The Recording Academy announced yesterday that British/Sri Lankan raptress M.I.A., whose ’08 anthem "Paper Planes" is up for Record of the Year, will be performing at this Sunday’s ceremony. She may, however, want to bring along a few clean blankets, sanitized water, and an EMT: Her first child is due that same day. "They say that you’re often late the first time, so I’m planning to go"to the show, she told USA Today. "We’ll see. Peopleare trying to get me to relax and focus on the baby. It’s like being inparallel universes."
She won’t be the first nominated lady to show up heavily pregnant to an awards show: A nearly-spherical Catherine Zeta Jones had to pass on performing an athletic number from Best Picture champ Chicago at the 2003 Oscars, though she still went on to win the prize ("my hormones are just way too out of control to be dealing with this," she laughed in her giddy acceptance speech), while Nelly Furtado was with-bump — and up for two major prizes — at last year’s Grammys (alas, she went home empty-handed).
The competition in M.I.A.’s category is stiff (and, coincidentally, almost entirely British as well) — Coldplay, Leona Lewis, Adele, and Robert Plant and Alison Krauss. If she fails to nab the little golden grammaphone, however, she’s still got a pretty sweet consolation prize coming. Don’t you agree?
Looks like Sunday, Feb. 8, will be a "Beautiful Day" for U2 fans: The Irish rockers 
I did not personally select the latest round of performers for the Grammys telecast, but I might as well have, since the Recording Academy seems to have done this using a rough "Simon’s favorite artists" rule: Radiohead, Paul McCartney (backed by Dave Grohl on drums), Justin Timberlake, Jay-Z, T.I., and Kanye West will all be playing at the Feb. 8 ceremony in L.A. A Radiohead performance equals 
I’m going to start this week’s countdown with a mini-countdown of my own. Don’t worry, it only goes up to two. It’s called the Posts Jean Liked But Was Surprised You Guys Didn’t Comment on More Countdown, or PJLBWSYGDCOMC for short (it just rolls off the tongue, I know). First, Simon Vozick-Levinson 
Of all the names on Grammy’s list this year, perhaps the most confusing–for non-country fans, at least– was Lady Antebellum, up for Best New Artist. Time for learning: They’re not a dance act, and this nom’s not so out of left field, either. The Nashville-based threesome of Charles Kelley (blond guy), Dave Haywood (brown-haired guy), and Hillary Scott (chick) are your reigning ACM and CMA new artists of the year, due largely to the strength of "Love Don’t Live Here," the first single off their self-titled debut. To assist in the information disseminating process, we got Kelley on the phone from Las Vegas, where the group played the Fremont Street Experience last night. They found out about their two nominations — they’re also up for Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group — between sets. And they are now staying a well deserved extra night in Vegas.
Okay, so I think I just figured out what’s wrong with almost every major televised awards ceremony in this country, but especially the Grammys: They spend so much time reminding us of how important and magical and woven into the fabric of a life we can barely understand in these crazy digital times their television program has been over the last half-century, they forget that the whole point of the ceremony in the first place is to celebrate the best of what is happening in our culture right this very second. And so while I think we can all agree that an Album of the Year race comprised of Coldplay, Radiohead, Lil Wayne, Ne-Yo, and Plant/Krauss is nothing to sneeze at, there was absolutely no need to announce the nominees in that or any other Grammy category during an hour-long Tribute To Songs Your Parents Like On That Network With Shows For Old People, designed to highlight the opening of an actual museum devoted to the aforementioned important magic.
The nominations for the 51st Annual Grammy Awards were announced in a live television special on Wednesday night. Lil Wayne was the most honored artist with eight nominations. Coldplay garnered seven nods, while Jay-Z, Ne-Yo, and Kanye West had six each. Trophies will be handed out on Feb. 8, 2009.
