Five For Winehouse

Troubled singer Amy Winehouse has been showered with glory by the prestigious Grammy Awards, winning five prizes - despite being absent from the ceremony.
Her awards included song of the year and record of the year, both for her single Rehab, and best new artist.

But she was not at the Los Angeles ceremony to collect them due to visa problems. Instead, she performed and made an acceptance speech by satellite.

Kanye West scooped four Grammy Awards, while Bruce Springsteen won three.

The White Stripes, Justin Timberlake, Carrie Underwood and Mary J Blige were among the acts who picked up two awards.

'My Blake incarcerated'

But the night belonged to Winehouse, whose stunned reaction to winning record of the year, was beamed into the ceremony from a London studio.

The 24-year-old singer was seen hugging her mother as the crowd in Los Angeles chanted her name.

She paid tribute to her husband, "my Blake incarcerated", who is in custody awaiting trial on charges of attempting to pervert the course of justice and grievous bodily harm.

She also dedicated the win to London, "because Camden Town ain't burning down", a reference to a huge fire in the capital this weekend.

Winehouse, the first Briton to win the Grammy for best new artist since soul singer Sade in 1986, also performed You Know I'm No Good and Rehab.

In the song of the year category, Rehab saw off competition from singles by Rihanna, Carrie Underwood, the Plain White Ts and Corinne Bailey Rae.

Rehab was also named record of the year, beating efforts by Rihanna, Justin Timberlake, Beyonce and the Foo Fighters.

Her other accolades were best pop vocal album for Back To Black and best female pop vocal performance for Rehab.

Winehouse will now return to the Capio Nightingale clinic, where she has been treated for the past two weeks to overcome her high-profile drug problems.

The US embassy initially refused her a visa, then reversed their decision - but it was too late to allow her to travel to the ceremony.

She had been nominated for six awards, but lost out on the prize for album of the year.

Jazz upset

In a major upset, that went to jazz legend Herbie Hancock for River: The Joni Letters, his tribute to singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell - only the second time a jazz album has triumphed in the 50-year history of the Grammys.

"I'd like to thank the academy for courageously breaking the mould this time," Hancock said.

Kanye West led the nominations with eight, and came away with four trophies - for best rap song, best rap album, best rap solo performance and best rap performance by a duo or group.

The hip-hop star used his acceptance speech for best rap album to pay tribute to his mother Donda, who died in November.

But when the band struck up to try to cut short his speech, he said: "It would be in good taste to stop the music," and the music stopped.

"I know you're really proud of me right now and I know you want me to be the number one artist in the world," he said. "And mama, all I'm going to do is keep making you proud. We run this."

The show opened with a duet between Alicia Keys and footage of the late Frank Sinatra singing Learnin' the Blues.

Tina Turner returned to the stage for the first time in seven years to perform with Beyonce.

Songwriter Burt Bacharach received a Grammy Award for lifetime achievement at a separate ceremony on Saturday.

Amy Winehouse may be key Grammy moment

Kanye West is nominated for a leading eight Grammy awards and has a history, good or bad, of creating memorable awards show moments. But the superstar rapper and producer may be upstaged on Grammy night by another nominee who's not even able to attend Sunday's ceremony.

Troubled British singer-songwriter Amy Winehouse, up for six awards including album of the year for her "Back to Black" album, is due to perform via satellite from her home country, where she is currently being treated in a rehabilitation center for substance abuse.

In the days leading up to the ceremony, suspense was building whether the 24-year-old, whose personal life has fallen apart over the past year as her career blossomed, would be at the ceremony in any form. It was unclear whether she'd be well enough to take a break from rehab to attend; then, it was unclear whether the United States would grant her a work visa to appear.

After she was initially rejected for the visa this week, Grammy producers arranged for her to perform via telecast. Soon afterward, the U.S. government reversed itself and approved Winehouse, but it was too late in the week at that point to make the cross-continental trek.

Winehouse is only behind West for the most nominations on the night. The retro-soul singer's top-selling American debut is not only up for album of the year, but song and record of the year for her autobiographical, sassy hit "Rehab," about her refusal to undergo treatment. Though the album was a critical and commercial breakthrough for her, her personal troubles, which made regular tabloid headlines, threatened to overshadow her music.

In any other year, it would likely be West who would be the main story line going into Grammy week. He too is up for album of the year for "Graduation," which had the best-selling debut of last year with almost one million copies sold in the first week alone. This is West's third album and the third time he has been nominated for album of the year.

While he has won a handful of Grammys, they have been in the rap categories, where the bulk of his nominations are this year as well. West has provided stirring awards show performances, but has also been known to go on a tirade when he has not won what he thought he deserved, perhaps most notably at last year's MTV Video Music Awards.

Late last year, he suffered a traumatic loss when his mother and manager Donda West died after complications of plastic surgery. West, whose mother was often with him at awards ceremonies, is due to perform on Sunday's broadcast.

Besides West and Winehouse, the other album of the year contenders were the Foo Fighters' "Echoes, Silence, Patience and Grace," Vince Gill's "These Days," and Herbie Hancock's "The River."

For record of the year, Winehouse's "Rehab" is competing against Beyonce's "Irreplaceable," Rihanna's "Umbrella," "The Pretender" by the Foo Fighters and Justin Timberlake's "What Goes Around ... Comes Around."

Among the broadcast's scheduled performances were Beyonce with rock goddess Tina Turner; Rihanna with The Time; Aretha Franklin, Josh Groban, Alicia Keys with John Mayer and Carrie Underwood.

This year marks the 50th anniversary of the Grammys. But the Hollywood writer's strike had threatened disrupt the telecast when the Writers Guild of America indicated they might not grant the show a waiver to use writers, leaving the potential of a boycott. But an interim agreement was reached.

The show will be broadcast live on CBS. The bulk of the 100-plus trophies will be given out in a pre-telecast ceremon

Grammy Award Nominations 2008

Presented February 10, 2008

Thursday December 6, 2007 the nominations for the 2008 Grammy Awards were announced. The awards will be presented February 10, 2008 in Los Angeles, California. The nominees are voted on and winners selected by members of the Recording Academy.

The Grammy Awards give out over 100 different trophies. I have listed only the nominations in the General, Pop, and Rock categories. The nominees are:

General
Record of the Year

Beyonce - "Irreplaceable"
Foo Fighters - "The Pretender"
Rihanna featuring Jay-Z - "Umbrella"
Justin Timberlake - "What Goes Around...Comes Around"
Amy Winehouse - "Rehab"

Album of the Year

Foo Fighters - Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace
Vince Gill - These Days
Herbie Hancock - River: The Joni Letters
Kanye West - Graduation
Amy Winehouse - Back to Black

Song of the Year

Plain White T's - "Hey There Delilah"
Corinne Bailey Rae - "Like a Star"
Rihanna featuring Jay-Z - "Umbrella"
Carrie Underwood - "Before He Cheats"
Amy Winehouse - "Rehab"

Best New Artist

Feist
Ledisi
Paramore
Taylor Swift
Amy Winehouse

Pop
Best Female Pop Vocal

Chrisina Aguilera - "Candyman"
Feist - "1,2,3,4"
Fergie - "Big Girls Don't Cry"
Nelly Furtado - "Say It Right"
Amy Winehouse - "Rehab"

Best Male Pop Vocal

Michael Buble - "Everything"
John Mayer - "Belief"
Paul McCartney - "Dance Tonight"
Seal - "Amazing"
Justin Timberlake - "What Goes Around...Comes Around"

Best Pop Duo or Group With Vocal

Bon Jovi - "(You Want to) Make A Memory"
Daughtry - "Home"
Maroon 5 - "Makes Me Wonder"
Plain White T's - "Hey There Delilah"
U2 - "Window in the Skies"

Best Pop Collaboration With Vocals

Tony Bennett & Christina Aguilera - "Steppin' Out"
Beyonce & Shakira - "Beautiful Liar"
Robert Plant & Alison Krauss - "Gone Gone Gone (Done Moved On)"
Gwen Stefani & Akon - "The Sweet Escape"
Timbaland featuring Nelly Furtado & Justin Timberlake - "Give It To Me"

Best Pop Instrumental

Beastie Boys - "Off the Grid"
Ben Harper & the Innocent Criminals - "Paris Sunrise #7"
Dave Koz - "Over the Rainbow"
Joni Mitchell - "One Week Last Summer"
Spyro Gyra - "Simple Pleasures"

Best Pop Instrumental Album

Beastie Boys - The Mix-Up
Chris Botti - Italia
Dave Koz - At the Movies
Spyro Gyra - Good to Go-Go
Kirk Whalum - Round Trip

Best Pop Vocal Album

Bon Jovi - Lost Highway
Feist - The Reminder
Maroon 5 - It Won't Be Soon Before Long
Paul McCartney - Memory Almost Full
Amy Winehouse - Back to Black