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54th Annual GRAMMY Awards Nominees

TP Newswire — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 19:30:44 +0000

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Current GRAMMY nominees Chris Brown ,deadmau5, Foo Fighters, David Guetta , and Lil Wayne will join for a special performance highlighting dance/electronica music for the first time ever on the 54th Annual GRAMMY Awards (www.grammy.com ).

Music’s Biggest Night — hosted by two-time GRAMMY winner LL COOL J — takes place live on Sunday, Feb. 12 at STAPLES Center in Los Angeles and will be broadcast in high definition and 5.1 surround sound on the CBS Television Network from 8 – 11:30 p.m. (ET/PT). The show also will be supported on radio worldwide via Dial Global, and covered online at GRAMMY.com and CBS.com, and on YouTube at www.youtube.com/thegrammys .

Additional performers, presenters and special segments will be announced soon. For GRAMMY coverage, updates and breaking news, please visit The Recording Academy’s social networks on Twitter and Facebook: www.twitter.com/thegrammys , www.facebook.com/thegrammys .

The performance will take place in a special outdoor tent adjacent to STAPLES Center on the Nokia Plaza at L.A. LIVE. Consulting and participating on this special segment is renowned hospitality company The Light Group’s HAZE Nightclub at ARIA Resort & Casino in Las Vegas.

Four-time GRAMMY winner Lil Wayne has five nominations: Best Rap Performance for “Look At Me Now” (with Chris Brown and Busta Rhymes); two nods in Best Rap/Sung Collaboration for “I’m On One” (with DJ Khaled, Drake and Rick Ross) and “Motivation” (with Kelly Rowland); Best Rap Song for “Look At Me Now”; and Best Rap Album for Tha Carter IV .

deadmau5 has three nominations: Best Dance Recording for “Raise Your Weapon” (with Greta Svabo Bech), Best Dance/Electronica Album for 4X4=12, and Best Remixed Recording, Non-Classical for Foo Fighters’ “Rope” (deadmau5 Mix). Two-time GRAMMY winner Guetta is up for two awards: Best Dance Recording for “Sunshine” (with Avicii), and Best Dance/Electronica Album for Nothing But The Beat.

Previously announced performers for the 54th Annual GRAMMY Awards include Adele (in her first live performance since undergoing vocal cord surgery last fall); Jason Aldean and Kelly Clarkson ; Tony Bennett and Carrie Underwood ; Chris Brown ; Glen Campbell with The Band Perry and Blake Shelton ; Coldplay and Rihanna; Foo Fighters; Alicia Keys and Bonnie Raitt ; Bruno Mars ; PaulMcCartney; Nicki Minaj; Katy Perry ; Bruce Springsteen And The E Street Band; and Taylor Swift.

Aldean, The Band Perry, deadmau5, Guetta, Minaj, and Shelton will perform on the GRAMMY telecast for the first time. Previously announced presenters are Marc Anthony , Dierks Bentley , Jack Black ,Drake, Fergie, Lady Antebellum, Miranda Lambert , Gwyneth Paltrow , Ryan Seacrest , Ahmir “?uestlove” Thompson, and Ringo Starr .

LL COOL J has hosted “The GRAMMY Nominations Concert Live!! — Countdown To Music’s Biggest Night” since its inception in December 2008, and this is his first time hosting the annual GRAMMY Awards telecast.

Image Courtesy of Randy Miramontez / Shutterstock.com

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William Shatner to Host CTV’s Broadcast of The 2012 JUNO AWARDS

TP Newswire — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 16:15:52 +0000

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CTV and The Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (CARAS) announced today that Canadian icon William Shatner will host CTV’s broadcast of THE 2012 Juno Awards on Sunday, April 1 from Scotiabank Place in Ottawa. Tickets for the 2012 Juno Awards go on sale on Friday Feb.10, beginning at 10 a.m. ET through the Scotiabank Place Box Office, The Sens Store locations at Carlingwood Mall and Place D’Orleans,

“I’m so pleased to be a part of The Juno Awards,” said William Shatner. “To be part of Canada’s entertainment industry is a point of pride.”

“A true Canadian icon, we are thrilled to welcome the man and the legend, William Shatner, as host of THE 2012 JUNO AWARDS broadcast,” said Phil King, President CTV Programming and Sports. “A recording artist himself, Mr. Shatner will bring his irreverent sense of humour and love for his home country to his role as host of Canada’s Music Awards.”

“We’re delighted to welcome one of our nation’s shining stars to Canada’s biggest night in music,” said Melanie Berry, President & CEO, CARAS/The Juno Awards. “William Shatner is a Canadian hero, and with his love for music, the stage, and entertaining as a whole, it’s sure to be an incredible show!”

Best known for roles as Captain James T. Kirk on Star Trek and the Emmy Award- winning role of Denny Crane on Boston Legal, Shatner is one of entertainment’s most recognizable stars. Born and raised in Montreal, Québec, Shatner has a career spanning over 50 years as an award-winning, actor, director, producer, recording artist and author.

His television and film credits span about 200 titles, including Shit My Dad Says, T.J. Hooker, Tekwar, The Practice and Miss Congeniality. And Shatner is no stranger to the music industry. Known for being a quirky and dramatic spoken word artist, Shatner has released three albums over the span of his career, titled The Transformed Man, Has Beenand the recently released Seeking Major Tom .

His renditions of “Mr. Tambourine Man” and “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds” have become cult hits. In February, Shatner opens on Broadway with Shatner’s World at the Music Box Theatre in New York City.

Following announcements made by CTV and CARAS today, the current performance lineup for The 2012 Juno Awards broadcast is Blue Rodeo, City and Colour, deadmau5, Feist, Hedley and Nickelback.

Helga Esteb / Shutterstock.com

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2011: The Year of South Africa’s Musical Scene

Karin Meyer — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 22:30:27 +0000

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Everyone who is music-conscious in South Africa is talking about it, ‘it’ being South Africa’s boom in popularity as a destination for international acts. This seems to go hand in hand with South African musicians’ new-found popularity abroad. Just think of artists such as Die Antwoord or Jack Parow. South Africa is serious about its music, and it’s a lovely surprise to see the world take notice.

International acts provided South Africa with much happy entertainment throughout 2011. The year featured an impressive line-up of top musical acts from around the world. These included The Script, Coldplay, Kings of Leon and U2 with their amazing spider-looking contraption of a stage. Roxette graced South African stages during their first world tour in sixteen years, and Faithless allowed South Africans of all ages to jam to their live music, right before another of their rumoured band break-ups.

Rammstein paid a visit for the first time in their career, and Deadmau5 took South Africa by storm – one which was unanticipated by the concert organizers, who had to book a bigger venue for their Cape Town concert. They just had too many South African fans. In fact, each of these concerts was particularly well attended – a sign of South Africa’s appreciation for being recognized as a part of the international circuit.

Various South African musicians opened for these big names, proving that they can be as good as big Grammy-award-winning stars. The Arrows did well when they opened for The Script; and Goldfish, an energetic South African duo playing double bass, keyboards, tenor and soprano sax, energized the masses when they opened for Faithless at Cape Town’s Grand West Casino.

Also worth mentioning is The Parlotones who opened for Coldplay. With his soothing, sultry voice and famous, striking eyeliner, The Parlotones lead singer Kahn Morbee soon had the crowd singing and dancing to their songs, not to mention the girls’ swooning at the Parlotone boys.

Equally, 2011 was a year for South African musicians to make waves abroad. Die Antwoord, a band claiming to be from “the dark dangerous depths of Afrika” (www.dieantwoord.com), has graced international stages as well as channels such as MTV. Look out for their new “Evil boy” toy range alongside their new album, “Ten$ion”, in 2012. Also on the move are acts such as the rapping, funny-yet-serious Jack Parow.

On the more theatrical side of things, local theatres are currently buzzing with the success of Andrew Lloyd-Weber’s internationally-acclaimed “The Phantom of the Opera,” and a band that composes for theater, “Mr. Cat and the Jackal”, made some interesting new sounds to the delight of South African theatre-lovers.

South Africa is proud of its cultural diversity and this is evident in its extraordinary variety of music festivals. New Year’s celebrations are never complete without the “Tweede Nuwe Jaar” Street Parade, or simply the “Coon Carnival,” a parade and street party during which colourful Cape minstrels take to the streets with authentic Cape Town sounds.

In 2011, up to sixty minstrel choirs paraded Cape Town streets singing traditional songs. Their colourful costumes, smiling faces and overall good-naturedness ensured a happy new year for all in attendance. Another mainstay, the National Festival of the Arts, transforms the small Eastern Cape town of Grahamstown into a massive cultural hub, featuring acts ranging from traditional African music and dancing to classical piano concerts.

Other festivals include “Rocking the Daisies,” “Rock the River SA” and the “Oppikoppi” festivals. These featured line-ups of more contemporary indigenous musical acts, entertaining the young-at-heart. The 2011 “Rock the River” ensured that their line-up catered even to dubstep fans, providing everyone with a chance to dance during festivals over Easter and New Year’s Eve. Lovers of trance music gathered together for a weekend of celebration at Synergy in November. These festivals are adored by music-lovers of all kinds.

This is but a small part of the musical happenings that kept South Africans smiling and dancing through 2011. Altogether it was a good year for musicians and audiences alike. May 2012 bring even more opportunities for South Africans to experience their favorite artists live and for South African stars to take on the world with their unique sounds.

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