Health Care Summit 2010: Republicans You’re Excused!

Have you ever had a presentation to make in front of a crowd and were not prepared? Oh how you wished the meeting was cancelled. Remember how relieved you felt when you heard the buzz that the teacher was out and how jubilant you felt when you poked your head in the classroom to find a substitute sitting at the teacher’s desk? You felt like you dodged a bullet and did not have to make a fool of yourself in front of the entire class, exposing how unprepared you were! OK maybe it was just me.

With Anthem Blue Cross of California aiming to increase its rates by as much as thirty-nine percent despite record profits serving as a back drop, President Obama’s weekly address (see video below) makes the case for why the need for health care reform is all the more important. He therefore calls for bipartisan participation in the health care summit schedule for Thursday, February 25th, 2010, even releasing in advance the proposals for health care reform.

But House Republican Leader John Boehner, visibly not prepared to make his presentation in front of the entire country, has presented everything except a doctor’s note as an excuse not to attend the summit.

VAN SUSTEREN: The president said, you know, he was going to put everything on C-Span, so we can’t criticize him now for when he finally does put it on C-Span.

BOEHNER: Well, that’s fine, but I want to make sure that we’re going to have an honest conversation, you know, an honest, bipartisan conversation about how we can approach this. I don’t want to walk into some set-up. I don’t know who’s going to be there. I don’t know how big the room’s going to be. I don’t know — what the set-up is going to be.

Regarding the president’s proposal and transparency of a televised summit:

“The President has crippled the credibility of this week’s summit by proposing the same massive government takeover of health care based on a partisan bill the American people have already rejected,” Boehner said. “…This week’s summit clearly has all the makings of a Democratic infomercial for continuing on a partisan course that relies on more backroom deals and parliamentary tricks to circumvent the will of the American people and jam through a massive government takeover of health care.”

If the president’s proposals are that bad, would it not behoove the Minority Leader to attend the summit to make a case for reform? His complaint that the Democratic plans are not GOP enough is a very juvenile argument to make. Does he want the Democrats to do his homework for him? Is that not the Republican’s job, to present their own plan in front of the American people, making a stronger case as to why their ideas are superior? Or could it be, as I suspect, that Republicans really do not have a plan to present? Misleading health insurance lobbyists’ talking points and saying “No” to a Democratic proposal does not a health care plan make.

Perhaps Boehner is afraid that he and his party will yet again have another painfully embarrassing showing as was the case during debate with President Obama during the House Republican Retreat. Whatever the true reasons behind his trying to get out of attending the summit, they only amount to excuses. Excuses only satisfy those who make them. Therefore if Boehner wants to worm his way out of debating an important issue of our time because he has nothing to offer, excuse him and get on with passing a reform bill with or without Republican support. If there is one group of people who are not satisfied by all of his excuses, it’s the 50 million people in America who are uninsured or under insured.

How My Autistic Son is Like the Incredible Hulk

“Don’t make me angry. You wouldn’t like me when I’m angry.” If you were a fan of the hit television series “The Incredible Hulk” that aired from 1977-1982 those immortal words will forever be linked to memories of a sad tormented soul that was trying to find his way in a world that did not understand the demons he was fighting within. He was the mild mannered scientist David Banner who tried to maintain his composure at every turn because not doing so resulted in dire consequences. When everyone else gets angry we have a management system that we can rely on that is therapeutic to our psyche, helping us to cope in a complicated world around us. However when he gets angry, even hurt or injured, he swells up with this rage so intense that to those in his path, especially to those who do not know him and made him angry, he becomes a monster. That’s when things get broken smashed and pulverized until the gentle man hidden within can find a way to overtake his out of control alter ego.

So it is with my five year old autistic son. Make him angry and he takes a path completely different than his non-autistic counterparts. With a daze in his eyes and a split second pause, you know what’s coming, a screech, a passionate scream that if not brought under control will surely escalate to something even worse-throwing things and slamming doors. If he accidentally hurts himself, he compounds the situation by intentionally hurting himself even more, except this time with slaps to his own face and head, clawing his arm or whatever part of his body he accidentally injured.

Nothing short of an extremely patient parent can help him wrestle through the struggles of the moment. The second we see an episode about to erupt we get down to his level, look him in the eyes, hold his hands and say “Use your words. Say ‘Daddy I’m angry’” or ‘Mommy I hurt myself’”. We offer him alternatives. “You may squeeze your hands or talk about it with Mommy but you may not hurt my little boy”. This seemed like a futile exercise in the beginning until we started seeing less acting out in furor, but on the other hand as he uses his words more it does offer some hopeful yet sad insights into his feelings. “I want to hurt myself” he’ll say. Once when deciding to talk about his anger at my denying him something he shockingly told me “I want to put fire in my face”. He has no fire fetish whatsoever so I can only conclude that fire metaphorically describes how intense the battle raging within is. Thankfully he is talking more and the acting outs while still there are less frequent and acute.

David Banner was a very misunderstood person, and the Incredible Hulk is not a monster. While to the characters in his path the Hulk looked strange and his behavior was socially extreme, those of us who knew the sad man within felt a deep sense of compassion and empathy for him. Even as a ten year old child I remember like it was yesterday how sorry I felt for him. Honestly, I would get a lump in my throat at the end of every episode as he would walk down a barren desert road hitchhiking to “The Lonely Man Song”, the most brilliant piano piece put to a television series since A Charlie Brown Christmas. As he went from place to place, seeking to understand how to cure himself of his strange affliction, he’d change his name at each new location to hide his true identity so as not to be judged harshly for the wreckage he left behind. We are trying our best to make sure our son does not share in his lonely fate.

Bill Maher to Evan Bayh: Good Riddance!

Every now and then, just when I’m looking for the right words to express my discontent and frustration with the political establishment, Bill Maher comes along and steals the words right from my mouth! Bill Maher spoke to CNN’s Larry King on various topics including the resignation of Evan Bayh, the Tea Party movement, health care reform, and President Obama’s first year in office.

Evan Bayh? Good Riddance? My sentiments exactly! “Democratic” Senator Evan Bayh sucker punched his party with a deliberate last minute resignation, denying more progressive Democratic candidates the opportunity to run to replace him in a primary election, and therefore increasing the chance that a Republican can take the Indiana Senate seat. Bill Maher not only calls out Bayh on the hypocrisy of his disingenuous holier than thou resignation speech, but he also sites who he really represents – the corporations.

With the Tea Party Convention just behind us and the CPAC (Conservative Political Action Conference) just under way, the silly season of the Tea Party crowd is in full effect. Pointing out their inconsistencies and hypocrisies is difficult not because of challenges with fact checking but because of shear volume. With so many twisted logics to contend with where do you begin? Well Bill Maher found a good starting point, and that’s in their so called movement for controlling the deficit and the insatiable demands for tax cuts.

Last but definitely not least, President Barack Obama had it coming also. A stalwart supporter of candidate Obama, Maher speaks candidly about the president’s short comings his first year in office to seize the opportunity to pass meaningful health care reform. His main complaint is how he gives up too much ground on his important agendas because of his futile obsession with bipartisanship. I have already made my case against bipartisanship , and if this interview is any indication I believe Bill Maher would agree with me.

Haiti: A Creditor, Not a Debtor

By Naomi Klein, The Nation, February 11, 2010

If we are to believe the G-7 finance ministers, Haiti is on its way to getting something it has deserved for a very long time: full “forgiveness” of its foreign debt. In Port-au-Prince, Haitian economist Camille Chalmers has been watching these developments with cautious optimism. Debt cancellation is a good start, he told Al Jazeera English, but “It’s time to go much further. We have to talk about reparations and restitution for the devastating consequences of debt.” In this telling, the whole idea that Haiti is a debtor needs to be abandoned. Haiti, he argues, is a creditor—and it is we, in the West, who are deeply in arrears.
Our debt to Haiti stems from four main sources: slavery, the US occupation, dictatorship and climate change. These claims are not fantastical, nor are they merely rhetorical. They rest on multiple violations of legal norms and agreements. Here, far too briefly, are highlights of the Haiti case.

§?The Slavery Debt. When Haitians won their independence from France in 1804, they would have had every right to claim reparations from the powers that had profited from three centuries of stolen labor. France, however, was convinced that it was Haitians who had stolen the property of slave owners by refusing to work for free. So in 1825, with a flotilla of war ships stationed off the Haitian coast threatening to re-enslave the former colony, King Charles X came to collect: 90 million gold francs–ten times Haiti’s annual revenue at the time. With no way to refuse, and no way to pay, the young nation was shackled to a debt that would take 122 years to pay off.

In 2003, Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, facing a crippling economic embargo, announced that Haiti would sue the French government over that long-ago heist. “Our argument,” Aristide’s former lawyer Ira Kurzban told me, “was that the contract was an invalid agreement because it was based on the threat of re-enslavement at a time when the international community regarded slavery as an evil.” The French government was sufficiently concerned that it sent a mediator to Port-au-Prince to keep the case out of court. In the end, however, its problem was eliminated: while trial preparations were under way, Aristide was toppled from power. The lawsuit disappeared, but for many Haitians the reparations claim lives on.

§?The Dictatorship Debt. From 1957 to 1986, Haiti was ruled by the defiantly kleptocratic Duvalier regime. Unlike the French debt, the case against the Duvaliers made it into several courts, which traced Haitian funds to an elaborate network of Swiss bank accounts and lavish properties. In 1988 Kurzban won a landmark suit against Jean-Claude “Baby Doc” Duvalier when a US District Court in Miami found that the deposed ruler had “misappropriated more than $504,000,000 from public monies.”

Haitians, of course, are still waiting for their payback–but that was only the beginning of their losses. For more than two decades, the country’s creditors insisted that Haitians honor the huge debts incurred by the Duvaliers, estimated at $844 million, much of it owed to institutions like the IMF and the World Bank. In debt service alone, Haitians have paid out tens of millions every year.

Was it legal for foreign lenders to collect on the Duvalier debts when so much of it was never spent in Haiti? Very likely not. As Cephas Lumina, the United Nations Independent Expert on foreign debt, put it to me, “the case of Haiti is one of the best examples of odious debt in the world. On that basis alone the debt should be unconditionally canceled.” But even if Haiti does see full debt cancellation (a big if), that does not extinguish its right to be compensated for illegal debts already collected.

§?The Climate Debt. Championed by several developing countries at the climate summit in Copenhagen, the case for climate debt is straightforward. Wealthy countries that have so spectacularly failed to address the climate crisis they caused owe a debt to the developing countries that have done little to cause the crisis but are disproportionately facing its effects. In short: the polluter pays. Haiti has a particularly compelling claim. Its contribution to climate change has been negligible; Haiti’s per capita CO2 emissions are just 1 percent of US emissions. Yet Haiti is among the hardest hit countries—according to one index, only Somalia is more vulnerable to climate change.

Haiti’s vulnerability to climate change is not only—or even mostly—because of geography. Yes, it faces increasingly heavy storms. But it is Haiti’s weak infrastructure that turns challenges into disasters and disasters into full-fledged catastrophes. The earthquake, though not linked to climate change, is a prime example. And this is where all those illegal debt payments may yet extract their most devastating cost. Each payment to a foreign creditor was money not spent on a road, a school, an electrical line. And that same illegitimate debt empowered the IMF and World Bank to attach onerous conditions to each new loan, requiring Haiti to deregulate its economy and slash its public sector still further. Failure to comply was met with a punishing aid embargo from 2001 to ‘04, the death knell to Haiti’s public sphere.

This history needs to be confronted now, because it threatens to repeat itself. Haiti’s creditors are already using the desperate need for earthquake aid to push for a fivefold increase in garment-sector production, some of the most exploitative jobs in the country. Haitians have no status in these talks, because they are regarded as passive recipients of aid, not full and dignified participants in a process of redress and restitution.

A reckoning with the debts the world owes to Haiti would radically change this poisonous dynamic. This is where the real road to repair begins: by recognizing the right of Haitians to reparations.

Climate Change: The Gotcha Politics of Global Warming

http://www.demochron.com/images/featimg/WhiteHouse_GW.jpg

The record breaking snow fall and cold temperatures in Washington DC and much of the east coast has left a warm and fuzzy feeling inside of the global warming skeptics. In fact we’ve been getting an ear full from this band of conservatives the past few months. In December, at the eve of the climate change conference in Copenhagen, we had Climate Gate where hackers broke into the emails of scientists and claimed to have found proof that data was manipulated to intentionally produce the results that the climate change phenomenon is real. In January we had conservatives up in a frenzy over the supposedly tree hugging propaganda in the epic movie Avatar. And now February has given global warming deniers yet another ah-ha moment – the blizzard of 2010.

The fact that people are confusing today’s weather with long term weather patterns (or climate) would be comical if the consequences were not so serious. Not only is this right wing campaign to minimize the effects of pollution on our planet relieving individuals of the responsibility to reduce their carbon footprints, but it also weakens any chance of getting meaningful legislation passed through Congress to reign in corporate polluters. Watch as Keith Olbermann explains how even Senator Jeff Bingaman (D-NM), chairman of the Energy and Natural Resources committee, although he has a solid environmental friendly record, is buckling under the weight of the cold weather means global warming is a hoax hype and as a result is grounding an important climate change bill:

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To be fair the framers and supporters of the green movement helped in creating an environment where sound science of global warming was casted into the world of doubt and debate. They did this by claiming that record high temperatures or strong frequent huricanes were proof that the earth was overheating. Therefore weather should never have been brought into the discussion of global warming because naturally the flip side to that coin can be exploited by the nay sayers. For example Dr. Robert Book of The Heritage Foundation stated:

So it is with global warming. If there is lower-than-average snow it’s due to global warming (“too warm for snow to form”) and if there is higher-than-average snow it’s due to global warming (“more moisture there, more snow here”), and if snowfall is average, the two cancel out. If northern Europe as a less severe winter, it’s due to global warming making winters less cold; if northern Europe as a more severe winter, it’s due to global warming interfering with the Gulf Stream.

As loathsome and disagreeable as it is, I can see how corporate polluters can decide to hire researchers and think tanks to question the existence of global warming. It is usually in their financial best interest to do so. But what is it with this love affair of rank and file conservatives with cutting off their noses to spite their faces? All of last year they were easily lead to the alter to sacrifice their own self interest by vehemently opposing health care reform so long as it meant running a political hit job on President Obama. They were promised that its failure would be his Waterloo. And now here we go again, sacrificing the health of the planet in exchange for political one-upmanship, this time with Al Gore and the green energy movement in their cross hairs. A divided nation is fertile ground for gotcha politics, logic or reason or sound science be damned. If people are willing to forego their own financial and physical health to score political points, how much more will they be willing to sabotage the environment.

HEALTH CARE SUMMIT 2010: The Case Against Bi-partisanship

Only in the upside down world of Republican politics can you run for office on the platform that Washington is broken, that government is not the solution but the problem, and yet be elected and re-elected to be a part of the problem. In a telling interview on Hardball with Chris Matthews, Republican strategist John Feehery is practically forced to admit that his party has no desire whatsoever to use the government as a vehicle to pass health care reform. Instead they would rely on free market enterprise to exact the change to our broken system that is needed. As you will see below, Matthews rightfully points out that the free market is what has given us 50 million people without health care insurance.

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So why are Democrats capitulating to Republicans on passing health care reform when they’ve made it abundantly clear that it is antithetical to their brand name to even be associated with a government bill that interferes with free market economics? One can concede that they are really trying to pitch to the Blue Dog Democrats, the conservative wing of the Democratic Party, but that does not explain why such a concerted effort has been made to make this bill bi-partisan by making a third of it tax cuts, entertaining the idea of selling insurance across state lines, and tort reform.

Democrats need to accept the fact that Republicans want nothing to do with health care reform. They cannot make this any clearer. Yet this obsession for bi-partisanship has created a politically hospitable environment for Republicans to be obstructionists. Not only do they get to offer up amendments, watering down true reform with their own pet projects designed to play to their tax cut and corporate base, they also get to turn around and vote against reform, placating to their Tea Party anti-Obama coalition. While this is a huge disservice to the country, either way Republican politicians win.

With this idea of a health care summit and the presidential Q and A session recently held with Republicans, it appears that President Obama is trying to bring civility back into the public dialogue about reform. While that only plays to his and the country’s advantage, Republicans have a trump card, an anti-government base and a corporate alliance that will fund their bill killing incursion’s up front costs. I say up front because when this is over and the dust settles, the million dollars a day lobbying fee paid by the health care industry to block reform will end up being paid back to them by those very same Tea Party members who protested against change in the form of unreasonable premium heights. A prime example is the fact that Anthem Blue Cross of California just increased their rates by 39 percent. We can expect more of this if the government does not intervene to put the brakes on the out of control free market run of our health care system.

House Republican Leader John Boehner presented a very bold and audacious list of demands for Republican participation in a health care summit, including trashing the entire bill that has passed both chambers of congress and starting over in a bi-partisan fashion without reconciliation (and by bi-partisan he means incorporating all Republican ideas and nixing that of Democrats). Therefore summit or no summit, Democrats should abandon all hope of forging a bi-partisan bill and get on with reform already. What more proof do we need that they are not serious about working together to fix our broken health care system? Asking a Republican to implement a government reform of health care is like asking a tiger to change its stripes.

Politicians like to say that the American people want bi-partisanship in Washington, but if given the choice of both parties coming together to pass a lack lustered bill or nothing at all because they cannot come to an agreement, or one party passing a good health care reform bill without a single vote from the other side, then I think we know which is best for the country.

The O’Reilly Factor: Jon Stewart vs. Bill O’Reilly

Jon Stewart gives a rare in-depth interview to Bill O’Reilly of The O’Reilly Factor.

There are two distinct sides of Jon Stewart. There’s the wittingly humorous fake news anchor that spends a considerable amount of time making fun of main stream media and the political establishments of our time. Then there’s the astutely masterful hard nose interviewer who has taken to task those who would use their position as a news pundit or a politician for taking themselves instead of the people and our democracy seriously, calling them out in a manner worthy of an investigative journalist.

Jon Stewart is the Tiger Woods of politics. He has taken something mind numbingly boring and tedious to the average person, interesting mostly to the well connected, sophisticated crowd and made it cool for everybody. Watching the news and keeping up with current affairs use to be for nerds and their parents. Now Stewart like Stephen Colbert of the Colbert Report has merged it into pop culture, truly taking the acutely important issues coming out of Washington, DC and beyond as well as how they are covered in the media to a mainstream audience. No wonder he has been named the most trusted news caster, seriously.

Unlike his uncensored counterpart Bill Maher who not only is an interviewer but also often lends himself to being interviewed, Jon Stewart rarely gives interviews. But after seeing this interview with Bill O’Reilly, we definitely know it’s not because he’s uncomfortable in that position or because he cannot think on his feet enough to articulate the issues without aid and preparation from his brilliant writing staff. Watch as he discusses everything from the Obama presidency to Fox News to trying terrorists in civilian courts.

Highlights from the Jon Stewart Interview with Bill O’Reilly:

On Fox News Network:

“Here’s what Fox has done through their cyclonic perpetual emotion machine that is a twenty-four hours a day seven days a week. They’ve taken reasonable concerns about this president and this economy and turned it into a full fledge panic attack about the next coming of Chairman Mao. Why is that the narrative of your network?”

On Obama’s messaging for health care reform:

“Not articulating clearly enough where he wants to move legislatively allowing different narratives to take hold, a narrative that may eminate from a news organization of this ilk”

“Once you allow a vacuum of power what will assume power in Washington are special interests and lobbyists. If you allow too much nick picking on the edges of legislation it will be necessarily turned into a type of lobbyist gruel.”

On dealing with nations with ambitions to acquire nuclear weapons:

“Here’s what we can’t do. Our strategy for battling terrorist can’t be that you overthrow governments and then you make the United States military commit 150,000 troops to those lands until they can somehow stabilize the governments long enough so that you can prevent ten people from plotting destruction in a basement.”

Watch either the three part highlights or the entire fourty-two minute interview below:
Part 1 of 3

Part 2 of 3

Part 3 of 3

Full Interview

FoxNews.com: How Stereotypical?

Do these FoxNews.com stories and images offer a racist stereotypical theme to its readers? I have come across overt racist neo-nazi sites before completely by accident. While looking up information on the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005 signed by George W. Bush, I clicked on a link to David Duke’s message board. One member asked isn’t this a bad bill that will hurt average Americans to which another responded so long as it hurts blacks he’s all for it. The site like many others I’ve made wrong turns into had a common theme. In addition to the obvious portrayal of minorities in a very negative light, the sites were plastered with links, articles and banners for “beautiful whites only” dating services. The pictures were very often of blond men and women, and almost always with stark blue eyes.

Anybody who pays partial attention to the news or politics knows that Fox News is a bastion for right wing extremism. A few moments is all it takes for you to be either seduced by the conspiracy theories of Glenn Beck or most likely moved to nausea by the fear and subtle racism perpetrated by the network as a whole to play on the insecurities of an ignorant audience, all in the name of high ratings.

Look I am not the ultra-sensitive type who looks on every racial comment or imagery with a raised eyebrow of suspicion. Policing subliminal messages is a very tedious and full time job, made complex by its ambiguity. But when racial overtone is a reoccurring theme as is the case with Fox News, it makes you think no wonder all of its contributors think the US government should open up the flood gates of racial profiling to ward off the brown skinned “terrorist” who would do us harm.

A recent independent Daily Kos poll found that a significant number of Republicans think that President Obama is an impeachable racist, terrorist loving, socialist foreigner who never would have been elected had it not been for the voting fraud of ACORN. This does NOT, I repeat, does not imply that Republicans are all racists. It does however indicate that the party has been taken over by its extreme elements (i.e. the Tea Party movement), and that is what is being catered to. Given the fact that this group is a key demographic of the Fox News audience you can easily draw the conclusion that the face of its web site FoxNews.com is not coincidental but instead is a pattern of race baiting and fear mongering. Or am I just reading too much into this.
Anyway…I’m just saying.

52nd Annual Grammy Award Winners

SUMMARY of Multiple Nominees:
Beyoncé 10 Nominations, 6 Wins (Song of the Year, Best Traditional R&B Vocal Performance, Best Female Pop Vocal Performance, Best Female R&B Vocal Performance, Best R&B Song, Best Contemporary R&B Album)
Talor Swift 8 Nominations, 4 Wins (ALBUM OF THE YEAR, Best Country Album, Female Country Vocal Performance, Country Song)
Black Eye Peas 6 Nominations, 3 Wins (Best Pop Performance by a Duo/Group w/ Vocals, Best Pop Vocal Album, Best Short Form Music Video)

Special Presentation: Tribute to Michael Jackson in 3D
Honorary Award Recipient: Neil Young, 2010 MusiCares Person of the Year

2010 NOMINEES (*Winners)

Album of the Year
I Am… Sasha Fierce – Beyoncé
The E.N.D. – Black Eyed Peas
The Fame – Lady Gaga
Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King – Dave Matthews Band
Fearless – Taylor Swift *

Song of the Year
“Poker Face” – Lady Gaga
Lady Gaga & RedOne, songwriters
“Pretty Wings” – Maxwell
Hod David & Musze, songwriters
“Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)” – Beyoncé *
Thaddis Harrell, Beyoncé Knowles, Terius Nash & Christopher Stewart, songwriters
“Use Somebody” – Kings of Leon
Caleb Followill, Jared Followill, Matthew Followill & Nathan Followill, songwriters
“You Belong With Me” – Taylor Swift
Liz Rose & Taylor Swift, songwriters

Best Country Album
The Foundation – Zac Brown Band
Twang – George Strait
Fearless – Taylor Swift *
Defying Gravity – Keith Urban
Call Me Crazy – Lee Ann Womack

Best New Artist
Zac Brown Band *
Keri Hilson
MGMT
Silversun Pickups
The Ting Tings

Comedy
Best Comedy Album
Back from the Dead – Spinal Tap
A Colbert Christmas: The Greatest Gift of All! – Stephen Colbert *
Internet Leaks – “Weird Al” Yankovic
My Weakness Is Strong – Patton Oswalt
Suckin’ It for the Holidays – Kathy Griffin
Tall, Dark & Chicano – George Lopez

Record of the Year
“Halo” – Beyoncé
“I Gotta Feeling” – Black Eyed Peas
“Use Somebody” – Kings of Leon *
“Poker Face” – Lady Gaga
“You Belong With Me” – Taylor Swift

Best Rock Album
“Black Ice” – AC/DC
“Live from Madison Square Garden” – Eric Clapton & Steve Winwood
“21st Century Breakdown” – Green Day *
“Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King” – Dave Matthews Band
“No Line on the Horizon” – U2

Best Female Country Vocal Performance
“Dead Flowers” – Miranda Lambert
“I Just Call You Mine” – Martina McBride
“White Horse” – Taylor Swift *
“Just a Dream” – Carrie Underwood
“Solitary Thinkin’” – Lee Ann Womack

Best Male Country Vocal Performance
“All I Ask For Anymore” – Trace Adkins
“People Are Crazy” – Billy Currington
“High Cost of Living” – Jamey Johnson
“Living for the Night” – George Strait
“Sweet Thing” – Keith Urban *

Pop
Best Female Pop Vocal Performance

“Hometown Glory” – Adele
“Halo” – Beyoncé *
“Hot N Cold” – Katy Perry
“Sober” – Pink
“You Belong With Me” – Taylor Swift

Best Male Pop Vocal Performance
“This Time” – John Legend
“Love You” – Maxwell
“Make It Mine” – Jason Mraz *
“If You Don’t Know Me by Now” – Seal
“All About The Love Again” – Stevie Wonder

Best Pop Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocals
“I Gotta Feeling” – Black Eyed Peas *
“We Weren’t Born To Follow” – Bon Jovi
“Never Say Never” – The Fray
“Sara Smile” – Daryl Hall & John Oates
“Kids” – MGMT

Best Pop Collaboration With Vocals
“Sea of Heartbreak” – Rosanne Cash & Bruce Springsteen
“Love Sex Magic” – Ciara & Justin Timberlake
“Lucky – Jason Mraz & Colbie Caillat *
“Baby, It’s Cold Outside” – Norah Jones & Willie Nelson
“Breathe” – Taylor Swift & Colbie Caillat

Best Pop Instrumental Performance
“Bésame Mucho” – Herb Alpert
“Throw Down Your Heart” – Béla Fleck
“The Fire” – Imogen Heap
“Phoenix Rise” – Maxwell
“Funk Joint” – Marcus Miller

Best Pop Instrumental Album
In Boston – Chris Botti
Legacy – Hiroshima
Potato Hole – Booker T. Jones *
Modern Art – The Rippingtons Featuring Russ Freeman
Down the Wire – Spyro Gyra

Best Pop Vocal Album
The E.N.D. – Black Eyed Peas *
Breakthrough – Colbie Caillat
All I Ever Wanted – Kelly Clarkson
The Fray – The Fray
Funhouse – Pink

Dance
Best Dance Recording
“Boom Boom Pow” – Black Eyed Peas
“When Love Takes Over” – David Guetta & Kelly Rowland
“Poker Face” – Lady Gaga *
“Celebration” – Madonna
“Womanizer” – Britney Spears

Best Electronic/Dance Album
“Divided By Night” – The Crystal Method
“One Love” – David Guetta
“The Fame” – Lady Gaga *
“Party Rock” – LMFAO
“Yes” – Pet Shop Boys

Traditional Pop
Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album
“A Swingin’ Christmas” – Tony Bennett
“Michael Bublé Meets Madison Square Garden” – Michael Bublé *
“Your Songs” – Harry Connick, Jr.
“Liza’s at The Palace…!” – Liza Minnelli
“American Classic” – Willie Nelson

Rock
Best Rock Solo Vocal Performance
“Beyond Here Lies Nothin’” – Bob Dylan
“Change In The Weather” – John Fogerty
“Dreamer” – Prince
“Working On A Dream” – Bruce Springsteen *
“Fork in the Road” – Neil Young

Best Rock Performance By a Duo/Group w/ Vocals
“Can’t Find My Way Home” – Eric Clapton & Steve Winwood
“Life in Technicolor II” – Coldplay
“21 Guns” – Green Day
“Use Somebody” – Kings of Leon *
“I’ll Go Crazy If I Don’t Go Crazy Tonight” – U2

Best Hard Rock Performance *
“War Machine” – AC/DC
“Check My Brain” – Alice in Chains
“What I’ve Done” (Live) – Linkin Park
“The Unforgiven III” – Metallica
“Burn It to the Ground” – Nickelback

Best Metal Performance
“Dissident Aggressor” – Judas Priest *
“Set to Fail” – Lamb of God
“Head Crusher” – Megadeth
“Señor Peligro” – Ministry
“Hate Worldwide” – Slayer

Best Rock Instrumental Performance
“A Day in the Life” – Jeff Beck *
“Warped Sister” – Booker T. Jones
“Playing With Fire” – Brad Paisley
“Mr. Surfer Goes Jazzin’” – Brian Setzer Orchestra
“Now We Run” – Steve Vai

Best Rock Song
“The Fixer” – Pearl Jam
Matt Cameron, Stone Gossard, Mike McCready & Eddie Vedder, songwriters
“I’ll Go Crazy If I Don’t Go Crazy Tonight” – U2
Bono, Adam Clayton, The Edge & Larry Mullen Jr., songwriters
“21 Guns” – Green Day
Billie Joe Armstrong, Mike Dirnt & Tré Cool, songwriters
“Use Somebody” – Kings of Leon *
Caleb Followill, Jared Followill, Matthew Followill & Nathan Followill, songwriters
“Working On A Dream” – Bruce Springsteen

Alternative
Best Alternative Music Album
“Everything That Happens Will Happen Today” – David Byrne & Brian Eno
“The Open Door EP” – Death Cab For Cutie
“Sounds of the Universe” – Depeche Mode
“Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix” – Phoenix
“It’s Blitz!” – Yeah Yeah Yeahs

R&B
Best Female R&B Vocal Performance
“Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It)” – Beyoncé *
“It Kills Me” – Melanie Fiona
“That Was Then” – Lalah Hathaway
“Goin’ Thru Changes” – Ledisi
“Lions, Tigers & Bears” – Jazmine Sullivan

Best Male R&B Vocal Performance
“The Point Of It All” – Anthony Hamilton
“Pretty Wings” – Maxwell *
“SoBeautiful” – Musiq Soulchild
“Under” – Pleasure P
“There Goes My Baby” – Charlie Wilson

Best R&B Performance By a Duo/Group W/ Vocals
“Blame It” – Jamie Foxx & T-Pain *
“Chocolate High” – India.Arie & Musiq Soulchild
“IfULeave” – Musiq Soulchild & Mary J. Blige
“Higher Ground” – Robert Randolph & The Clark Sisters
“Love Has Finally Come at Last” – Calvin Richardson & Ann Nesby

Best Traditional R&B Vocal Performance
“At Last” – Beyoncé *
“Soul Music” – Anthony Hamilton
“Don’t Let Me Be Lonely Tonight” – Boney James & Quinn
“Sow Love” – Ann Nesby
“Woman Gotta Have It” – Calvin Richardson

Best Urban/Alternative Performance
“Daykeeper” – The Foreign Exchange
“All Matter” – Robert Glasper & Bilal
“Pearls” – India.Arie & Dobet Gnahore *
“A Tale Of Two” – Eric Roberson, Ben O’Neill & Michelle Thompson
“Blend” – Tonex

Best R&B Song
“Blame It” – Jamie Foxx & T-Pain
James T. Brown, John Conte, Jr., Jamie Foxx, Christopher Henderson, Brandon R. Melanchon, Breyon Prescott, T-Pain & Nathan L. Walker songwriters
“Lions, Tigers & Bears” – Jazmine Sullivan
Salaam Remi & Jazmine Sullivan songwriters
“Pretty Wings” – Maxwell
Hod David & Musze songwriters
“Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It)” – Beyoncé *
Thaddis Harrell, Beyoncé, Terius Nash & Christopher Stewart songwriters
“Under” – Pleasure P
D. Babbs, L. Bereal, M. Cooper, A. Dixon, J. Franklin, T. Jones,R. New & K. Stephens songwriters

Best R&B Album
“The Point Of It All” – Anthony Hamilton
“Testimony: Vol. 2, Love & Politics” – India.Arie
“Turn Me Loose” – Ledisi
“BLACKsummers’night” – Maxwell *
“Uncle Charlie” – Charlie Wilson

Best Contemporary R&B Album
“I Am… Sasha Fierce” – Beyoncé *
“Intuition” – Jamie Foxx
“The Introduction of Marcus Cooper” – Pleasure P
“Ready” – Trey Songz
“Thr33 Ringz” – T-Pain

Rap
Best Rap Solo Performance
“Best I Ever Had” – Drake
“Beautiful” – Eminem
“D.O.A. (Death Of Auto-Tune)” – Jay-Z *
“Day ‘N’ Nite” – Kid Cudi
“Casa Bey” – Mos Def

Best Rap Performance By a Duo/Group
“Too Many Rappers” – Beastie Boys & Nas
“Crack A Bottle” – Eminem, Dr. Dre & 50 Cent *
“Money Goes, Honey Stay” – Fabolous & Jay-Z
“Make Her Say” – Kid Cudi, Kanye West & Common
“Amazing” – Kanye West & Young Jeezy

Best Rap/Song Collaboration
“Ego” – Beyoncé & Kanye West
“Knock You Down” – Keri Hilson, Kanye West & Ne-Yo
“Run This Town” – Jay-Z, Rihanna & Kanye West *
“I’m On A Boat” – The Lonely Island & T-Pain
“Dead and Gone” – T.I. & Justin Timberlake

Best Rap Song
“Best I Ever Had” – Drake
Aubrey Drake Graham, D. Hamilton & M. Samuels, songwriters
“Day ‘N’ Nite” – Kid Cudi
S. Mescudi & O. Omishore, songwriters
“Dead and Gone” – T.I. & Justin Timberlake
C. Harris, R. Tadross & J. Timberlake, songwriters
“D.O.A. (Death Of Auto-Tune)” – Jay-Z
Shawn Carter & Ernest Wilson, songwriters
“Run This Town” – Jay-Z, Rihanna & Kanye West *
Shawn Carter, R. Fenty, M. Riddick, Kanye West & E. Wilson, songwriters

Best Rap Album
Universal Mind Control – Common
Relapse – Eminem *
R.O.O.T.S. – Flo Rida
The Ecstatic – Mos Def
The Renaissance – Q-Tip

Best Country Performance by a Duo/Group With Vocals
“Cowgirls Don’t Cry” – Brooks & Dunn
“Chicken Fried” – Zac Brown Band
“I Run to You” – Lady Antebellum *
“Here Comes Goodbye” – Rascal Flatts
“It Happens” – Sugarland

Best Country Collaboration w/ Vocals
“Beautiful World” – Dierks Bentley & Patty Griffin
“Down the Road” – Kenny Chesney & Mac McAnally
“Start a Band” – Brad Paisley & Keith Urban
“I Told You So” – Carrie Underwood & Randy Travis *
“Everything But Quits” – Lee Ann Womack & George Strait

Best Country Instrumental Performance
“Under The (Five) Wire” – Alison Brown
“The Crystal Merchant” – The Greencards
“Mansinneedof” – Sarah Jarosz
“Producer’s Medley” – Steve Wariner *

Best Country Song
“All I Ask For Anymore” – Trace Adkins
Casey Beathard & Tim James, songwriters
“High Cost of Living” – Jamey Johnson
Jamey Johnson & James T. Slater, songwriters
“I Run to You” – Lady Antebellum
Tom Douglas, Dave Haywood, Charles Kelley & Hillary Scott, songwriters
“People Are Crazy” – Billy Currington
Bobby Braddock & Troy Jones, songwriters
“White Horse” – Taylor Swift *
Liz Rose & Taylor Swift, songwriters

New Age
Best New Age Album
“Faith” – Jim Brickman
“Prayer For Compassion” – David Darling *
“Laserium for the Soul” – Henta
“In A Dream” – Peter Kater, Dominic Miller, Kenny Loggins & Jaques Morelenbaum
“Impressions Of The West Lake” – Kitaro

Jazz
Best Contemporary Jazz Instrumental Album
“Urbanus” – Stefon Harris & Blackout
“Sounding Point” – Julian Lage
“At World’s Edge” – Philippe Saisse
“Big Neighborhood” – Mike Stern
“75″ – Joe Zawinul & The Zawinul Syndicate *

Best Jazz Vocal Album
“No Regrets” – Randy Crawford (& Joe Sample)
“Dedicated To You: Kurt Elling Sings The Music Of Coltrane And Hartman” – Kurt Elling *
“So In Love” – Roberta Gambarini
“Tide” – Luciana Souza
“Desire” – Tierney Sutton (Band)

Best Jazz Instrumental Solo Performance
“Dancin’ 4 Chicken” – Terence Blanchard soloist
“All Of You” – Gerald Clayton soloist
“”Ms. Garvey, Ms. Garvey” – Roy Hargrove soloist
“On Green Dolphin Street” – Martial Solal soloist
“Villa Palmeras” – Miguel Zenón soloist

Best Jazz Instrumental Album
“Quartet Live” – Gary Burton, Pat Metheny,Steve Swallow & Antonio Sanchez
“Brother To Brother” – The Clayton Brothers
“Five Peace Band” — Live – Chick Corea & John McLaughlin Five Peace Band *
“Rememberance” – John Patitucci Trio
“The Bright Mississippi” – Allen Toussaint

Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album
“Legendary” – Bob Florence Limited Edition
“Eternal Interlude” – John Hollenbeck Large Ensemble
“Fun Time” – Sammy Nestico And The SWR Big Band
“Book One” – New Orleans Jazz Orchestra *
“Lab 2009″ – University of North Texas One O’Clock Lab Band

Best Latin Jazz Album
“Things I Wanted To Do” – Chembo Corniel
“Áurea” – Geoffrey Keezer
“Brazilliance X 4″ – Claudio Roditi
“Juntos Para Siempre” – Bebo Valdés And Chucho Valdés *
“Esta Plena” – Miguel Zenón

Gospel
Best Gospel Performance

“Free to Be Me” – Francesca Battistelli
“Jesus Is Love” – Heather Headley & Smokie Norful
“I Believe” – Jonny Lang With Fisk Jubilee Singers
“Wait On The Lord” – Donnie McClurkin & Karen Clark Sheard *
“Born Again” – Third Day

Best Gospel Song
“Born Again” – Third Day
“City on Our Knees” – TobyMac
“Every Prayer” – Israel Houghton & Mary Mary
“God in Me” – Mary Mary Featuring Kierra Sheard *
“The Motions” – Matthew West

Best Rock or Rap Gospel Album
“The Big Picture” – Da’ T.R.U.T.H.
“Crash” – Decyfer Down
“Innocence & Instinct” – Red
“Live Revelations” – Third Day *
“The Dash” – John Wells – The Tonic

Best Pop/Contemporary Gospel Album
“Speaking Louder Than Before”- Jeremy Camp
“The Power Of One”- Israel Houghton *
“The Long Fall Back To Earth”- Jars Of Clay
“Love Is On The Move”- Leeland
“Freedom”- Mandisa

Best Southern/Country/Bluegrass Album
“Jason Crabb”- Jason Crabb *
“Dream On”- Ernie Haase & Signature Sound
“The Rock”- Tracy Lawrence
“In God’s Time”- Barry Scott & Second Wind
“Everyday”- Triumphant Quartet

Best Traditional Gospel Album
“God Don’t Never Change”- Ashley Cleveland
“The Law Of Confession, Part I”- Donald Lawrence & Co.
“Oh Happy Day”- (Various Artists) *
Bill Hearn, Ken Levitan, Ken Pennell, Jack Rovner & Cedric Thompson, producers
“The Journey Continues”- The Williams Brothers
“How I Got Over”- Vickie Winans

Best Contemporary R&B Gospel Album
“Audience Of One”- Heather Headley *
“Renewed”- Sheri Jones-Moffett
“Just James”- J Moss
“Smokie Norful: Live”- Smokie Norful
“Bold Right Life”- Kierra Sheard

Latin
Best Latin Pop Album
“5to Piso” – Ricardo Arjona
“Te Acuerdas…” – Francisco Céspedes
“Sin Frenos” – La Quinta Estación *
“Hu Hu Hu” – Natalia Lafourcade
“Gran City Pop” – Paulina Rubio

Best Latin Rock, Alternative or Urban Album
“Rio” – Aterciopelados
“Y.” – Bebe
“Los De Atras Vienen Conmigo” – Calle 13 *
“La Luz del Ritmo” – Los Fabulosos Cadillacs
“La Revolución” – Wisin & Yandel

Best Tropical Latin Album
“Asi Soy” – Isaac Delgado
“Ciclos” – Luis Enrique *
“Guasábara” – José Lugo Orchestra
“Gracias (Omara Portuondo album)” – Omara Portuondo
“Bach In Havana” – Tiempo Libre

Best Regional Mexican Album
“Corazón Ranchero”- Shaila Dúrcal
“Necesito De Ti”- Vicente Fernández *
“Compañeras”- Mariachi Reyna De Los Angeles
“10 Aniversario”- Mariachi Divas De Cindy Shea
“Pegadito Al Corazón”- Joan Sebastian

Best Tejano Album
“Borders Y Bailes”- Los Texmaniacs *
“Divina”- Stefani Montiel
“All The Way Live”- Jay Perez
“Point Of View”- Joe Posada
“Radiación Musical”- Sunny Sauceda Y Todo Eso

Best Norteno Album
“Dejame Soñar”- Cumbre Norteña
“El Niño De Oro”- El Compa Chuy
“Pese A Quien Le Pese”- Los Rieleros Del Norte
“Tu Noche Con…Los Tigres Del Norte”- Los Tigres Del Norte *
“Soy Todo Tuyo”- Los Tucanes De Tijuana

Best Banda Album
“Se Nos Murio El Amor”- El Güero Y Su Banda Centenario
“Mas Adelante”- La Arrolladora Banda El Limón De Rene Camacho
“Derecho De Antiguedad”- La Original Banda El Limón De Salvador Lizárraga
“Tu Esclavo Y Amo”- Lupillo Rivera *

American Roots
Best Americana Album
Together Through Life- Bob Dylan
Electric Dirt- Levon Helm *
Willie and the Wheel- Willie Nelson & Asleep At The Wheel
Wilco (The Album)- Wilco
Little Honey- Lucinda Williams

Best Bluegrass Album
“Could We Get Any Closer?”- Jim Lauderdale
“The Crow / New Songs For The Five-String Banjo”- Steve Martin *
“Buckaroo Blue Grass”- Michael Martin Murphey
“Almost Live”- Bryan Sutton And Friends
“Destination Life”- Rhonda Vincent

Best Traditional Blues Album
“A Stranger Here”- Ramblin’ Jack Elliott *
“Blue Again”- The Mick Fleetwood Blues Band Featuring Rick Vito
“Rough & Tough”- John Hammond
“Stomp! The Blues Tonight”- Duke Robillard
“Chicago Blues: A Living History”- Various Artists
Larry Skoller, producer

Best Contemporary Blues Album
“This Time”- The Robert Cray Band
“The Truth According To Ruthie Foster”- Ruthie Foster
“Live: Hope At The Hideout”- Mavis Staples
“Back To The River”- Susan Tedeschi
“Already Free”- The Derek Trucks Band *

Best Traditional Folk Album
“Cutting Loose”- David Holt And Josh Goforth
“Naked With Friends”- Maura O’Connell
“Polka Cola: Music That Refreshes”- Jimmy Sturr And His Orchestra
“Singing Through The Hard Times: A Tribute To Utah Phillips”- Various Artists
Jacqui Morse, Kendall Morse & Dan Schatz, producers
“High Wide & Handsome: The Charlie Poole Project”- Loudon Wainwright III *

Best Contemporary Folk Album
“Middle Cyclone”- Neko Case
“Our Bright Future”- Tracy Chapman
“Live”- Shawn Colvin
“Secret, Profane & Sugarcane”- Elvis Costello
“Townes”- Steve Earle *

Best Hawaiian Music Album
“He Nani”- Tia Carrere & Daniel Ho
“Friends & Family Of Hawai`i”- Amy Hanaiali`i
“Nani Mau Loa: Everlasting Beauty” Ho`okena
“Masters Of Hawaiian Slack Key Guitar, Volume 2″- Various Artists *
Daniel Ho, George Kahumoku, Jr., Paul Konwiser & Wayne Wong, producers

Best Native American Music Album
“Siyotanka”- Michael Brant DeMaria
“Spirit Wind North”- Bill Miller *
“True Blue”- Northern Cree
“Wind Songs – Native American Flute Solos” John Two-Hawks
“Riders Of The Healing Road” Johnny Whitehorse

Best Zydeco Or Cajun Music Album
“Alligator Purse”- Beausoleil Avec Michael Doucet
“Lay Your Burden Down”- Buckwheat Zydeco *
“Stripped Down”- The Magnolia Sisters
“Live At 2009 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival”- Pine Leaf Boys
“L’Ésprit Créole”- Cedric Watson et Bijou Créole

Reggae
Best Reggae Album
“Rasta Got Soul”- Buju Banton
“Brand New Me”- Gregory Isaacs
“Awake”- Julian Marley
“Mind Control – Acoustic”- Stephen Marley *
“Imperial Blaze”- Sean Paul

World Music
Best Traditional World Music Album
“Ancient Sounds”- Rahim Alhaj And Amjad Ali Khan
“Double Play”- Liz Carroll & John Doyle
“Douga Mansa”- Mamadou Diabate *
“La Guerra No”- John Santos Y El Coro Folklórico Kindembo
“Drum Music Land”- Ten Drum Art Percussion Group

Best Contemporary World Music Album
“Welcome To Mali”- Amadou & Mariam
“Throw Down Your Heart: Tales From The Acoustic Planet, Vol. 3 – Africa Sessions”- Béla Fleck *
“Day By Day”- Femi Kuti
“Seya”- Oumou Sangare
“Across The Divide: A Tale Of Rhythm & Ancestry”- Omar Sosa

Children’s
Best Children’s Music Album
“American Heroes #3″- Jonathan Sprout
“Banjo To Beatbox”- Cathy & Marcy & Christylez Bacon
“Family Time”- Ziggy Marley *
“Great Day”- Milkshake
“Jumpin’ & Jammin’”- Greg & Steve
“Pete Seeger Tribute – Ageless Kids’ Songs”- Buck Howdy

Best Children’s Spoken Word Album
“Aaaaah! Spooky, Scary Stories & Songs”- Buck Howdy *
“Captain Nobody”- Dean Pitchford
“Nelson Mandela’s Favorite African Folktales”- Samuel L. Jackson, Scarlett Johannson, Helen Mirren, Forest Whitaker & Various Artists
Sharon Gelman, Michele McGonigle & Alfre Woodard, producers
“The Phantom Tollbooth”- David Hyde Pierce
“Scat”- Ed Asner
“Through The Looking-Glass And What Alice Found There”- Harlan Ellison
Spoken Word

Best Spoken Word Album
“Always Looking Up”- Michael J. Fox *
“Jonathan Winters – A Very Special Time”- Jonathan Winters
“The Lincoln-Douglas Debates”- Richard Dreyfuss & David Strathairn
“The Maltese Falcon”- Various Artists Including Michael Madsen, Sandra Oh, Edward Herrmann & OthersYuri Rasovsky
Josh Stanton, producers
“We Can Have Peace In The Holy Land”- Jimmy Carter
“Wishful Drinking”- Carrie Fisher

Musical Show
Best Musical Show Album
9 to 5 the Musical
Ain’t Misbehavin’
Hair
Shrek the Musical
West Side Story *
Film/TV/Visual Media

Best Compilation Soundtrack Album
Cadillac Records- Various Artists
Quentin Tarantino’s Inglourious Basterds
Slumdog Millionaire *
True Blood
Twilight

Best Score Soundtrack Album
The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button (Disc 1)- Alexandre Desplat
Harry Potter And The Half-Blood Prince- Nicholas Hooper
Milk- Danny Elfman
Star Trek- Michael Giacchino, Varèse Sarabande
Up- Michael Giacchino *

Best Song Written For Motion Picture, Television Or Other Visual Media
“All Is Love” (From Where The Wild Things Are)
Karen O & Nick Zinner, songwriters (Karen O & The Kids)
“Decode” (From Twilight)
Josh Farro, Hayley Williams & Taylor York, songwriters (Paramore)
“Jai Ho” (From Slumdog Millionaire) *
A. R. Rahman, Sukhwinder Singh, Tanvi Shah, Mahalaxmi Iyer & Vijay Prakash, songwriters (A. R. Rahman, Gulzar & Sukhwinder Singh)
“Once In A Lifetime” (From Cadillac Records)
Ian Dench, James Dring, Amanda Ghost, Beyoncé Knowles, Scott McFarnon & Jody Street, songwriters (Beyoncé)
“The Wrestler” (From The Wrestler)
Bruce Springsteen, songwriter (Bruce Springsteen)
Composing/Arranging

Best Instrumental Composition
“Borat In Syracuse”
Paquito D’Rivera, composer (Paquito D’Rivera Quintet)
“Counting To Infinity”
Tim Davies, composer (Tim Davies Big Band)
“Fluffy”
Bob Florence, composer (Bob Florence Limited Edition)
“Ice-Nine”
Steve Wiest, composer (University Of North Texas One O’Clock Lab Band)
“Married Life” (From Up) *
Michael Giacchino, composer (Michael Giacchino)

Best Instrumental Arrangement
“Emmanuel”
Jeremy Lubbock, arranger (Chris Botti & Lucia Micarelli)
“Hope”
Vince Mendoza, arranger (Jim Beard With Vince Mendoza & The Metropole Orchestra)
“Slings And Arrows”
Vince Mendoza, arranger (Chuck Owen & The Jazz Surge)
“Up With End Credits” (From Up)
Michael Giacchino & Tim Simonec, arrangers (Michael Giacchino)
“West Side Story Medley” *
Bill Cunliffe, arranger (Resonance Big Band)

Best Instrumental Arangment Accompanying Vocalist(s)
“A Change Is Gonna Come”
David Foster & Jerry Hey, arrangers (Seal)
“Dedicated To You”
Laurence Hobgood, arranger (Kurt Elling)
“In The Still Of The Night”
Thomas Zink, arranger (Anne Walsh)
“My One And Only Thrill”
Vince Mendoza, arranger (Melody Gardot)
“Quiet Nights” *
Claus Ogerman, arranger (Diana Krall)
Package

Best Recording Package
“Back From The Dead”
Brian Porizek, art director (Spinal Tap)
“Everything That Happens Will Happen Today” *
Stefan Sagmeister, art director (David Byrne & Brian Eno)
“Middle Cyclone”
Neko Case & Kathleen Judge, art directors (Neko Case)
“Splitting Adam”
Jeff Harrison, art director (Splitting Adam)
“Tathagata”
Szu Wei Cheng & Hui Chen Huang, art directors (Various Artists)

Best Boxed/Special Limited Edition
“A Cabinet Of Curiosities”
Mathieu Bitton & Scott Webber, art directors (Jane’s Addiction)
“The Clifford Ball”
Masaki Koike, art director (Phish)
“Everything That Happens Will Happen Today”
Stefan Sagmeister, art director (David Byrne & Brian Eno)
“Lost In The Sound Of Separation” (Deluxe Edition)
Jordan Butcher, art director (Underoath)
“Neil Young Archives Vol. I (1963-1972)” *
Gary Burden, Jenice Heo & Neil Young, art directors (Neil Young)

Album Notes
Best Album Notes
The Complete Louis Armstrong Decca Sessions (1935-1946) *
Dan Morgenstern, album notes writer (Louis Armstrong)
Dance-O-Mania: Harry Yerkes And The Dawn Of The Jazz Age, 1919-1923
Mark Berresford, album notes writer (The Happy Six)
Gonzo: The Life And Work Of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson – Music From The Film
Douglas Brinkley & Johnny Depp, album notes writers (Various Artists)
My Dusty Road
Ed Cray & Bill Nowlin, album notes writers (Woody Guthrie)
Origins Of The Red Hot Mama, 1910-1922
Lloyd Ecker & Susan Ecker, album notes writers (Sophie Tucker)
Historical

Best Historical Album
“The Complete Chess Masters (1950-1967)” *
Andy McKaie, compilation producer; Erick Labson, mastering engineer (Little Walter)
“My Dusty Road”
Scott Billington, Michael Creamer & Bill Nowlin, compilation producers; Doug Pomeroy, mastering engineer (Woody Guthrie)
Origins Of The Red Hot Mama, 1910-1922
Meagan Hennessey & Richard Martin, compilation producers; Richard Martin, mastering engineer (Sophie Tucker)
Take Me To The Water: Immersion Baptism In Vintage Music And Photography 1890-1950
Steven Lance Ledbetter & Jim Linderman, compilation producers; Robert Vosgien, mastering engineer (Various Artists)
Woodstock – 40 Years On: Back To Yasgur’s Farm
Cheryl Pawelski, Mason Williams & Andy Zax, compilation producers; Dave Schultz, mastering engineer (Various Artists)

Production, Non Classical
Best Engineered Album, Non Classical
“Ellipse”
Imogen Heap, engineer (Imogen Heap)
“Gossip In The Grain”
Ethan Johns & Dominic Monks, engineers (Ray LaMontagne)
“My One And Only Thrill”
Helik Hadar & Al Schmitt, engineers (Melody Gardot)
“Safe Trip Home”
Jon Brion, Grippa, Greg Koller & Jim Scott, engineers (Dido)
“Swan Feathers”
Richard Alderson, Chris Allen, Roman Klun, Lawrence Manchester, Rob Mounsey, Jay Newland, Gene Paul, Jamie Polaski & Gordie Sampson, engineers (Leslie Mendelson)
Producer of the Year, Non Classical
T Bone Burnett
Moonalice (Moonalice) (A)
Secret, Profane & Sugarcane (Elvis Costello) (A)
Ethan Johns
Gossip In The Grain (Ray LaMontagne) (A)
Larry Klein
Acadian Driftwood (Zachary Richard) (T)
Bare Bones (Madeleine Peyroux) (A)
My One And Only Thrill (Melody Gardot) (A)
Our Bright Future (Tracy Chapman) (A)
Tide (Luciana Souza) (A)
Greg Kurstin
It’s Not Me, It’s You (Lily Allen) (A)
Ray Guns Are Not Just The Future (The Bird And The Bee) (A)
Brendan O’Brien
Black Ice (AC/DC) (A)
Crack The Skye (Mastodon) (A)
The Fixer (Pearl Jam) (S)
Killswitch Engage (Killswitch Engage) (A)
Working On A Dream (Bruce Springsteen) (A) *

Best Remixed Recording, Non-Classical
“Don’t Believe in Love” (Dennis Ferrer Objektivity Mix) – Dennis Ferrer, remixer (Dido)
“The Girl and the Robot” (Jean Elan Remix) – Jean Elan, remixer (Röyksopp)
“I Want You” (Dave Aude Remix) – Dave Aude, remixer (Dean Coleman Featuring DCLA)
“No You Girls” (Trentemøller Remix) – Anders Trentemøller, remixer (Franz Ferdinand)
“When Love Takes Over” (Electro Extended Remix) – David Guetta, remixer (David Guetta Featuring Kelly Rowland)
Production, Surround Sound

Best Surround Sound Album
“Colabs”
“Flute Mystery”
“Kleiberg: Treble & Bass”
“1970 – 1975″
“Transmigration” *

Best Engineered Album, Classical
“Britten: Billy Budd – Neil Hutchinson & Jonathan Stokes, engineers (Daniel Harding, Nathan Gunn, Ian Bostridge, Gidon Saks, Neal Davies, Jonathan Lemalu, Matthew Rose, London Symphony Chorus & London Symphony Orchestra)
“Mahler: Symphony No. 8; Adagio From Symphony No. 10 – Peter Laenger, engineer (Michael Tilson Thomas & San Francisco Symphony) *
“QSF Plays Brubeck – Judy Kirschner, engineer (Quartet San Francisco)
“Ravel: Daphnis Et Chloé – Jesse Lewis & John Newton, engineers (James Levine, Tanglewood Festival Chorus & Boston Symphony Orchestra)
“Shostakovich: Symphonies Nos. 1 & 15 – John Newton & Dirk Sobotka, engineers (Valery Gergiev & Orchestra Of The Mariinsky Theatre)

Producer of the Year, Classical
Blanton Alspaugh
Carlson, David: Anna Karenina (Stewart Robertson, Christine Abraham, Sarah Colburn, Robert Gierlach, Christian Van Horn, Kelly Kaduce, Opera Theatre Of Saint Louis & Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra)
Menotti: Amahl And The Night Visitors; My Christmas (Alastair Willis, Ike Hawkersmith, Kirsten Gunlogson, Dean Anthony, Todd Thomas, Kevin Short, Bart LeFan, Chicago Symphony Chorus, Nashville Symphony Chorus & Nashville Symphony Orchestra)
Ravel: L’Enfant Et Les Sortilèges (Alastair Willis, Julie Boulianne, Chicago Symphony Chorus, Chattanooga Boys Choir, Nashville Symphony Chorus & Nashville Symphony Orchestra)
Schubert: Death And The Maiden (JoAnn Falletta &; Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra)
Sierra, Roberto: Missa Latina ‘Pro Pace’ (Andreas Delfs, Nathaniel Webster, Heidi Grant Murphy, Milwaukee Symphony Chorus & Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra)
Steven Epstein
Adams: Doctor Atomic Symphony (David Robertson & Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra)
Bernstein: Mass (Marin Alsop, Jubilant Sykes, Asher Edward Wulfman, Morgan State University Choir, Peabody Children’s Chorus & Baltimore Symphony Orchestra)
Corigliano: A Dylan Thomas Trilogy (Leonard Slatkin, George Mabry, Sir Thomas Allen, Nashville Symphony Chorus & Nashville Symphony Orchestra)
Fauré: Piano Quintets (Fine Arts Quartet & Cristina Oritz)
Yo-Yo Ma & Friends: Songs Of Joy And Peace (Yo-Yo Ma & Various Artists) *
John Fraser
Britten: Billy Budd (Daniel Harding, Nathan Gunn, Ian Bostridge, Gidon Saks, Neal Davies, Jonathan Lemalu, Matthew Rose, London Symphony Chorus & London Symphony Orchestra)
Midsummer Night (Kate Royal, Edward Gardner, Crouch End Festival Chorus & Orchestra Of English National Opera)
Schubert: Schwanengesang (Ian Bostridge & Antonio Pappano)
Shadows Of Silence (Leif Ove Andsnes, Franz Welzer-Möst & Sinfonieorchester Des Bayerischen Rundfunks)
David Frost
An American Journey (Eroica Trio)
Journey To The New World (Sharon Isbin, Mark O’Connor & Joan Baez)
Korngold: Violin Concerto; Schauspiel Overture; Much Ado About Nothing (Philippe Quint, Carlos Miguel Prieto & Orquesta Sinfonica de Mineria)
Mozart: Piano Concertos 21 & 22 (Jonathan Biss & Orpheus Chamber Orchestra)
O’Connor, Mark: String Quartets Nos. 2 & 3 (Ida Kavafian, Mark O’Connor, Paul Neubauer & Matt Haimovitz)
James Mallinson
MacMillan, James: St. John Passion (Sir Colin Davis, Christopher Maltman, London Symphony Chorus & London Symphony Orchestra)
Mahler: Symphony No. 8 (Valery Gergiev, Choir Of Eltham College, Choral Arts Society Of Washington, London Symphony Chorus & London Symphony Orchestra)
Shostakovich: Symphonies Nos. 1 & 15 (Valery Gergiev & Orchestra Of The Mariinsky Theatre)
Shostakovich: The Nose (Valery Gergiev, Andrei Popov, Sergei Semishkur, Vladislav Sulimsky, Chorus Of The Mariinsky Theatre & Orchestra Of The Mariinsky Theatre)

Classical
Best Classical Album
“Bernstein: Mass”
Marin Alsop, conductor; Jubilant Sykes; Steven Epstein, producer; Richard King, engineer/mixer (Asher Edward Wulfman; Baltimore Symphony Orchestra; Morgan State University Choir & Peabody Children’s Chorus)
“Mahler: Symphony No. 8; Adagio From Symphony No. 10″
Michael Tilson Thomas, conductor; Ragnar Bohlin, Kevin Fox & Susan McMane, choir directors; Andreas Neubronner, producer; Peter Laenger, engineer/mixer; Andreas Neubronner, mastering engineer (Laura Claycomb, Anthony Dean Griffey, Katarina Karnéus, Quinn Kelsey, James Morris, Yvonne Naef, Elza van den Heever & Erin Wall; San Francisco Symphony; Pacific Boychoir, San Francisco Girls Chorus & San Francisco Symphony Chorus) *
“Ravel: Daphnis Et Chloé”
James Levine, conductor; Elizabeth Ostrow, producer; Jesse Lewis & John Newton, engineers/mixers; Mark Donahue, mastering engineer (Boston Symphony Orchestra; Tanglewood Festival Chorus)
“Ravel: L’Enfant Et Les Sortilèges”
Alastair Willis, conductor; Julie Boulianne; Blanton Alspaugh, producer; Mark Donahue & John Hill, engineers/mixers (Nashville Symphony Orchestra; Chattanooga Boys Choir, Chicago Symphony Chorus & Nashville Symphony Chorus)
“Shostakovich: The Nose”
Valery Gergiev, conductor; Andrei Popov, Sergei Semishkur & Vladislav Sulimsky; James Mallinson, producer; John Newton & Dirk Sobotka, engineers/mixers; Mark Donahue, mastering engineer (Orchestra Of The Mariinsky Theatre; Chorus Of The Mariinsky Theatre)

Best Orchestra Performance
“Berlioz: Symphonie Fantastique”
Simon Rattle, conductor (Susan Graham; Berliner Philharmoniker)
“Bruckner: Symphony No. 5″
Benjamin Zander, conductor (Philharmonia Orchestra)
“Ravel: Daphnis Et Chloé”
James Levine, conductor (Boston Symphony Orchestra; Tanglewood Festival Chorus) *
“Shostakovich: Symphonies Nos. 1 & 15″
Valery Gergiev, conductor (Orchestra Of The Mariinsky Theatre)
“Szymanowski: Symphonies Nos. 1 & 4″
Antoni Wit, conductor (Jan Krzysztof Broja, Ewa Marczyk & Marek Marczyk; Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra)

Best Opera Recordimg
“Britten: Billy Budd”
Daniel Harding, conductor; Ian Bostridge, Neal Davies, Nathan Gunn, Jonathan Lemalu, Matthew Rose & Gidon Saks; John Fraser, producer (London Symphony Orchestra; Gentlemen Of The London Symphony Chorus) *
“Messiaen: Saint François D’Assise”
Ingo Metzmacher, conductor; Armand Arapian, Hubert Delamboye, Rod Gilfry, Henk Neven, Tom Randle & Camilla Tilling; Ferenc van Damme, producer (The Hague Philharmonic; Chorus Of De Nederlandse Opera)
“Musto, John: Volpone”
Sara Jobin, conductor; Lisa Hopkins, Joshua Jeremiah, Museop Kim, Jeremy Little, Rodell Rosel & Faith Sherman; Blanton Alspaugh, producer (Wolf Trap Opera Company)
“Shostakovich: The Nose”
Valery Gergiev, conductor; Andrei Popov, Sergei Semishkur & Vladislav Sulimsky; James Mallinson, producer (Orchestra Of The Mariinsky Theatre; Chorus Of The Mariinsky Theatre)
“Tan Dun: Marco Polo”
Tan Dun, conductor; Stephen Bryant, Sarah Castle, Zhang Jun, Nancy Allen Lundy, Stephen Richardson & Charles Workman; Ferenc van Damme, producer (Netherlands Chamber Orchestra; Cappella Amsterdam)

Best Choral Performance
“Handel: Coronation Anthems”
Harry Christophers, conductor (Alastair Ross; The Sixteen Orchestra; The Sixteen)
“Mahler: Symphony No. 8; Adagio From Symphony No. 10″
Michael Tilson Thomas, conductor; Ragnar Bohlin, Kevin Fox & Susan McMane, choir directors (Laura Claycomb, Anthony Dean Griffey, Elza van den Heever, Katarina Karnéus, Quinn Kelsey, James Morris, Yvonne Naef & Erin Wall; San Francisco Symphony; Pacific Boychoir, San Francisco Symphony Chorus & San Francisco Girls Chorus) *
“Penderecki: Utrenja”
Antoni Wit, conductor (Gennady Bezzubenkov, Iwona Hossa, Piotr Kusiewicz, Piotr Nowacki & Agnieszka Rehlis; Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra; Warsaw Boys’ Choir & Warsaw Philharmonic Choir)
“Song Of The Stars: Granados, Casals & Blancafort”
Dennis Keene, conductor (Erica Kiesewetter; Mark Kruczek & Douglas Riva; Voices Of Ascension)
“A Spotless Rose”
Paul McCreesh, conductor (The Gabrieli Consort)

Best Instrumental Soloist(s) Performance (With Orchestra)
“Bartók: 3 Concertos”
Pierre Boulez, conductor (Pierre-Laurent Aimard, Yuri Bashmet, Gidon Kremer, Neil Percy, Tamara Stefanovich & Nigel Thomas; Berliner Philharmoniker & London Symphony Orchestra)
“Bermel, Derek: Voices For Solo Clarinet And Orchestra”
Gil Rose, conductor; Derek Bermel (Boston Modern Orchestra Project)
“Korngold: Violin Concerto In D Major, Op. 35″
Carlos Miguel Prieto, conductor; Philippe Quint (Orquesta Sinfónica de Mineria)
“Prokofiev: Piano Concertos Nos. 2 & 3″
Vladimir Ashkenazy, conductor; Evgeny Kissin (Philharmonia Orchestra) *
“Salonen, Esa-Pekka: Piano Concerto”
Esa-Pekka Salonen, conductor; Yefim Bronfman (Los Angeles Philharmonic)
Best Instrumental Soloist Performance (Without Orchestra)
“Caroline Goulding”- Caroline Goulding (Christopher O’Riley & Janine Randall)
Chopin”- Maria João Pires
“Journey To The New World”- Sharon Isbin (Joan Baez & Mark O’Connor)
“Oppens Plays Carter”- Ursula Oppens
“Sonatas & Etudes”- Yuja Wang

Best Chamber Music Performance
“Ginastera: String Quartets” (Comlete)- Enso Quartet (Lucy Shelton)
“The Hungarian Album”- Guarneri Quartet
“Intimate Letters”- Emerson String Quartet *
“Schumann/Bartók: The Berlin Recital”- Martha Argerich & Gidon Kremer
“Takemitsu, Toru: And Then I Knew ‘Twas Wind”- Yolanda Kondonassis, Cynthia Phelps & Joshua Smith

Best Small Ensemble Performance
“Bach: Orchestral Suites For A Young Prince”
Monica Huggett, conductor; Gonzalo X. Ruiz; Ensemble Sonnerie
“Josquin: Missa Malheur Me Bat”
Peter Phillips, conductor; Tallis Scholars
“Lang, David: The Little Match Girl Passion”
Paul Hillier, conductor; Ars Nova Copenhagen & Theatre Of Voices *
“Song Of Songs”
Stile Antico (Alison Hill & Benedict Hymas)
“Vivaldi: Concertos”
Daniel Hope & Anne Sofie von Otter; Chamber Orchestra Of Europe (Kristian Bezuidenhout)

Best Classical Vocal Performance
“Bach”- Anne Sofie von Otter (Lars Ulrik Mortensen; Anders J. Dahlin, Jakob Bloch Jespersen, Tomas Medici & Karin Roman; Concerto Copenhagen)
“Bel Canto Spectacular”- Juan Diego Flórez (Daniel Oren; Daniella Barcellona, Patrizia Ciofi, Plácido Domingo, Mariusz Kwiecien, Anna Netrebko & Fernando Piqueras; Orquestra De La Comunitat Valenciana; Cor De La Generalitat Valenciana)
“Recital At Ravinia”- Lorraine Hunt Lieberson (Drew Minter; Peter Serkin)
“Un Frisson Français”- Susan Graham (Malcom Martineau)
“Verismo Arias”- Renée Fleming (Marco Armiliato; Jonas Kaufmann; Orchestra Sinfonica Di Milano Giuseppi Verdi; Coro Sinfonica Di Milano Giuseppi Verdi)
Best Classical Contemporary Composition *
“Crumb, George: The Winds Of Destiny”- George Crumb (James Freeman)
“Higdon, Jennifer: Percussion Concerto”- Jennifer Higdon (Marin Alsop)
“Pärt, Arvo: In Principio”- Arvo Pärt (Tõnu Kaljuste)
“Sierra, Roberto: Missa Latina ‘Pro Pace’”- Roberto Sierra (Andreas Delfs)
“Wyner, Yehudi: Piano Concerto “Chiavi In Mano”"- Yehudi Wyner (Robert Spano)

Best Classical Crossover Album
“A Company Of Voices: Conspirare In Concert”
Craig Hella Johnson, conductor; Conspirare (Tom Burritt, Ian Davidson & Bion Tsang)
“Jazz-Clazz”- Paquito D’Rivera Quintet (Trio Clarone)
“The Melody Of Rhythm”
Leonard Slatkin, conductor; Béla Fleck, Zakir Hussain & Edgar Meyer (Detroit Symphony Orchestra)
“QSF Plays Brubeck”- Quartet San Francisco
“Twelve Songs By Charles Ives”
Theo Bleckmann; Kneebody
“Yo-Yo Ma & Friends: Songs Of Joy And Peace”- Yo-Yo Ma (Odair Assad, Sergio Assad, Chris Botti, Dave Brubeck, Matt Brubeck, John Clayton, Paquito d’Rivera, Renée Fleming, Diana Krall, Alison Krauss, Natalie McMaster, Edgar Meyer, Cristina Pato, Joshua Redman, Jake Shimabukuro, Silk Road Ensemble, James Taylor, Chris Thile, Wu Tong, Alon Yavnai & Amelia Zirin-Brown) *

Music Video
Best Short Form Music Video
“Mr. Hurricane” – Beast
Ben Steiger Levine, video director; Sach Baylin-Stern, video producer
“Boom Boom Pow” – The Black Eyed Peas *
Mat Cullen & Mark Kudsi, video directors; Anna Joseph & Patrick Nugent, video producers
“Life in Technicolor II” – Coldplay
Dougal Wilson, video director; Matthew Fone, video producer
“Wrong” – Depeche Mode
Patrick Daughters, video director; Jonathan Lia, video producer
“Her Morning Elegance” – Oren Lavie
Oren Lavie, Merav Nathan and Yuval Nathan, video directors; Oren Lavie, video producer

Best Long Form Music Video
“In Boston” – Chris Botti
Jim Gable, video director; Bobby Colomby, video producer
“Johnny Cash’s America” – (Johnny Cash)
Robert Gordon & Morgan Neville, video directors; Robert Gordon & Morgan Neville, video producers
“Anita O’Day — The Life Of A Jazz Singer” – Anita O’Day
Robbie Cavolina & Ian McCrudden, video directors; Robbie Cavolina, Melissa Davis & Ian McCrudden, video producers
“Love, Pain & The Whole Crazy World Tour Live” – Keith Urban
Chris Hicky, video director; Blake Morrison, video producer
“The Beatles Love — All Together Now” – Various Artists
Adrian Wills, video director; Martin Bolduc & Jonathan Clyde, video producers *