: "Memoirs of a Geisha," John Williams, composer.

Song Written for Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media: "Our Town (From Cars)," Randy Newman (James Taylor).

Musical Show Album: "Jersey Boys."

Musical Album for Children: "Catch That Train," Dan Zanes and Friends.

Comedy Album: "The Carnegie Hall Performance," Lewis Black.

New Age Album: "Amarantine," Enya.

Traditional Folk Album: "We Shall Overcome — the Seeger Sessions," Bruce Springsteen.

Contemporary Folk/Americana Album: "Modern Times," Bob Dylan.

Latin Pop Album (tie): "Adentro," Arjona. "Limon Y Sal," Julieta Venegas.

Latin Rock, Alternative or Urban Album: "Amar Es Combatir," Mana.

Tropical Latin Album: "Directo Al Corazon," Gilberto Santa Rosa.

Mexican/Mexican-American Album: "Historias De Mi Tierra," Pepe Aguilar.

Tejano Album: "Sigue El Taconazo," Chente Barrera.

Norteno Album: "Historias Que Contar," Los Tigres Del Norte.

Banda Album: "Mas Alla Del Sol," Joan Sebastian.

Latin Jazz Album: "Simpatico," the Brian Lynch/Eddie Palmieri Project.

Native American Music Album: "Dance With the Wind," Mary Youngblood.

Hawaiian Music Album: "Legends of Hawaiian Slack Key Guitar — Live From Maui," Various Artists.

Reggae Album: "Love Is My Religion," Ziggy Marley.

Traditional World Music Album: "Blessed," Soweto Gospel Choir.

Contemporary World Music Album: "Wonder Wheel," the Klezmatics.

Polka Album: "Polka in Paradise," Jimmy Sturr and His Orchestra.

Spoken Word Album for Children: "Blah Blah Blah: Stories About Clams, Swamp Monsters, Pirates and Dogs," Bill Harley.

Spoken Word Album (Includes Poetry, Audio Books and Story Telling). (Tie): "Our Endangered Values: America's Moral Crisis (Jimmy Carter)," Jimmy Carter. "With Ossie and Ruby: In This Life Together (Ossie Davis and Ruby Dee)," Ossie Davis and Ruby Dee.

Recording Package: "10,000 Days," Adam Jones, art director (Tool).

Boxed or Special Limited Edition Package: "Stadium Arcadium," Flea, John Frusciante, Anthony Kiedis, Chad Smith and Matt Taylor, art directors (Red Hot Chili Peppers).

Album Notes: "If You Got to Ask, You Ain't Got It!" Dan Morgenstern, album notes writer (Fats Waller).

Historical Album: "Lost Sounds: Blacks and the Birth of the Recording Industry 1891-1922."

Engineered Album, Classical: "Elgar: Enigma Variations; Britten: the Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra, Four Sea Interludes," Michael Bishop, engineer (Paavo Jarvi and Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra).

Engineered Album, Non-Classical: "At War With the Mystics," the Flaming Lips and Dave Fridmann, engineers (The Flaming Lips).

Remixed Recording, Non-Classical: "Talk (Thin White Duke Mix)," Jacques Lu Cont, remixer (Coldplay).

Surround Sound Album: "Morph the Cat," Darcy Proper, surround mastering.

"Doing a Craig David"

Having failed so singularly to get anyone to take up her "Lady Mucca" nickname, Victoria Newton is now trying to introduce the phrase "doing a Craig David" into the language. Apparently it's meant to mean "being nominated for some Brits and not winning any."

Yesterday, she reported that Lily Allen was afraid of doing a Craig David; today, supposedly, Corinne Bailey Rae is worried about the same thing. Although this quote doesn't sound right, or, indeed, make any sense:

She said: “If I didn’t win any, I might be disappointed.

“I saw Craig on TV after he was nominated for six Brits and he came away empty-handed.”

Did she really say anything about Craig David or has that been slipped in to turn what would otherwise be a complete non-story ("woman admits not winning prizes would be a bit of a shame") into just about enough of a story to scrape into the paper?