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by Andy Moseley - reprinted with permission from the February 25, 2002, edition of The George-Anne After a year of controversy centering on multiple nominations for controversial rapper Eminem as well as his performance with Elton John, the Grammy Awards will attempt to return to normalcy with the 2002 ceremony on Feb. 27. The Staples Center in Los Angeles will serve as home for the 44th annual show, which will be broadcast live on CBS. The act with the most nominations this year is U2, who hope their eight will add some trophies to their ten previous wins. The Irish quartet are up for Record Of The Year, Album Of The Year, Song Of The Year, Best Pop Performance By A Duo Or Group, Best Rock Performance By A Duo Or Group, Best Rock Album, and two nominations for Best Rock Song. Newcomer India.Arie is up for seven awards. Alicia Keys and classical composer Pierre Boulez are up for six each. The coveted Album Of The Year category features a little something for everybody: U2's "All That You Can't Leave Behind," is paired with India.Arie's "Acoustic Soul," Bob Dylan's "Love And Theft," OutKast's "Stankonia," and the soundtrack to "O Brother, Where Art Thou?." Record Of The Year and Song Of The Year, two of the other main categories, feature very little variation. Up for Record Of The Year are "Video" by Arie, "Fallin'" by Alicia Keys, "Ms. Jackson" by OutKast, "Drops Of Jupiter (Tell Me)" by Train, and "Walk On" by U2. Song Of The Year, which goes to the songwriter instead of the artist (which are all the same in this case), also includes the songs by Arie, Train, and Keys. U2's "Stuck In A Moment You Can't Get Out Of" and Nelly Furtado's "I'm Like A Bird" will provide competition in the category. An eclectic mix of artists make up the Best New Artist nominees for this year as Keys, Furtado, and Arie are joined by David Gray and Linkin Park. Pop nominations include many of the usual suspects as well as a few surprises. Up for Best Pop Vocal Album are Furtado's "Whoa, Nelly!", Janet Jackson's "All For You," Elton John's "Songs From The West Coast," *NSYNC's "Celebrity," and Sade's "Lovers Rock." Vying for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance are Furtado, Janet, Faith Hill, Sade, and Lucinda Williams, while John, Craig David, Michael Jackson, Brian McKnight, and James Taylor are up for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance. Battling for Best Pop Performance By A Duo Or Group are U2, R.E.M., Five For Fighting, and dueling boy bands Backstreet Boys and N*SYNC. In the rock genre, Best Rock Song nominees include "Drops Of Jupiter" by Train, "Jaded" by Aerosmith, "Yellow" by Coldplay, and U2's "Walk On" and "Elevation." All of those artists join Dave Matthews Band in the Best Rock Performance By A Duo Or Group. In the solo variations of that category, Tori Amos, Melissa Etheridge, PJ Harvey, Stevie Nicks, and Lucinda Williams try for the female side while Ryan Adams, Eric Clapton, Bob Dylan, Lenny Kravitz, and John Mellencamp are up for the male side. Adams, Aerosmith, Harvey, Linkin Park, and U2 compete for Best Rock Album. The country section of the awards were heavily affected by the recent bluegrass and traditional country revival, including a few crossover artists due to a Hank Williams tribute album featuring artists from multiple genres. Nominees for Best Country Song are "I'm Already There" by Lonestar, "The Lucky One" by Alison Krauss + Union Station, "One More Day" by Diamond Rio, and a double dose of Jamie O'Neal with "There Is No Arizona" and "When I Think About Angels." O'Neal, Lucinda Williams, Sheryl Crow, Dolly Parton, and Trisha Yearwood are in the running for Best Female Country Vocal Performance. Adams, Johnny Cash, Lyle Lovett, Tim McGraw, Willie Nelson, and Ralph Stanley will go for Best Male Country Vocal Performance, while Asleep At The Wheel, Brooks & Dunn, Diamond Rio, Alison Krauss + Union Station, and Lonestar contend for the group variation. Album nominees include Diamond Rio, McGraw, Nelson, Yearwood, and the Hank Williams "Timeless" tribute. |
2002 Grammys: India.Arie, Alicia Keys and Nelly Furtado are all in the running for Best New Artist in this years Grammys. (Internet Photo) Best R&B Album nominees include Keys, Arie, Mary J. Blige, Destiny's Child, and the late Aaliyah. Keys' "Fallin'" and Arie's "Video" join Erykah Badu's "Didn't Cha Know," Missy "Misdemeanor" Elliott's "Get Ur Freak On," Blue Cantrell's "Hit 'Em Up Style (Oops!)," and Brian McKnight's "Love Of My Life" as Best R&B Song nominees. In the rap field, Georgia is well represented by Ludacris and OutKast, who join Eve, Ja Rule, and Jay-Z as nominees. Jay-Z, Nelly, Elliott, DMX, and Afroman battle for Best Rap Solo Performance while Gorillaz, Ja Rule featuring Vita, Jay-Z featuring Beanie Sigel & Memphis Bleek, OutKast, and the trio of P. Diddy, Black Rob and Mark Curry go for Best Rap Performance By A Duo Or Group. As of press time, 12 performances have been announced. Groups performing include U2, OutKast, Train, and Dave Matthews Band. The ladies of "Lady Marmalade" - Christina Aguilera, Pink, Lil' Kim, and Mya - will team up with Missy Elliott once again, while N*SYNC will be joined by Nelly and Destiny's Child will join Alejandro Sanz. Also performing are Bob Dylan, Alan Jackson, Alicia Keys, and Joshua Bell. A special tribute performance to the "O Brother" soundtrack will include Alison Krauss, Emmylou Harris, Ralph Stanley, Gillian Welch, and the duo of Dan Tyminski and Pat Enright as the Soggy Bottom Boys. Presenters are set to include the Dixie Chicks, Bonnie Raitt, Ja Rule, Michael W. Smith, Britney Spears, Diana Krall, Gloria Estefan, Gwen Stefani of No Doubt, Janet Jackson, Kid Rock, and CBS sitcom stars Ray Romano and Kevin James. Jon Stewart, host of Comedy Central's "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart," will return for his second year as host. Unlike his show, however, jokes about last year's terrorist attacks are expected to be almost nonexistant. Instead, expect to hear plenty of jokes about acts on the downswing, such as Mariah Carey. In a telephone press conference, Stewart joked, "She was paid $28 million not to sing, so who knows? I might get paid $28 million not to tell jokes." Stewart will lead what looks to be a great display of great music from all fields, whether the viewers are watching for the stylings of Dave Matthews, the pop flair of N*SYNC, the southern rap of OutKast, or the backwoods bluegrass of the "O Brother" gang. Sadly, however, those tuning in for Best Polka Album will again not get to see their choices announced live on the broadcast. Maybe next year! |
