ADELE

Kanye West, Adele, Bruno Mars lead Grammy choices

Rapper Kanye West led the field of Grammy contenders on Wednesday with seven nominations, including for his album "My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy" and his joint venture with Jay-Z "Watch The Throne".

But British singer Adele -- whose album "21" is the biggest-selling of 2011 -- and R&B artist Bruno Mars were close behind with six apiece, including nods for the three big awards of album, song and record of the year.

Other leading contenders for the major music industry awards show include U.S. alternative rock band Foo Fighters, also with six nominations, while rapper Lil Wayne and newcomer Skrillex had five nominations apiece.

The nominations for the top awards were announced during a televised concert in Los Angeles featuring performances by Lady Gaga, Usher and up-and-coming country singers The Band Perry.

Winners in all 78 categories will be announced at the Grammy Awards ceremony and show on February 12.

Traditional rock bands were largely missing from the leading categories, with hip-hop artists and female singers including Lady Gaga, Rihanna and Katy Perry grabbing the spotlight.

The best new artist category produced a particularly eclectic mix of female rapper Nicki Minaj, hip-hop artist J. Cole, country sensations The Band Perry, house and electropop performer Skrillex and American folk band Bon Iver.

WEST MAKES GOOD

The seven Grammy nods for West crowned a critical and commercial comeback for the controversial 34 year-old rapper who took a self-imposed hiatus from performing in 2009.

West recorded his best rap album contender "My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy" in Hawaii after removing himself from the mainstream U.S. music scene following harsh criticism over his 2009 outburst involving country starlet Taylor Swift at the MTV Video Music Awards.

West, already a 14 time Grammy winner, was also nominated for song of the year for "All of the Lights" and best rap performance with Jay-Z for "Otis".

Mars, 26, won three of his nominations on the back of his hit song "Grenade" off his debut album "Doo-Waps & Hooligans".

"It feels incredible right now," Mars told reporters.

"I'm so glad the album is being recognized in this way." "This awards stuff, I'm still trying to get used to it. It's hard for me as Adele and Kanye West are incredible, so the fact that the album was nominated in same category is amazing," Mars said.

Adele's six nominations mark the culminations of a momentous year for the 23 year-old singer, who won a Grammy for best new artist in 2009.

The sultry soul singer was recognized both for her album "21", which has sold more than 12 million copies worldwide, as well as her two smash singles "Rolling in the Deep" and "Someone Like You."

But the London-born singer is currently recovering from surgery on her vocal cords in November after suffering repeated voice problems and cancellations during her U.S. tour this year. It is not known whether she will have recovered in time to sing at the Grammy Awards in February. SOURCE

AMERICAN MUSIC AWARDS RECAP (PERFORMANCE VIDEO'S & WINNERS)

American Music Awards 2011: Watch The Performances

Taylor Swift sweeps American Music Awards

Idolator

Taylor Swift, Nicki Minaj and Jennifer Lopez were the big winners at the 2011 American Music Awards Sunday night, a performance-heavy evening dominated by onstage collaborations by the year's highest charting artists.

Taylor Swift picked up three of the biggest awards of the night, including Artist of the Year, Favorite Country Music Album for her third full-length release "Speak Now" and Favorite Country Female Artist for the fourth straight year.

Search: Taylor Swift videos, photos and more

Lopez, who nabbed the award for Favorite Latin Music Artist, broke out her Billboard chart-topping RedOne ode-to-love "Papi" in a rhinestone-covered nude body suit before being joined on stage by fellow Favorite Latin Music Artist nominee Pitbull for their banger "On The Floor." Later, Lopez lent her voice to the hook of will.i.am's new solo track "THE (The Hardest Ever)" in a futuristic black-light dance number that featured video of Mick Jagger performing a portion of the track.

Photo Gallery: Behind the scenes at the American Music Awards

There was more Mick to be had, at least in spirit, when Maroon 5 — who took home the first award of the night, Favorite Rock/Pop Band, Duo or Group — took the stage alongside Christina Aguilera to perform the undisputed song of summer (and Mom favorite) "Moves Like Jagger." Maroon 5 frontman Adam Levine then crossed the stage to meet Travie McCoy and Gym Class Heroes, who launched into their Benny Blanco/RoboPop single, "Stereo Hearts."

But GCH wasn't the only artist to make use of a stereo last night. To open the show, Nicki Minaj showed off her most famous, uh, assets in a pair of silver boombox pants. The Young Money femcee plugged herself into David Guetta's turntable stage for a tech-savvy performance of "Turn Me On" and "Moment For Life," as Swift and Selena Gomez rapped along from their seats. Soon after, Nicki won Favorite Rap/Hip-Hop Artist (thanking superfan Swift in her acceptance speech) and Favorite Rap/Hip-Hop Album for her debut "Pink Friday."

Justin Bieber took the stage early and alone in a white leather motorcycle outfit for his ska-inflected holiday hit "Mistletoe" but failed to score any big trophies over the course of the evening, despite a virtual legion of Beliebers.

Following an all-pink acoustic version of her tearjerker "The One That Got Away," Katy Perry, otherwise winless for the night, was presented a special American Music Achievement Award for racking up five No. 1 hits on a single album. Michael Jackson and Prince have also received the award, but Perry is the first female artist to earn the accolade.

Rihanna and Beyoncé, though not in attendance, both picked up awards: Rihanna took home Favorite Soul/R&B Album for "Loud" -- a vote of confidence on the eve of "Talk That Talk's" debut — and Beyoncé was named Favorite Soul/R&B Female artist.

Notable presenters included a very healthy-looking Sean Kingston, recently recovered from a jet-ski accident, and Adam Lambert who hadn't made an AMAs appearance since his controversial 2009 AMAs performance.

American Music Awards 2011 Winners List Artist of the Year: Taylor Swift

Favorite Pop/Rock Album: Adele, "21"

Favorite Soul/R&B Female Artist: Beyoncé

Favorite Latin Music Artist: Jennifer Lopez

Favorite Country Female Artist: Taylor Swift

Favorite Rap/Hip-Hop Artist: Nicki Minaj

Favorite Pop/Rock Male Artist: Bruno Mars

Favorite Country Band/Duo/Group: Lady Antebellum

Favorite Rock/Pop Band, Duo or Group: Maroon 5

Sprint New Artist of the Year: Hot Chelle Rae

Favorite Rap/Hip-Hop Album: Nicki Minaj, "Pink Friday"

Favorite Soul/R&B Album: Rihanna, "Loud"

Favorite Country Album: Taylor Swift, "Speak Now"

David Guetta & Nicki Minaj — ”Turn Me On” / “Super Bass” 211112195947 by YardieGoals

Justin Bieber — ”Mistletoe” 21111221411 by YardieGoals

The Band Perry — ”If I Die Young” Fast, Free Video Hosting & Video Sharing - VideoBam.

Chris Brown — ”All Back” / “Say It With Me” 21111222851 by YardieGoals

Kelly Clarkson — ”Mr. Know It All” Fast, Free Video Hosting & Video Sharing - VideoBam.

Enrique Iglesias & Ludacris — ”I Like How If Feels” / “Tonight (I’m Lovin’ You”) 2111122453 by YardieGoals

Jennifer Lopez — ”Papi” / “On The Floor” 2111122594 by YardieGoals

OneRepublic — ”Good Life” 211112211346 by YardieGoals

Pitbull & Marc Anthony — ”Give Me Everything” / “Rain Over Me” 211112211346PIT by YardieGoals

Katy Perry — ”The One That Got Away” 21111221311 by YardieGoals

Mary J. Blige — ”Mr. Wrong” 211112214919 by YardieGoals

Drake — ”Headlines” 211112221455 by YardieGoals

Maroon 5 & Christina Aguilera — ”Moves Like Jagger” / Gym Class Heroes — ”Stereo Hearts”

SOURCE

Katy Perry, 'Harry Potter' Top People's Choice Awards Nominations

Katy Perry and "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2" were the top nominees on Tuesday for the 2012 People's Choice Awards. Harry and the crew racked up a total of nine nominations for the 38th annual event, which will take place on January 11 at the Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles.

Other big names on the initial list of nominees include LMFAO, Maroon 5, Lady Gaga, Adele and Beyoncé.

"Potter" was the headline, though, with nine nods, including Favorite Movie and Favorite Action Movie, Favorite Actor (Daniel Radcliffe), Favorite Movie Star Under 25 (Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, Tom Felton, Emma Watson), Favorite Ensemble Movie Cast and Favorite Book Adaptation.

Perry was just behind with seven nods, including Favorite Female Artist, Favorite Song of the Year ("E.T."), Favorite Pop Artist, Favorite Animated Movie Voice ("The Smurfs") and Favorite Music Video for "Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.)." The high school musical hit "Glee" also had seven nominations for Favorite Network TV Comedy, Favorite TV Guest Star (Gwyneth Paltrow and Kristin Chenoweth) and love for stars Chris Colfer, Lea Michele, Cory Monteith and Jane Lynch. Voting for the awards ends on December 6. Kaley Cuoco will be the host for the show.

Other Favorite Movie nominees include "Bridesmaids," "Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides" and "Transformers: Dark of the Moon," while Ryan Reynolds, Robert Pattinson, Johnny Depp and Hugh Jackman will vie with Radcliffe for Favorite Movie Actor. It will be Anne Hathaway, Emma Stone and Jennifer Aniston up against Julia Roberts and Reese Witherspoon for Favorite Movie Actress, while "Thor," "Fast Five," "Transformers" and "X-Men: First Class" will face "Hallows" for the Favorite Action Movie title.

In the music categories, the Favorite Male Artist race includes Eminem, Bruno Mars, Justin Bieber, Enrique Iglesias and Blake Shelton, while Perry will be fighting Adele, Beyoncé, Lady Gaga and Taylor Swift for Favorite Female Artist. The Song of the Year race includes Gaga's "The Edge of Glory," Adele's "Rolling in the Deep," LMFAO's "Party Rock Anthem," Maroon 5's "Moves Like Jagger" and Perry's "E.T." Album of the Year includes discs from Adele, Beyoncé, Gaga, Britney Spears and Lady Antebellum, while Favorite Hip Hop Artist is a battle between Eminem, Jay-Z, Nicki Minaj, Pitbull and B.o.B.

SOURCE