UK: Kaiser Chiefs and James Blunt dominate 2006 Brit music award nominations

Kaiser Chiefs and James Blunt led the field on Tuesday (January 10) with five nominations apiece when the shortlist was announced for the Brit Awards, the UK music industry's big night of the year. Hot on their heels with four nominations was Coldplay, whose third album "X&Y" was one of the biggest British releases of 2005. Next in line with three nominations were KT Tunstall, the Scottish singer-songwriter whose debut album has sold one million copies in Britain alone, and Scottish rockers Franz Ferdinand. In the international award categories, the leaders with three nominations each were Montreal rockers Arcade Fire and Madonna, whose dance album "Confessions on a Dance Floor" has been a chart success on both sides of the Atlantic. But Madonna faces stiff competition in the fight for accolade of International Female Solo Artist of the Year from Bjork, Kelly Clarkson, Mariah Carey and Missy Elliot. In Britain, album sales fell by 2.7 percent last year but the success of homegrown artists like Blunt, Tunstall and Robbie Williams ensured it was not as sharp as the 7.2 percent decline in the United States. Blunt, a singer songwriter who once served in Kosovo with the British Army, was the bestseller of the year with his debut album "Back to Bedlam". Chairman of the Brit Awards Peter Jamieson was upbeat about the quality of this years nominations said there will be plenty to celebrate when the Brits are handed out on Feb. 15. "It has been an exceptional year for British music, the British music is like a beacon to the world. Jamieson told Reuters. The Global market is in difficulty, the British retail market is in difficulty, but British music through a buoyant live scene through new innovative marketing and great music making particular by debut artists this year, it just has been a fantastic year for British music." "The fact that legal downloading started to take off has lifted a huge weight off the shoulders of the music industry," he said, referring to the rapid growth of Internet services like iTunes that channel proceeds to labels and artists. "It freed up some money and gave more confidence. You see more bands coming through and the independent sector is massive," he added. At this year's Brits, the Outstanding Achievement award is being given to Paul Weller, who inspired a generation of Britpop bands like Oasis and Blur. Weller, former lead singer with The Jam and The Style Council, has pursued a solo career since the early 1990s. Yet many British acts concede that cracking the key U.S. market is still a prime objective. In the golden era of the 60s, the Beatles and the Rolling Stones dominated the American charts, now British acts really make inroads into the lucrative American record market as Simon Rix of the Kaiser Chiefs know all to well. "We went on tour with the Foo Fighters who are massive," said Rix. "They where playing the massive Enormodome, we get in a taxi, the guy goes, 'Who are you with', and we say, 'The Foo Fighters', and he had never heard of them. It is just impossible to break unless you are Shania Twain." Ricky Wilson likens the experience to a scholastic device, "It is like a shatterproof ruler, you can bent it as much as you can, it will never break, it will just get slightly white," he told Reuters before performing at the nominations ceremony in London. Tunstall, who sets off on Sunday for two months in the United States, was just pleased to be considered for an award. "It will be fantastic to get one. To be honest I was never that familiar with the BRITS," she told Reuters. "Of course I knew about it, it is often only when you come to these things do you realise the scale of it, and it is an enormous deal. It is the biggest one there is in Britain and it is very exciting to be part of it." Blunt, a singer songwriter who once served in Kosovo with the British army, was the bestseller of the year with his debut album "Back to Bedlam". Full list of nominations :: British Male Solo Artist Antony and the Johnsons Ian Brown James Blunt Robbie Williams Will Young :: British Female Solo Artist Charlotte Church Kate Bush Katie Melua KT Tunstall Natasha Bedingfield :: British Group Coldplay Franz Ferdinand Gorillaz Hard-Fi Kaiser Chiefs :: MasterCard British Album Coldplay - X&Y Gorillaz - Demon Days James Blunt - Back to Bedlam Kaiser Chiefs - Employment Kate Bush - Aerial :: British Single Winner chosen by UK Commercial Radio listeners Coldplay - Speed Of Sound James Blunt - You're Beautiful Shayne Ward - That's My Goal Sugababes - Push The Button Tony Christie ft Peter Kay - (Is This The Way To) Amarillo? :: British Breakthrough Act Winner chosen by Radio 1 listeners Arctic Monkeys James Blunt Kaiser Chiefs KT Tunstall The Magic Numbers :: British Urban Act Craig David Dizzee Rascal Kano Lemar Ms Dynamite :: British Rock Act Winner chosen by Kerrang! TV viewers Franz Ferdinand Hard-Fi Kaiser Chiefs Kasabian Oasis :: British Live Act Winner chosen by Radio 2 listeners Coldplay Kaiser Chiefs Franz Ferdinand KT Tunstall Oasis :: Pop Act Winner chosen by CD:UK viewers; The Sun Bizarre column readers and customers of 02 and Motorola James Blunt Katie Melua Kelly Clarkson Madonna Westlife :: International Male Solo Artist Beck Bruce Springsteen Jack Johnson John Legend Kanye West :: International Female Solo Artist Bjork Kelly Clarkson Madonna Mariah Carey Missy Elliott :: International Group Arcade Fire Black Eyed Peas Green Day U2 White Stripes :: International Album Arcade Fire - Funeral Green Day - American Idiot Kanye West - Late Registration Madonna - Confessions On A Dancefloor U2 - How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb :: International Breakthrough Act Arcade Fire Daniel Powter Jack Johnson John Legend Pussycat Dolls :: Outstanding Contribution to Music Paul Weller

ITN Source | January 12, 2006

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