Taylor Swift, Michael Jackson and Eminem received the most nominations for the 2009 American Music Awards, which will air live from Los Angeles’ Nokia Theatre on November 22nd. Swift leads the field with six nominations, followed by Jackson with five and Eminem with four. All three artists, plus Kings of Leon and [...]]]>

Photo: Kravitz/FilmMagic; Mazur/WireImage.com; Kravitz/FilmMagic

Taylor Swift, Michael Jackson and Eminem received the most nominations for the 2009 American Music Awards, which will air live from Los Angeles’ Nokia Theatre on November 22nd. Swift leads the field with six nominations, followed by Jackson with five and Eminem with four. All three artists, plus Kings of Leon and Lady Gaga, were nominated for the coveted Artist of the Year award. So far, Alicia Keys, the Black Eyed Peas, Jennifer Lopez and Adam Lambert have been named as performers at the ceremony, with Lambert reportedly set to unveil a new song from his upcoming post-Idol debut album.

Lambert, along with former American Idol judge Paula Abdul and Snoop Dogg, were on hand this morning to announce the nominees. According to a press release, the nominees “were selected from data supplied by the Nielsen Company’s Broadcast Data Systems, which monitors radio airplay performance, and SoundScan, which tracks retail music sales.” This pretty much explains why Michael Jackson and his Number Ones are included on the nominees list: Even though the greatest-hits compilation was originally released in 2003, it’s sold almost two million copies since the King of Pop’s death on June 25th, making Jackson’s eligible for a posthumous Artist of the Year award.

Beyoncé, Black Eyed Peas, Lady Gaga, Kings of Leon and T.I. all locked up three nominations apiece. Fan voting will determine the winners (as it has for the past three years), so head over to the ABC Website to cast your vote. (Last year’s big winner was Chris Brown.) Check out the AMA nominees below:

POP or ROCK MUSIC
Favorite Male Artist
Eminem
Michael Jackson
T.I.

Favorite Female Artist
Beyoncé
Lady Gaga
Taylor Swift

Favorite Band, Duo or Group
Black Eyed Peas
Kings of Leon
Nickelback

Favorite Album
Lady Gaga – Fame
Michael Jackson – Number Ones
Taylor Swift – Fearless

COUNTRY MUSIC
Favorite Male Artist
Jason Aldean
Darius Rucker
Keith Urban

Favorite Female Artist
Reba McEntire
Taylor Swift
Carrie Underwood

Favorite Band, Duo or Group
Rascal Flatts
Sugarland
Zac Brown Band

Favorite Album
Rascal Flatts – Unstoppable
Taylor Swift – Fearless
Zac Brown Band – Foundation

RAP/HIP-HOP MUSIC
Favorite Male Artist
Eminem
Jay-Z
T. I.

Favorite Album
Eminem – Relapse
Jay-Z – Blueprint 3
T.I. – Paper Trail

SOUL/RHYTHM & BLUES MUSIC
Favorite Male Artist
Jamie Foxx
Michael Jackson
Maxwell

Favorite Female Artist
Beyoncé
Keyshia Cole
Keri Hilson

Favorite Band, Duo or Group
Black Eyed Peas
Day26
Mary Mary

Favorite Album
Beyoncé – I Am… Sasha Fierce
Black Eyed Peas – The E.N.D.
Michael Jackson – Number Ones

SOUNDTRACKS
Favorite Album
Hannah Montana: The Movie
Hannah Montana 3
Twilight Soundtrack

ALTERNATIVE ROCK MUSIC
Favorite Artist
Green Day
Kings of Leon
Shinedown

ADULT CONTEMPORARY MUSIC
Favorite Artist
Daughtry
Jason Mraz
Taylor Swift

ARTIST OF THE YEAR
Alternative – Kings of Leon
Country – Taylor Swift
Pop/Rock – Lady Gaga
Rap/Hip-Hop – Eminem
Soul/R&B – Michael Jackson

T-MOBILE BREAKTHROUGH ARTIST NOMINATIONS
Pop/Rock Breakthrough Artist – Kings of Leon, Lady Gaga
Country Breakthrough Artist – Gloriana, Zac Brown Band
Soul/R&B Breakthrough Artist – Keri Hilson, Jermiah
Rap/Hip-Hop Breakthrough Artist – Drake, Kid Cudi

Go to Source

Related posts

• U2 to Reissue “The Unforgettable Fire” With Deluxe Edition, Box Set (0)
• Tour Tracker: Cold War Kids, Joe Perry Project and Band of Skulls (0)
• Tour Tracker: AFI, Butthole Surfers and Dead Man’s Bones (0)
• Steely Dan Wrap Beacon Theatre Stand With “Gaucho” Gig (0)
• Smashing Pumpkins Mix Elation With Frustration at NYC Anniversary Stop (0)

There was a tie for Most Significant Special Effect on Day Two of the Austin City Limits Festival. The first contender was Austin’s own Ghostland Observatory, whose agitated dance music took a back seat to a breathtaking light show. The stage shot sharp, endless beams of green light over the heads of festivalgoers, occasionally filling [...]]]>

There was a tie for Most Significant Special Effect on Day Two of the Austin City Limits Festival. The first contender was Austin’s own Ghostland Observatory, whose agitated dance music took a back seat to a breathtaking light show. The stage shot sharp, endless beams of green light over the heads of festivalgoers, occasionally filling in the spaces between the eerie beacons with cloudlike LED patterns. The stage itself was almost entirely obscured by smoke and bathed in neon purple lights, frontman Aaron Behrens (in a cowboy hat, hair in pigtails) and instrumentalist Thomas Turner (in a lit-up vampire cape) often hidden completely. The group sent up multicolored cubes and triangles, and endless series of neon-brite colors that made Zilker Park feel like the inside of a nightclub in the early ’90s. It was like if Tool suddenly cheered up and went day-glo while simultaneously discovering Daft Punk records. (Watch footage from their set above).

Experience Austin City Limits in our best live photos.

The second contender for showstopping spectacle, unfortunately, was Mother Nature. Saturday was plagued by insistent, often torrential downpours, which rendered much of the day a muddy and, occasionally, miserable mess.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, the bands that played before the rain were the most successful. Sarah Jaffe’s early afternoon set found the Denton, Texas singer/songwriter working her way through a set of gentle, slowly building country songs marked by a sense of determination. “I never look down and I never let go,” she sang during one song, and the music’s steady build and slow simmer served as the perfect complement.

Check out backstage photos of Phoenix, Avett Brothers, Blitzen Trapper and more at ACL.

Deer Tick’s approach was more laconic. The group’s grizzled country rock were well suited to the afternoon haze. vocalist John McCauley has a rough and ragged voice, one he drags along the bottom of songs that grind and wheeze like a busted pickup. They even had time for a few covers — a sizzling version of Lightnin’ Hopkins’ “Shotgun Blues,” Townes Van Zandt’s plaintive “White Freight Liner” and, inexplicably, “La Bamba.” (Go backstage with the band below.)

The Raveonettes dropped out of the festival at the last minute due to visa problems but, arguably, they couldn’t have outdone the band that replaced them: Austin’s Neon Indian. With their high-wire guitar leads, icicle keys, lockstep rhythms and singer Alan Palomo’s intentionally glitchy croon, the group came off like a chopped-and-screwed version of New Order. Playing songs off its coming-soon debut, Psychic Chasms, Neon Indian had a effervescence that masked a hazy undercurrent of sleaze.

Once the rain arrived, bands could either choose to confront it or be shouted down. Bon Iver, unfortunately, suffered the latter fate. His loping folk songs are lovely, but he was often drowned out by the weather. It was only by confronting the din that one could survive, and the act that did it most successfully was !!! (pronounced “chk-chk-chk”). Nic Offer has grown into an endlessly watchable frontman. He opened his leather jacket to tease the crowd with his gangly frame, and spent more of the show in the audience than with his band. At one point, he snagged a festivalgoer’s purple umbrella, twirling it above his head as he worked his way through the crowd.

The Airborne Toxic Event chose defiance as well. Their moody, gothy rock songs were well-suited to the day’s grim weather. “How do all of you people know who the fuck we are?” asked frontman Mikel Jollett early in the show. That they managed to draw one of the afternoon’s biggest crowds indicates Jollett may be asking that question for some time to come. (Watch our backstage interview with the band below.)

Levon Helm was introduced before his set as “a hero of American music.” The former Band member probably qualifies, if, for nothing else, returning to the stage not long after surgery to remove a benign lesion on his vocal chords. His set, more than any other on Saturday, felt like a three-dimensional version of an old episode of Austin City Limits, his 12-piece band delivering a rollicking blast of bluesy R&B, soulful rock, country blues and other iterations of roots music. Helm was clearly delighted to be back onstage, even leaving his drum kit to play mandolin and (sort of) sing on a version of Blind Lemon Jefferson’s “Deep Ellum Blues,” grinning like a kid and doing an odd-but-endearing rump-shaking dance during the horn break. “It’ll be a short little while and he’ll be singing his ass off,” guitarist Larry Campbell said, before introducing “Tennessee Jed” (which, he added, Helm normally”sings the crap” out of) from the Helm’s recent Dirt Farmer. No doubt.

If Helm was all unbridled joy, The Decemberists were severe and focused. As they have been doing for some time, the group played their circuitous prog-folk album The Hazards of Love from start-to-finish, coming off more as theater than rock & roll. (Check out some of their set, along with footage of Alberta Cross and Grizzly Bear below).

There was also a late-day miracle: the Zac Brown Band, who are currently at the peak of their popularity owing to both the chart dominance of their singles “Toes” and “Chicken Fried” and the ongoing juggernaut sales of their album The Foundation, were scheduled to take the stage just as the rain was at its worst. But the instant the band struck its first chord, the rain abated and a bit of sun worked its way through the clouds. This is well-suited to the group’s music: good-time, simple-pleasure country music.

That the group is on the ascent was obvious: the audience happily sang along to opening number “Whatever it Is,” and greeted the appearance of both singles with raised hands and loud cheers. And since the band are the good-natured, accommodating sort, they even threw their audience a few covers — Charlie Daniels’ “The Devil Went Down to Georgia” and Van Morrison’s “Into the Mystic.” And then, as soon as they were done, the heavens opened again, and the rain resumed until evening.

More Austin City Limits:

• Dave Matthews Band Mix “Whiskey” With Jams at Austin City Limits on Day Two
• Kings of Leon, Yeah Yeah Yeahs Wrap Austin City Limits Day One
• Them Crooked Vultures Jolt Austin City Limits, Plus Phoenix, Avett Brothers Rock Day One

Look back at the best of Rolling Stone’s summer festival coverage

Go to Source

Related posts

• Them Crooked Vultures Jolt Austin City Limits, Plus Phoenix, Avett Brothers Rock Day One (0)
• “Grace” Remembered: 15 Years Since Jeff Buckley’s Masterpiece (0)
• Temple of the Dog Reunite at Pearl Jam’s Los Angeles Concert (0)
• Rolling Stone’s Top Stories (0)
• Rolling Stone’s Top Stories (0)

Leave it to Kanye West to produce one of the most infamous moments in VMAs history before the 2009 show was even an hour old. It happened after Taylor Swift’s victory in the Best Female Video category for “You Belong With Me,” which beat out Beyoncé’s “Single Ladies (Put a Ring On It).” Just [...]]]>

Photo: Polk/Getty

Leave it to Kanye West to produce one of the most infamous moments in VMAs history before the 2009 show was even an hour old. It happened after Taylor Swift’s victory in the Best Female Video category for “You Belong With Me,” which beat out Beyoncé’s “Single Ladies (Put a Ring On It).” Just moments after Swift accepted the Moonman and began her acceptance speech, West stormed the stage, taking the microphone from Swift to announce Beyoncé deserved the award.

VMAs 2009 in photos: Kanye’s stage invasion, Madonna pays tribute to MJ and more.

“Thank you so much!” Swift began. “I always dreamed about what it would be like to maybe win one of these some day, but I never actually thought it would have happened. I sing country music so thank you so much for giving me a chance to win a VMA award.”

Before she could continue, West broke in. “Yo Taylor, I’m really happy for you, I’ll let you finish, but Beyoncé has one of the best videos of all time. One of the best videos of all time!” Kanye shouted to a mortified Swift and the speechless audience. And as quickly as he ran onstage — MTV cut away to show Pink applauding Taylor, and when they flashed back to Swift, West already had the mic in his hand — he was off, leaving a shocked Swift in his wake.

Everyone at the Radio City Music Hall looked stunned, as the cameras captured an astonished and horrified Beyoncé still in her seat. Soon after, the audience gave a standing ovation in support of Swift. To add insult to injury, after Kanye handed the microphone back to Swift, her time was up, and MTV cut to a video featuring Tracy Morgan and Eminem.

Look back at Kanye’s other awards-show outbursts, and the most famous stage invasion in rock history.

According to sources at the VMAs, Swift was seen hysterically crying backstage after Kanye’s outburst, making it convenient that her performance of “You Belong to Me,” which immediately followed the acceptance speech, was prerecorded. Wale, who is serving as MC for the house band, told the crowd, “You can’t fault a man for speaking his mind,” which was promptly met by boos from the Radio City Music Hall crowd. According to our sources inside Radio City, Kanye was promptly tossed from the VMAs after interrupting Swift’s speech. “I’m assuming based on the amount of Hennessey I saw [West] drink that he was not all there,” Fall Out Boy’s Patrick Stump told Rolling Stone backstage at the show.

Follow Rolling Stone’s live blog and all our VMAs coverage here.

Near the end of the show, Beyoncé invited Swift onstage to have the acceptance speech she deserved while picking up her own Moonman for Video of the Year. Later, West posted an apology on his blog:

“I’m sooooo sorry to taylor swift and her fans and her mom. I spoke to her mother right after and she said the same thing my mother would’ve said. She is very talented! I like the lyrics about being a cheerleader and she’s in the bleachers! …………………… i’m in the wrong for going on stage and taking away from her moment!……………. beyonce’s video was the best of this decade! I’m sorry to my fans if I let you guys down! I’m sorry to my friends at mtv. I will apologize to taylor 2mrw. welcome to the real world! everybody wanna booooo me but i’m a fan of real pop culture! No disrespect but we watchin’ the show at the crib right now cause … well you know! i’m still happy for taylor! Boooyaaawwww! you are very very talented! I gave my awards to outkast when they deserved it over me… that’s what it is!! i’m not crazy yall, i’m just real. Sorry for that! I really feel bad for taylor and i’m sincerely sorry! Much respect!!”

More VMAs:

• Kanye West Storms the VMAs Stage During Taylor Swift’s Speech
• Photos: 2009 VMAs Red Carpet
• Madonna Surprises VMAs With Michael Jackson Tribute

Go to Source

Related posts

• Taylor Swift Thanks “Gracious” Beyonce for Inviting Her Onstage After Kanye Stunt at VMAs (0)
• Taylor Swift Recounts Kanye West VMAs Incident on “The View” (0)
• Rolling Stone’s Top Stories (0)
• Rewind: The Week in Rock Daily (0)
• Paula Abdul and “American Idol” Insiders React to Ellen News (0)

Rolling Stone was perusing this year’s Country Music Awards nominees — where all-stars like Keith Urban, Taylor Swift and George Strait each earned four nominations apiece — when one bold faced band name came leaping off the page: The Raconteurs. That’s right, Jack White’s other other side project was nominated in the Musical [...]]]>

Photo: Stephen Berkman

Rolling Stone was perusing this year’s Country Music Awards nominees — where all-stars like Keith Urban, Taylor Swift and George Strait each earned four nominations apiece — when one bold faced band name came leaping off the page: The Raconteurs. That’s right, Jack White’s other other side project was nominated in the Musical Event category for teaming up with country music’s Ricky Skaggs and Ashley Monroe for Consolers of the Lonely’s “Old Enough.”

This isn’t the first time White has been nominated for his contributions to country: In 2005, White won a Best Country Collaboration with Vocals Grammy award for his “Portland, Oregon” duet with Loretta Lynn. White also produced Lynn’s Van Lear Rose, which also won the Best Country Album Grammy in 2005.

If White and the Raconteurs happened somehow to defeat their competitors in the Musical Event category — Carrie Underwood and Randy Travis’ “I Told You So”, Lee Ann Womack and George Strait’s “Everything But Quits,” Kenny Chesney and Mac McAnally’s “Down the Road” and Brooks & Dunn and Reba McEntire’s “Cowgirls Don’t Cry” — they’ll become the second consecutive rockers to claim victory in the category, following Robert Plant and Alison Krauss’ Musical Event win last year for “Gone, Gone, Gone (Done Moved On).”

The 43rd Annual CMA Awards will broadcast live from Nashville’s Sonnet Center on November 11th. Carrie Underwood and Brad Paisley, who leads the CMA field with six nominations, will host the festivities. No word yet whether the Raconteurs will appear and/or perform at the event.

Go to Source

Related posts

• “Be My Baby” Songwriter Ellie Greenwich Dead at 68 (0)
• Them Crooked Vultures Unleash First Single “New Fang,” Add Dates (0)
• Them Crooked Vultures Jolt Austin City Limits, Plus Phoenix, Avett Brothers Rock Day One (0)
• Temple of the Dog Reunite at Pearl Jam’s Los Angeles Concert (0)
• Rolling Stone’s Top Stories (0)

Here’s something for the “unconventional collaborations” files: American Idol country sweetheart Kellie Pickler has found a new partner in crime in fiercely flamboyant glam rocker Justin Tranter of Semi Precious Weapons. The pair met at New York’s Bryant Park last February, hit it off and stayed in touch. “We just clicked instantly, probably [...]]]>

Photo: Mazur/WireImage(Pickler), Coppola/FilmMagic(Tranter)

Here’s something for the “unconventional collaborations” files: American Idol country sweetheart Kellie Pickler has found a new partner in crime in fiercely flamboyant glam rocker Justin Tranter of Semi Precious Weapons. The pair met at New York’s Bryant Park last February, hit it off and stayed in touch. “We just clicked instantly, probably because we look like gorgeous blonde twins, both wearing 5-inch heels separated at birth and raised on different planets,” Tranter tells RS. “I have the
filthiest rock & roll band in New York, and she is a Southern Belle country music princess, but we can just talk for hours like we are the same girl.”

Their initial plans involved collaborating on a necklace (Tranter has a jewelry line), writing a song and conducting “a racy photo shoot together wearing nothing but panties and heels for Rolling Stone!” The two have completed two out of the three (uh, thankfully?), and the necklace was up for sale at the merch booth when Taylor Swift’s tour swung into New York’s Madison Square Garden last week. (Check out photos and a full report from Swift’s Fearless show.)

“After the show at Madison Square Garden, we went to a little restaurant and pigged out on French fries, macaroni and cheese and champagne,” Pickler says. “We ended up writing a song in the bathroom!” Tranter tells us the tune is called “Black Tears” and is “all about crying while wearing too much makeup. So country, so glam, so rock & roll, so beautiful.”

Tranter adds, “Kellie is so much more rock & roll than anyone knows. But I think the world will find out soon.”

Related Stories:

• Semi Precious Weapons on the Road and Out of Control at SXSW
• Breaking: Semi Precious Weapons
• American Idol’s Biggest Winners and Losers

Go to Source

Related posts

• VMAs Return To New York With Russell Brand, Taylor Swift, Muse (0)
• Taylor Swift Thanks “Gracious” Beyonce for Inviting Her Onstage After Kanye Stunt at VMAs (0)
• Rolling Stone’s Top Stories (0)
• Rolling Stone’s Top Stories (0)
• Rewind: The Week in Rock Daily (0)