Grammy Awards 2010: Live coverage of nomination

The nominations for the 2010 Grammy Awards were unveiled tonight at downtown's Club Nokia -- just a few city blocks from the P&H HQ -- and we brought you live coverage beginning at 6 p.m. In addition to finding out just how many nominations Taylor Swift receives, the CBS special stood out as a coming-out party for Nick Jonas & the Administration.

The Grammy Awards are set for Jan. 31, 2010, at downtown's Staples Center, and Pop & Hiss already has a wish list for keeping the Grammys relevant throughout the upcoming decade. Stay tuned to this post for updates throughout the evening.
Quick thoughts: The Grammys returned to an old favorite, giving Beyonce a leading 10 nominations this year, including album, record and song of the year, all stemming from her 2008 release "I Am ... Sasha Fierce." Rising star Taylor Swift walked away with eight, also scoring noms in record, album and song.

Biggest surprise: Silver Lake's Silversun Pickups earned a best new artist nod for their sophomore effort, "Swoon." Released on local indie Dangerbird Records, the album was a breakthrough for the act, having debuted in the top 10.Though not the act's debut, such technicalities are meaningless to Grammy voters, and the act will compete with MGMT and the Ting Tings, two acts who released their debuts in early 2008, as well as R&B's Keri Hilson and country's Zac Brown Band.

Biggest snub: Where to begin? The 2010 Grammy nominations are a complete puzzler, and one has to wonder just where Recording Academy voters are discovering their music.

Locking Kanye West's "808s and Heartbreak" out of major categories is just the beginning. As far as Dave Matthews albums go, one can do far worse than "Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King," but that album's friendly light rock was not as inventive or challenging as "808s." Likewise Beyonce's "Sasha Fierce," which is less deserving of the R&B nod than Maxwell's "BLACKsummers' Night."

Voters also slept on Diane Birch, whose vintage soul is packed with tough topics and sharp melodies, an ideal best new artist candidate. Also missing is the Decemberists' orchestral prog-rock opus "The Crane Wife," a better pick for best alternative album than Depeche Mode's "Song of the Universe."

And just where was Whitney Houston's "I Look to You"? Voters completely shunned one of the year's biggest comeback stories.

A list of nominees.


ANN POWERS: CRITIC'S NOTEBOOK: A big Grammy nomination: This show has got to go

6:54 p.m.: Album of the year: Beyonce's "I Am ... Sasha Fierce," Black Eyed Peas' "The E.N.D.," Lady Gaga's "The Fame," Taylor Swift's "Fearless" and Dave Matthews Band's "Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King."

6:51 p.m.: Record of the year: Beyonce's "Halo," Black Eyes Peas' "I Gotta Feeling," Kings of Leon's "Use Somebody," Lady Gaga's "Poker Face" and Taylor Swift's "You Belong With Me."

6:49 p.m.: Best country performance by a duo or group with vocals: Brooks & Dunn's "Cowgirls Don't Cry," Zac Brown Band's "Chicken Fried," Lady Antebellum's "I Run To You," Rascal Flatts' "Here Comes Goodbye" and Sugarland's "It Happens."

6:47 p.m.: With the best rap noms, Kid Cudi and Drake will be cut out of the best new artist category in 2011. But seeing MGMT score a nom in best pop performance was a slight surprise, and should set the group up for a best new artist nom.

6:40 p.m.: Best rap solo performance: Drake's "Best I Ever Had," Eminem's "Beautiful," Jay-Z's "D.O.A. (Death of Auto-Tune)," Kid Cudi's "Day 'N' Nite" and Mos Def's "Casa Bey."

6:39 p.m. Best rock album: AC/DC's "Black Ice," Eric Clapton & Steve Winwood's "Life from Madison Square Garden," Green Day's "21st Century Breakdown," Dave Matthews Band's "Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King" and U2's "No Line on the Horizon."

6:36 p.m.: Perhaps the most notable thing to come out of this Grammy nomination special is Maxwell's classy and smooth cover of "Lady in My Life," perhaps the best award show tribute to MJ this year. Perfect in its simplicity.

6:27 p.m.: Performing with Stevie Wonder on the 2009 Grammys apparently rubbed off on the young Nick Jonas, or perhaps he was just inspired by the Hall & Oates nomination. The Disney star unveiled a new outfit, Nick Jonas & the Administration, and a new song "Who I Am," doing his best to grow a little soul.

6:22 p.m.: Best pop performance by a duo or group with vocals: Black Eyed Peas' "I Gotta Feeling," Bon Jovi's "We Weren't Born to Follow," The Fray's "Never Say Never," Daryl Hall and John Oates' “Sara Smile” and MGMT's "Kids"
6:21 p.m.: Sugarland performs Christmas cut "Coming Home," looking and sounding surprisingly elegant in front of the world's tackiest Christmas tree.

6:14 p.m. Quick song of the year analysis: Kings of Leon's "Only by the Night" album was eligible for the 2009 awards, so expect plenty of nominations to be showered upon the group's singles for 2010, as the act is one of the best-selling rock bands of the year. Maxwell is set up nicely as the industry veteran on the comeback trail, and is a favorite to score an album of the year nod. Swift, of course, should coast, and score a nom in nearly every category she's eligible for. No major surprises in song of the year, but with "Single Ladies" not in the running for record of the year (it wasn't submitted), another artist may have the opportunity to sneak in.

6:10 p.m. Grammy song of the year: Beyonce's "Single Ladies," Lady Gaga's "Poker Face," Maxwell's "Pretty Wings," Kings of Leon's "Use Somebody," Taylor Swift's "You Belong With Me."

6:08 p.m. The Black Eyed Peas jump on tables and sing "I Gotta Feeling." Adam Lambert, pre-filmed, lip synchs.
6:06 p.m. Rapper/host LL Cool J, and star of CBS’ "NCIS: Los Angeles," gets the night started with a four-minute rap/shout that references some of 2009’s biggest hits, including Lady Gaga’s "Poker Face" and Taylor Swift’s "You Belong With Me," as well as several shout-outs to the Black Eyed Peas. This is, perhaps, sort of what it would feel like to play Rock Band with LL Cool J.

LL tells us, "This is not the end. This is only the beginning." This is not as glamorous an opening as last year’s nomination special, when Mariah Carey performed "Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)." No nominations revealed yet.
--Todd Martens