grammy nominations program
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Herbie Hancock makes remarks |
HOLLYWOOD, Calif. –Kanye West and Amy Winehouse, who both displayed artistic brilliance and experienced unfathomable emotional turmoil in 2007, led the nominations for the 50th Grammy Awards. West, whose mother died after undergoing a plastic surgery procedure, received eight Grammy nods for his Graduation album, including Album of the Year. The emotionally volatile Amy Winehouse, who is almost as well known for her forays into alcohol and drug binges, and subsequent trips to rehab, as for her music, received six nominations for her universally praised Back to Black album. Ne-Yo rebounded nicely from his unceremonious ouster from the R. Kelly tour to garner five nominations, as did Jay-Z, Timbaland, Foo Fighters and Justin Timberlake. Rihanna (“Umbrella”), Bruce Springsteen, super-producer and singer Akon, Dierks Bentley and John Newton all received four nods apiece. Jazz legend Herbie Hancock surprised industry insiders with a nomination for Album of the Year.
One note of interest: the heated Barack Obama-Hillary Clinton rivalry has even bled over into the Grammy Awards. Well, sort of. The Illinois senator’s audio book version of The Audacity of Hope has been nominated for Best Spoken Word Album, and will compete with former President Bill Clinton’s Giving: How Each of Us Can Change the World. In a departure from the norm, the Grammy Awards will not take place in Hollywood or Beverly Hills, but inside the Staples Center sports complex in downtown Los Angeles on Feb. 10, 2008 at 8 p.m. –terry shropshire.
