Grammy nominations 2014: David Bowie among Robin Thicke and Jay-Z
In what looks set to be a surprising Grammy Awards in 2014, just a handful of
British stars have received nominations
British music talent David Bowie, James Blake and Ed Sheeran have all received
Grammy nominations.
Bowie won a Best Rock Album nod for The Next Day, his surprise first release
in a decade in March, triggering ecstasy among older fans and arguably
showing some younger stars how to do it.
James Blake, who won the Mercury Music Prize in September over Bowie for his
album Overgrown, is nominated in the Best New Artist category alongside
fellow Brit Ed Sheeran.
Adele, who won a clean sweep of six Grammys last year, secured one nomination
at Friday's Los Angeles ceremony: in the Best Song for Visual Media
category, for Skyfall, the theme tune to the last James Bond movie.
Veteran rapper Jay-Z topped nominees for the 2014 Grammys announced Friday
with nine nods, while Taylor Swift and Daft Punk were also among those in
the running in major categories.
But other major stars including Justin Timberlake failed to score any
nominations in the major categories, which saw a mixture of rap and pop in
the running for the top honors at music's equivalent of the Oscars next
month.
In second place with seven nods apiece were California hip hop star Kendrick
Lamar and rapper Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, as well as Justin Timberlake
and Pharrell Williams, while rapper Drake scored five.
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The nominees in key categories were announced during an hour-long concert at
the Nokia Theatre in downtown Los Angeles, including video-link performances
by Swift from Australia and Katy Perry live from Canada.
"This year's nominations reflect the talented community of music makers
who represent some of the highest levels of excellence and artistry of the
year in their respective fields," said Neil Portnow head of Grammys
organisers The Recording Academy.
In the coveted Record of the Year category songstress Swift's Red will compete
with French electro duo Daft Punk's Random Access Memories, Macklemore &
Ryan Lewis's The Heist, Lamar's Good Kid, M.A.A.D City and Sara Bareilles'
The Blessed Unrest.
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Record Of The Year candidates are Daft Punk & Williams' ubiquitous Get
Lucky, New Zealand teenager Lorde's Royals, Radioactive by Imagine Dragons,
Hawaiian crooner Bruno Mars' Locked Out Of Heaven and Robin Thicke's Blurred
Lines, made infamous by Miley Cyrus' twerking at the MTV Video Music Awards
show.
Shortlisted for Song of the Year - for songwriters, as opposed to performers -
were Just Give Me A Reason sung by Pink Featuring Nate Ruess; Locked Out Of
Heaven sung by Bruno Mars; Roar sung by Katy Perry; Royals sung by Lorde,
and Same Love sung by Macklemore & Ryan Lewis.
Macklemore & Ryan Lewis was also nominated for Best New Artist, up against
Blake, Kendrick Lamar, Kacey Musgraves and Sheeran.
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While big-hitters Jay-Z and Timberlake scored lots of nods, they were mostly
in rap and pop/R &B categories respectively. Neither the rapper's
heavily marketed Magna Carta...Holy Grail, nor Timberlake's The 20/20
Experience made it onto the Best Album shortlist.
The 56th annual Grammys show - music's version of the Oscars - will be held on
January 26 at the Staples Center.
Industry journal Variety said Friday's nominations made "for a wide-open
race with no clear favorite and few megastars in the running for top honors
at the music biz's January kudofest.
