The Grammy nominees

Will Carrie Underwood cap her American Idol win with her first Grammy? The Season III champ is up for Best Female Country Vocal Performance at the 2007 Grammy Awards. Good job but the win is not yet in the bag because she is up against very formidable opponents. The others nominated are Miranda Lambert for Kerosene; Martina McBride for I Still Miss Someone; LeAnn Rimes for Something’s Gotta Give; and Gretchen Wilson for I Don’t Feel Like Loving You Today.

Still on the Country Music nominees. Her first failed to get an Oscar but Nicole Kidman’s second, Keith Urban, might just bag a Grammy. Keith is a nominee for Best Male Country Vocal Performance for the song Once in a Lifetime alongside Dierks Bentley, Every Mile a Memory; Vince Gill, The Reason Why; George Strait, The Seashores of Old Mexico; and Josh Turner, Would You Go with Me.

These are just two interesting sidelights to the upcoming 49th Grammy Awards that will honor achievements in recorded sound in the US for the period of Oct. 1, 2005 to Sept. 30. The sure to be star-studded event will be held on Feb. 11 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. Tony Bennett and Bob Dylan got nominations but I must say this list of nominees is one of the "youngest" and most talented ever. There are lots of newcomers too like James Blunt and Ne-Yo.

Here’s part one of the list of nominees in the top Grammy categories:

Record of the Year: Be Without You, Mary J. Blige; You’re Beautiful, James Blunt; Not Ready to Make Nice, Dixie Chicks; Crazy, Gnarls Barkley; Put Your Records On, Corinne Bailey Rae.

Album of the Year: Taking the Long Way, Dixie Chicks; St. Elsewhere, Gnarls Barkley; Continuum, John Mayer; Stadium Arcadium, Red Hot Chili Peppers; FutureSex/LoveSounds, Justin Timberlake.

Song of the Year: Be Without You, Mary J. Blige; Jesus Take the Wheel, Carrie Underwood; Not Ready to Make Nice, Dixie Chicks; Put Your Records On, Corinne Bailey Rae; You’re Beautiful, James Blunt.

Best New Artist: James Blunt, Chris Brown, Imogen Heap, Corinne Bailey Rae, Carrie Underwood.

Female Pop Vocal: Ain’t No Other Man, Christina Aguilera; Unwritten, Natasha Bedingfield; You Can Close Your Eyes, Sheryl Crow; Stupid Girls, Pink; Black Horse and the Cherry Tree, KT Tunstall.

Male Pop Vocal: You’re Beautiful, James Blunt; Save Room, John Legend; Waiting on the World to Change, John Mayer; Jenny Wren, Paul McCartney; Bad Day, Daniel Powter.

Duo or Group Pop Vocal: My Humps, The Black Eyed Peas; I Will Follow You into the Dark, Death Cab for Cutie; Over My Head, The Fray; Is It Any Wonder?, Keane; Stickwitu, The Pussycat Dolls.

Pop Collaboration Vocal; For Once in My Life, Tony Bennett and Stevie Wonder; One, Mary J. Blige and U2; Always on Your Side, Sheryl Crow and Sting; Promiscuous, Nelly Furtado and Timbaland; Hips Don’t Lie, Shakira and Wyclef Jean.

Pop Instrumental: Mornin’, George Benson and Al Jarreau; Drifting, Enya; Subterfuge, Bela Fleck and the Flecktones; Song H, Bruce Hornsby; My Favorite Things, Brian Setzer Orchestra.

Pop Instrumental Album: New Beginnings, Gerald Albright; Fire Wire, Larry Carlton; X, Fourplay; Fingerprints, Peter Frampton; Wrapped in a Dream, Spyro Gyra.

Pop Vocal Album: Back to Basics, Christina Aguilera; Back to Bedlam, James Blunt; The River in Reverse, Elvis Costello and Allen Toussaint; Continuum, John Mayer; FutureSex/LoveSounds, Justin Timberlake.

Dance Recording: Suffer Well, Depeche Mode; Ooh La La, Goldfrapp; Get Together, Madonna; I’m with Stupid, Pet Shop Boys; Sexy Back, Justin Timberlake and Timbaland.

Electronic/Dance Album: Supernature, Goldfrapp; Confessions on a Dance Floor, Madonna; A Lively Mind, Oakenfold; Fundamental, Pet Shop Boys; The Garden, Zero 7.

Traditional Pop Album: Duets An American Classic, Tony Bennett; Caught in the Act, Michael Bublé; Wintersong, Sarah McLachlan; Bette Midler Sings the Peggy Lee Songbook, Bette Midler; Timeless Love, Smokey Robinson.

Rock Solo Vocal: Nausea, Beck; Someday Baby, Bob Dylan; Route 66, John Mayer; Saving Grace, Tom Petty; Lookin’ for a Leader, Neil Young.

Rock Duo or Group Vocal: Talk, Coldplay; How to Save a Life, The Fray; Steady As She Goes, The Raconteurs; Dani California, Red Hot Chili Peppers; The Saints are Coming, U2 and Green Day.

Hard Rock Vocal: Crazy Bitch, Buckcherry; Everyday is Exactly the Same, Nine Inch Nails; Lonely Day, System of a Down; Vicarious, Tool; Woman, Wolfmother.

Metal Vocal: Redneck, Lamb of God; Colony of Birchmen, Mastodon; Lies Lies Lies, Ministry; Eyes of the Insane, Slayer; 30/30-150, Stone Sour.

Rock Instrumental: Chun Li’ Flying Bird Kick, Artic Monkeys; The Wizard Turns On, The Flaming Lips; Black Hole Sun, Peter Frampton; Catsellorizon, David Gilmour; Super Colossal, Joe Satriani.

Rock Song: Chasing Cars, Snow Patrol; Dani California, Red Hot Chili Peppers; Lookin’ for a Leader, Neil Young; Someday Baby, Bob Dylan; When You Were Young, The Killers.

Rock Album: Try!, John Mayer Trio; Highway Companion, Tom Petty; Broken Boy Soldiers, The Racouteurs; Stadium Arcadium, Red Hot Chili Peppers; Living with War, Neil Young.

Alternative Music Album: Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not, Artic Monkeys; At War with the Mystics, The Flaming Lips; St. Elsewhere, Gnarls Barkley; Show Your Bones, Yeah Yeah Yeah; The Eraser, Thom Yorke.

Watch out for the R ’n B and rap nominees on Monday.