The Grammy's: and the nominees are

This morning at 8:30 a.m. I was present at The Fonda theater in Hollywood to hear the Grammy nominees being announced live. Amidst a room full of reporters and more cameramen and equipment then I could count, I was there with my notebook taking notes and listening to hear if a sponsor's name was mentioned among the speeches.

This year will be the Grammy's 50th anniversary, so the theater was decorated with big 50 signs all over the place and a silent clip reel played the best of the Grammy moments as people got ready for the nominations to begin.

I didn't realize they used actual performers to announce the nominees, so it was a bonus for me that I got to see some singer and stars. The artists reading the nominations so early in the morning included: Akon (woo who), Fergie (looking glamorous, g-l-a-m-o-r-o-u-s), Taylor Swift (she's tall), Foo Fighters' Taylor Hawkins and David Grohl (looking like they just woke up, their eyes squinting in the camera's lights), George Lopez (at first I was like, why is he here? But then was reminded that he's hosted several Latin Grammy awards shows), Herbie Hancock (I only know his name because of the movie Tommy Boy), Mike Shinoda (of Linkin Park) Jimmy Jam (no idea) and Vince Gill (don't know him either).

When Fergie presented, she was sweet and said good morning to everyone and as she announced Akon's name for Best Rap/Song Collaboration for "I Wanna Love You" with Snoop Dogg, he made a Yes! gesture behind her and everyone clapped.

When Taylor Swift came to the podium she said that she was "starstruck" and later when her nomination for best new artist was announced she came up to hug the Foo Fighters who were announcing the category, as if she just won the award. It was cute. The guys even gave her the nomination envelope to keep. She then kept staring at it as the other names were revealed. Later when the Foo Fighters were nominated for Album of the Year, they jokingly went up for a hug from the announcer Jimmy Jam and then when Herbie Hancock's nomination was announced he, to much cheers from the crowd, hugged only the girls in the line (Fergie and Taylor) and ignored the announcer.

George Lopez meanwhile started his segment in Spanish and said "Don't worry it's still English, for awhile." He also referred to the six-time nominee, Amy Winehouse who sings "Rehab" as a "drunk ass," lol. Oh and he teased before opening the envelope by saying, "How funny would it be if it said Lisa Lisa and the Cult Jams?" Being a fan of their's I was a little saddened by that though. So for an event that was pretty much just an announcement of nominees, it was made from by the group on stage. Here's a listing of the full nominations.

If you aren't familiar with a lot of Grammy nominees' music, check out a site that offers streaming music online and listen away! Listening to music online is a great way to get acquainted with artists before you buy their music CDs.