Post by dreamy on Jan 12, 2006 8:58:54 GMT 10
Tunstall has her eye on three Brits
FERGUS SHEPPARD
Key points
• KT Tunstall has been nominated for three Brit Awards
• The categories are: best female, breakthrough act and live act
• Paul Weller has received an award for outstanding contribution to music
Story in full THE Scottish singer KT Tunstall last night capped an incredibly successful year with three nominations in the Brit Awards.
The guitarist, from St Andrews, has rocketed from near- obscurity to clinch a prestigious nomination for best British female, pitting her against Kate Bush. She has also received nominations for the breakthrough act and live act categories.
Tunstall was largely unknown when her debut album, Eye To The Telescope, was released in December 2004. The record has since gone on to sell more than a million copies.
Fellow Scots Franz Ferdinand, who last year won two Brit awards, were back in the running last night with nominations for best British group, rock act and live act.
Elsewhere, commercial success translated into an armful of potential accolades for James Blunt and the Kaiser Chiefs, who have received five nominations each.
Blunt, whose debut album Back To Bedlam has racked up a total of 2.5 million UK sales so far, has been nominated for best British male solo artist, album, pop act, breakthrough act and single - for his hit song You're Beautiful.
Meanwhile, Leeds art-rockers the Kaiser Chiefs, whose debut album Employment has gone quadruple platinum, are up for awards for best British group, album, live act, rock act and breakthrough act. The band, known for their high-octane performance of hits such as I Predict a Riot, performed an acoustic set at last night's Brit Awards 2006 launch.
Also making a return appearance in the Brits are the previous award winners Coldplay, who have nominations for best British group, single, rock act and live act. The group has enjoyed global success with their third album X&Y, which has sold two million copies in the UK and has gone triple platinum in the United States.
Gorillaz, the animated cartoon band created by Blur frontman Damon Albarn, are nominated for two awards, as is Katie Melua, whose album Piece By Piece helped her to become the biggest-selling female artist in the UK in 2005 for the second year in a row, with total album sales of 1,076,000.
Kate Bush is nominated as best British female solo artist nearly 20 years after first winning the prize. She is also nominated for her album Aerial, the reclusive singer's first release in 12 years. Rock stalwarts Oasis, meanwhile, have two nominations as best live act and rock act.
Groups including the Arctic Monkeys and the Magic Numbers compete with Blunt, Tunstall and the Kaiser Chiefs for British breakthrough act, while the Canadian indie rockers Arcade Fire will make a play for best international act.
Antony, of Antony and the Johnsons, followed up his victory in last year's Nationwide Mercury Prize with a nomination as best British male solo artist, competing with Blunt, Ian Brown, Robbie Williams and Will Young.
The awards night will be hosted by Chris Evans, the Radio 2 DJ and broadcaster, on 15 February from Earls Court in London and televised on ITV1 the following night.
Run by the British Phonographic Industry, the awards celebrate the cream of pop talent in 16 categories. Of those, nine are chosen by vote from the music, broadcasting and media industries, while public votes decide the other six.
However, one result is already known. A special award for outstanding contribution to music will be presented to Paul Weller, the former Jam frontman whose band notched up six multi-platinum albums and four No 1 hit singles.
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