Music Minute - Grammy Nominations

The 2011 Grammy nominees were just announced during CBS's Grammy Nominations Concert Live event and with so much amazing music released this past year -- not to mention monster tours -- it's was as competitive as ever.

Eminem is the frontrunner for Grammy gold with ten nominations and country trio Lady Antebellum racked up four.  While stars like Justin Bieber and Miranda Lambert got nods, noticeably absent from the nominations list was 'Tik Tok' star Ke$ha.  

I'm most excited to see that newcomer Bruno Mars nabbed 7 noms beating out Lady Gaga who received 6.  He's a great vocalist and song writer and deserves all of it!

I'm also happy to see that Ceelo nabbed a nom for Song of the year for his song "Fuck You" or the radio version "Forget You" *lame*  That record was HOT from jump!!  Good luck to all the nominees.

See the full list of nominations below and check back on Feb. 13 for the big show.

Song of the Year
'Beg, Steal or Borrow' -- Ray LaMontagne
'Forget You' -- Cee-Lo
'The House That Built Me' -- Miranda Lambert
'Love the Way You Lie' -- Eminem Feat. Rihanna
'Need You Now' -- Lady Antebellum

Album of the Year
'The Suburbs' -- Arcade Fire
'Recovery' -- Eminem
'Need You Now' -- Lady Antebellum
'The Fame Monster' -- Lady Gaga
'Teenage Dream' -- Katy Perry

Best New Artist
Justin Bieber
Drake
Florence and the Machine
Mumford and Sons
Esperanza Spalding

Record of the Year
'Nothing on You' -- B.o.B. Feat. Bruno Mars
'Love the Way You Lie' -- Eminem Feat. Rihanna
'Forget You' -- Cee-Lo
'Empire State of Mind -- Jay-Z Feat. Alicia Keys
'Need You Now' -- Lady Antebellum

Best Female Pop Vocal Performance
'King of Anything' -- Sara Bareilles
'Halo (Live)' -- Beyoncé
'Chasing Pirates' -- Norah Jones

'Bad Romance' -- Lady Gaga
'Teenage Dream' -- Katy Perry

Best Male Pop Vocal Performance
'Haven't Met You Yet' -- Michael Bublé
'This is It' -- Michael Jackson
'Whataya Want from Me' -- Adam Lambert
'Just the Way You Are' -- Bruno Mars
'Half of My Heart' -- John Mayer

Best Pop Performance By a Group or Duo with Vocals
'Don't Stop Believin' (Regionals Version)' -- Glee cast
'The Only Exception' -- Paramore
'Babyfather' -- Sade
'Hey, Soul Sister (Live)' -- Train

Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals
'Airplanes, Part II' -- B.o.B., Eminem & Hayley Williams
'Imagine' -- Herbie Hancock, Pink, India.Arie, Seal, Konono No 1, Jeff Beck & Oumou Sangare
'If it Wasn't for Bad' -- Elton John & Leon Russell
'Telephone' -- Lady Gaga & Beyoncé
'California Gurls' -- Katy Perry & Snoop Dogg

Best Pop Instrumental Performance
'Flow' -- Laurie Anderson
'Nessun Dorma' -- Jeff Beck
'No Mystery' -- Stanley Clarke
'Orchestral Intro' -- Gorillaz
'Sleepwalk' -- The Brian Setzer Orchestra

Best Pop Instrumental Album
'Pushing the Envelope' -- Gerald Albright
'Take Your Pick' -- Larry Carlton & Tak Matsumoto
'Heart And Soul' -- Kenny G
'Singularity' -- Robby Krieger
'Everything Is Everything: The Music Of Donny Hathaway' -- Kirk Whalum

Best Pop Vocal Album
'My World 2.0' -- Justin Bieber
'I Dreamed a Dream' -- Susan Boyle
'The Fame Monster' -- Lady Gaga
'Battle Studies' -- John Mayer
'Teenage Dream' -- Katy Perry

Best Dance Recording
'Rocket' -- Goldfrapp
'In For The Kill' -- La Roux
'Dance In The Dark' -- Lady Gaga
'Only Girl (In The World)' -- Rihanna
'Dancing On My Own' -- Robyn

Best Electronic/Dance Album
'These Hopeful Machines' -- BT
'Further' -- The Chemical Brothers
'Head First' -- Goldfrapp
'Black Light' -- Groove Armada
'La Roux' -- La Roux

Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album
'Crazy Love' -- Michael Bublé
'The Greatest Love Songs Of All Time' -- Barry Manilow
'Let It Be Me: Mathis In Nashville' -- Johnny Mathis
'Fly Me To The Moon...The Great American Songbook: Volume V' -- Rod Stewart
'Love Is The Answer' -- Barbra Streisand

Best Solo Rock Vocal Performance
'Run Back To Your Side' -- Eric Clapton
'Crossroads' -- John Mayer
'Helter Skelter' -- Paul McCartney
'Silver Rider' -- Robert Plant
'Angry World' -- Neil Young

Best Rock Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocals
'Ready To Start' -- Arcade Fire
'I Put A Spell On You' -- Jeff Beck & Joss Stone
'Tighten Up' -- The Black Keys
'Radioactive' -- Kings Of Leon
'Resistance' -- Muse

Best Hard Rock Performance
'A Looking In View' --Alice In Chains
'Let Me Hear You Scream' -- Ozzy Osbourne
'Black Rain' -- Soundgarden
'Between The Lines' -- Stone Temple Pilots
'New Fang' -- Them Crooked Vultures

Social Responsibility - World Aids Day

World AIDS Day, observed December 1 each year, is dedicated to raising awareness of the AIDS pandemic caused by the spread of HIV infection. It is common to hold memorials to honor persons who have died from HIV/AIDS on this day.

While we still have a long way to go,  some progress has been made in AIDS prevention through raising awareness BUT there is still no cure!! Be responsible and get to know your status! Get tested!! Wrap it up folks! Save yourself and another....

**You can be positive and still live positively....

Music Minute - American Music Awards

Ok, I have been falling behind on my updates!! Better late than never but never late is better!! I promise to keep it fresh to the best of my ability.

The American Music Awards came on 2 Sundays ago *pardon my delay* and the entire show was pretty entertaining and well produced!  If you know me by now, you would know that I live for awards shows!!  When the best in entertainment are acknowledged and awarded, you're guaranteed to find me there - at least on tv!  Here are the highlights.

• Rihanna opened the show with a medley of her current hits.  What she lacks in dancing skills, she more than makes up for with her presence alone! She is gorgeous! Was it just me or did she just do a mini tribute to Africa with the drum/dance bit? The energy was great.
• Enrique Iglesias came on with Pitbull to perform "I Like It" The performance was great! Very high energy but Enrique needs to step up his fashion game! Pitbull simply upstaged him!  Just because your hot doesn't mean you should disregard all effort.. just saying!  That 'just woken up' look is getting old.
• Usher nabbed the first award of the night and went on to get another award during the show to give him a total of two.  He performed "DJ's Got Us Falling In Love" which is a hot record! He has had a great year and don't you dare call it a comeback! He never left as he proclaimed!  His litle protege Justin Bieber was the big winner of the night nabbing four of the biggest awards of the night!  This kid has had amazing sales since his debut from being a YouTube sensation.  I must admit I am a 'belieber' Yep, I realize how lame that sounds but we can't deny the fact that the Biebs is a force to be reckoned with! Was touching to see him ask his mentor, Usher, on stage to help accept his award for Artist Of The Year!
• Pink - I love this woman! She can't do any wrong in my eyes! She performed, "Raise Your Glass" and did it the Pink way!  Granted she wasn't hanging on a trapeze like she did at the Grammys...she's knocked up after all but was still able to deliver a high energy performance! Bravo!
• Diddy and the dirty money crew - I was confused by the whole thing...
• Christina Aguilera - we all know this girl has some amazing pipes on her! I was looking forward to seeing her do thing but it was blah for me.
• The return of the boy bands - New Kids On The Block and The Back Street Boys recently announced that they are going on tour together! Exciting! They closed the show with a medley of their signature hits! I had forgotten how much i used to love the BSB!

Ps: Since I am very late in posting this, no video clips will be available... YouTube can hook that up for you:)