Posted on 02/08/2004 2:32:52 PM PST by hattend
Music industry primps for a hip-hop and rhythm-and-blues Grammys - AFP to My Yahoo!
LOS ANGELES (AFP) - Young urban music stars, led by eclectic rap duo Outkast, are poised to steal the show at Sunday's 46th annual Grammy Awards, but they'll still have to compete for attention with the superstar who won't be there, Janet Jackson. While Outkast, siren Beyonce Knowles, her rapper boyfriend Jay-Z and producer Pharrell Williams all lead the nominations with six each, Jackson's absence will be felt as strongly as the winners.
Michael Jackson's little sister, who was to present an award to Luther Vandross, appears to have been blackballed by organisers after scandal erupted when pop icon Justin Timberlake ripped off her bodice as part of a televised Super Bowl act and exposed her breast to the 100 million viewers a week ago.
"I think Janet Jackson's absence at the Grammys (news - web sites) will be felt more than her presence would have been, especially with Justin Timberlake up on stage as a nominee and a performer," awards expert Tom O'Neil said after Jackson revealed she would not attend the awards.
While Jackson and just about everybody else linked to the costume boob has apologised, American outrage over the prime-time flash has snowballed and the scandal now threatens to upstage the Grammy winners.
This year, for the first time in the history of music's highest honours, Grammy voters, once known for their staid tastes, have picked young urban music stars to dominate the main awards categories.
The eclectic US rap duo Outkast were among the hot favourites to dominate the awards, coming armed with six nods, including album of the year for their pop and R-and-B infused double-disc "Speakerboxx/The Love Below," and record of the year for their energetic song "Hey Ya!"
"I think that Outkast is going to be this year's Norah Jones," said Geoff Mayfield, Grammy voter and director of charts for Billboard magazine, referring to the soulful young Jones' eight stunning Grammy wins last year.
"I expect Outkast will have some key wins because they are nominated in so many categories and have produced a truly interesting compelling album."
The duo's Dre and Big Boi are also up for awards that include rap album of the year, best urban/alternative performance, producer of the year and best short form music video.
Outkast, Beyonce, Jay-Z and Williams face off nine artists who have five nominations each, including funk-soul star Missy Elliott, the suddenly controversial Timberlake, rappers Eminem (news - web sites) and 50 Cent, hard-rockers Evanescence and blues king Vandross, who is recovering from a stroke.
In the top album of the year category, Outkast must do battle with up-and-coming rockers Evanescence for their album "Fallen," with Timberlake's "Justified," Missy Elliott's "Under Construction" and "Elephant" by the rock duo The White Stripes.
Beyonce, 22, is vying for the equally prestigious record of the year -- awarded to the artist and producer of a song -- for "Crazy in Love" against category favourite the Brit-group Coldplay for "Clocks," the Black Eyed Peas and Justin Timberlake for "Where Is the Love?," Eminem for "Lose Yourself" and Outkast's "Hey Ya!"
Nominees in the song of the year category -- awarded to the songwriter -- are favourite Eminem for "Lose Yourself," pop vixen Christina Aguilera for "Beautiful," Avril Lavigne for "I'm With You," Luther Vandross for "Dance With My Father" and the late Warren Zevon, who died of lung cancer in September but has five Grammy nods, for "Keep Me In Your Heart."
Best new artist contenders are Evanescence for "Bring Me To Life," 50 Cent for "In Da Club," breakout rhythm-and-blues diva Heather Headley for "I Wish I Wasn't," Fountains of Wayne for "Stacy's Mom" and Sean Paul for "Get Busy."
Whoever wins in the top Grammys categories -- there are 105 in total -- chances are that it will be music's youth that will dominate the evening as the Grammys try to shed their image of being the "grannies."
"They are all so young," Mayfield said. "Maybe it is because it was perceived before that the membership was kind of old, so they successfully recruited enough young members who vote for young nominees."
There are some not-so-young but very unusual Grammy nominees this year -- former US president Bill Clinton (news - web sites) and his wife Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton (news - web sites), both nominated for their work on spoken word albums. Senator Clinton won a Grammy in 1996 for her reading of the book "It Takes a Village."
Bill Clinton is nominated along with former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev and actress Sophia Loren for a recording of "Peter and the Wolf," which was recorded to honor the 50th anniversary of Sergei Prokoviev.
In a separate category Hillary Clinton (news - web sites) was nominated for a Grammy for her autobiography "Living History."
Performers at the Grammys show, which begins at Los Angeles' Staples Center at 5:00pm (0100 GMT Monday), will include Timberlake, Sting, Christina Aguilera, Outkast and veteran group Earth, Wind and Fire.
The Grammy winners are chosen by the 18,000-odd members of the Recording Academy.
Clinton's recording of this is a revisionist one. I think the wolf's a good guy or something in this (no joke!)
As for Beyonce Knowles, what a disgusting person, whose sense of entitlement borders on the pathological. The demands for her to sing our national anthem included that no one near her or near her entourage be seen drinking anything but Pepsi. No more Pepsi at our house.
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