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Will Coldplay Sweep This Year's Grammys?

posted Thursday, December 4, 2008

Tags: Coldplay

Last night's announcement of the Grammy nominations was the best evidence I've seen of a new British invasion: all five nominees for Record of the Year are British. (Well, four-and-a-half: Robert Plant's collaborator, bluegrass queen Alison Krauss, is from Illinois.) The nominees were:

Adele - "Chasing Pavements"
Coldplay - "Viva La Vida"
Leona Lewis - "Bleeding Love"
M.I.A. - "Paper Planes"
Robert Plant and Alison Krauss - "Please Read the Letter"

Three out of five of the Album of the Year nominees are UK-based:

Coldplay - Viva La Vida Or Death And All His Friends
Lil Wayne - Tha Carter III
Ne-Yo - Year Of The Gentleman
Robert Plant and Alison Krauss - Raising Sand
Radiohead - In Rainbows

Britain also claims three of the five Song of the Year nominees:

Estelle ft. Kanye West - "American Boy"
Adele - "Chasing Pavements"
Jason Mraz - "I'm Yours"
Sara Bareilles - "Love Song"
Coldplay - "Viva La Vida"

Lastly, Best New Artist sets up a battle between watered-down Winehouse-alikes Adele and Duffy. (Leona Lewis, shockingly, was snubbed in this category.) My prediction is that they'll split the vote, allowing the Jonas Brothers to sneak in for the win.

Coldplay has seven nominations, and they are primed to break The Dixie Chicks' record of five Grammy wins by a band in one night. If you recall, Coldplay are already Grammy favorites, having won Record of the Year back in 2004 for "Clocks" over Beyonce's "Crazy in Love," Outkast's "Hey Ya," and Eminem's Oscar-winning "Lose Yourself." "Viva La Vida" for Record of the Year and Song of the Year are both locks, and I'll predict they'll win Album of the Year as well. History dictates that Plant and Krauss will take home that award, which is usually reserved for the stodgy veteran in the category. But the Coldplay boys seem to be settling in to their role as the new U2, a socially responsible, vaguely arty, MOR rock band with massive sales. They make the recording industry proud; hell, they even defended EMI in the press!

M.I.A.'s "Paper Planes," a song so old I included it in my Best of 2007, is nominated for Record of the Year. It won't win, but perhaps we'll get to see her perform it on awards night, gunshot sound effects intact?

Other notable nominees: Hot Chip was nominated for Best Dance Recording for "Ready For the Floor," a song I'll definitely include on my Best of 2008 list. Aussie Sam Sparro's "Black and Gold," which was a sensation this year in the UK, was also nominated for Best Dance Recording. And those Tennessee boys from Kings of Leon are finally getting some stateside love: they received three nominations in the rock category, including two well-deserved ones for "Sex on Fire."

Go to Grammy.com for the complete list.

In other news:

Check out a bronzed-and-beautiful Kate Winslet. Hot hot hot. (The Sun)
Robert Pattinson says his life has been transformed by his Twilight fame: "It's funny, but about a year ago I'd talk to girls and no-one would be interested...and then when it was announced that I would be in Twilight, and the book's author gave me her seal of approval, everyone seemed to change their mind. The attention I get now is just mind-bending." (Telegraph)
Michael Parkinson says it took 20 years for his chat show to book Madonna as a guest - and the reason will surprise no one. "Her people used to put all these strictures on, and we'd say, 'No, she comes in and talks about her life. She's got nothing to hide, for God's sake!' And, of course, when they finally allowed that, you wonder what the fuss was about. I mean, she is quite capable of looking after herself, that girl. She's tough. And she's a very inspirational interview for any young person who might be persuaded that the way to the top for an entertainer is to go on X Factor. She actually pointed out the truth of the matter - that the great artists work bloody hard at their job." (Telegraph)
Britons are sluttier than Italians? (The Times)
Morrissey will perform a concert in Manchester on his 50th birthday next year. (NME)
Will Liam and Noel Gallagher produce dueling solo records after Oasis' tour? (NME)
Leona Lewis' cover of Snow Patrol's "Run" is the fastest-downloaded digital-only single in British history. (NME)
Sarah "Slapper" Symonds, Gordon Ramsay's alleged mistress, has been fired from her job for her loose lips (if not for her loose legs). Her place of work? A "dating website that specializes in hooking married people up behind their partner's backs," reports The Daily Mail.
Little Britain's Matt Lucas has traded in his ex for a younger model. Literally. (Daily Mail)
Robbie Williams once smoked "rubber from someone's shoe" thinking it was pot. (Mirror)
Vote for Absolutely Fabulous for Best DVD of the Year at TV.com.

For Your Consideration as Doctor Who: Sophie Okonedo

posted Wednesday, December 3, 2008

Tags: Sophie Okonedo, Doctor Who

Female scientists are lobbying for a female Doctor Who, and many people say it's time for a black Timelord. What about a black female Doctor Who? Folks, I offer you Sophie Okonedo. She reflects multi-cultural Britain in a way that most actors cannot; she's of Nigerian and Jewish heritage, and she's London born-and-raised. Her acting talent is beyond question; she's RADA-trained, she was Oscar-nominated for her role as Don Cheadle's wife in Hotel Rwanda, and the sleeper success of The Secret Life of Bees means she's a hot commodity right now. She can play cheeky, she can play dark, she can play badass, and she can play eccentric. And she already has Doctor Who credentials: Okonedo voiced Alison Cheney in the Doctor Who animated series, Scream of the Shalka. The lady rocks, and she would make a crackin' Timelord. Your thoughts?

In other news:

Robert Carlyle is lobbying for a Robert Carlyle Doctor Who. (Stv)
Russell T. Davies is developing a TV drama titled The Fabulous Baker Boys, which, oddly, isn't a remake of the Michelle Pfeiffer '80s classic. (Digital Spy)
Gareth David-Lloyd (Ianto) reveals a bit about the next season of Torchwood. (Coventry Telegraph)
How David Tennant was upstaged by a skull during his performance as Hamlet. (Guardian)
Boy George's lawyer employs the fat-ass defense for his client: "With the greatest of respect to George O'Dowd, he is not someone you could describe as terribly fit. He has put on a few pounds since the 1980s. He is not going to be a match for Audun Carlsen." (Daily Mail)
Amy Winehouse's husband has been sent back to the slammer for failing a drug test. (The Independent)
Gary Barlow of Take That slams Britney: "I don't see the point of Britney anymore, she was rubbish on [X Factor]. I think she's more famous than she deserves to be now." (Mirror)
Was Leona Lewis' "Bleeding Love" the song of 2008? (EW)
Girls Aloud will open for Coldplay at their big Wembley gig next September. (BBC)
Paul O'Grady, the British TV presenter who appears on this weekend's Graham Norton, was bitten by a "4 ft. adder" that came out of some wood he was loading to his fireplace. "Paul thought his time was up. He thought it might be a foreign poisonous snake at first and was absolutely terrified." (Daily Record)
What's up with all the mainstream stars hitting British soaps? (Guardian)
The lengths John Cleese must go to in order to kiss his much-shorter, much-younger girlfriend. (Daily Mail)