Lady Gaga

For the second year in a row, the Grammy Awards announced their nominations during a special primetime concert, held at Los Angeles’ Nokia Theatre L.A. Live and broadcast live on CBS. In between performances by the Black Eyed Peas, Maxwell, Sugarland, host LL Cool J and Nick Jonas’ new band, the Administration, presenters read off the nominees in all major categories, including Record of the Year, Album of the Year and Best New Artist. Beyoncé led all nominees with 10 nods, followed by Taylor Swift with eight nominations. The Black Eyed Peas, Kanye West and Maxwell each received six. (View photos from the Grammy nominations concert.)  Below are the nominees in some of the top categories. For a complete list of nominees, visit GRAMMY.com. And keep checking Metromix.com for predictions, poll and previews of the 52nd annual Grammy Awards, taking place Sunday, Jan. 31 in Los Angeles and broadcasting live on CBS.

Album Of The Year:
I Am…Sasha Fierce (Beyoncé)
The E.N.D. (the Black Eyed Peas)
The Fame (Lady Gaga)
Big Whiskey And The Groogrux King (Dave Matthews Band)
Fearless (Taylor Swift)

Record Of The Year:
“Halo” (Beyoncé)
“I Gotta Feeling” (the Black Eyed Peas)
“Use Somebody” (Kings Of Leon)
“Poker Face” (Lady Gaga)
“You Belong With Me” (Taylor Swift)

Song Of The Year:
“Poker Face,” Lady Gaga & RedOne, songwriters (Lady Gaga)
“Pretty Wings,” Hod David & Musze, songwriters (Maxwell)
“Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It),” Thaddis Harrell, Beyoncé Knowles, Terius Nash & Christopher Stewart, songwriters (Beyoncé)
“Use Somebody, “Caleb Followill, Jared Followill, Matthew Followill & Nathan Followill, songwriters (Kings Of Leon)
“You Belong With Me,” Liz Rose & Taylor Swift, songwriters (Taylor Swift)

Best New Artist:
Zac Brown Band
Keri Hilson
MGMT
Silversun Pickups
The Ting Tings

Best Rock Album:
Black Ice (AC/DC)
Live From Madison Square Garden (Eric Clapton & Steve Winwood)
21st Century Breakdown (Green Day)
Big Whiskey And The Groogrux King (Dave Matthews Band)
No Line On The Horizon (U2)

Best Rap Album:
Universal Mind Control (Common)
Relapse (Eminem)
R.O.O.T.S. (Flo Rida)
The Ecstatic (Mos Def)
The Renaissance (Q-Tip)

Best Pop Performance by a Duo Or Group with Vocals:
“I Gotta Feeling” (the Black Eyed Peas)
“We Weren’t Born To Follow” (Bon Jovi)
“Never Say Never” (the Fray)
“Sara Smile” (Daryl Hall and John Oates)
“Kids” (MGMT)

The Album of the Year category hasn’t been totally respectable in a long time–favoring sales and mainstream recognition over quality–but usually a solid act like Radiohead,Dixie Chicks,White Stripes,OutKast,Bob Dylan will slip in there to class up the joint.  This year? Say it ain’t so, Grammy.  When the nominees were revealed last night during a primetime concert in L.A., we learned that album of the year nominees include Beyonce, Black Eyed Peas, Lady Gaga, Dave Matthews Band and Taylor Swift. No, that is not the list of top 5 artist on your young cousins’ iPod. Those are the nominees for Album of the Year.  In other silliness, not-new-anymore artists like MGMT and Silversun Pickups were nominated for Best New Artist, though I was glad to see Maxwell’s writers pick up a nod for Song of the Year for the gorgeous “Pretty Wings.” Biggest observations during a stroll through the other categories: The Pop Vocal Album category is scary (Black Eyed Peas, Colbie Caillat and The Fray, such brilliance!) while Best Solo Rock Vocal Performance should include the phrase “over 50 years old” when nominating Prince, Bob Dylan, John Fogerty, Bruce Springsteen and Neil Young. All legends, of course, but still.  Nice lineup for Best Rock Song of U2, Green Day, Kings of Leon, Pearl Jam and Springsteen. And French pop act Phoenix continues its rise with a Best Alternative Album nod for “Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix.”