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THE GRAMMY THAT COULD CHANGE A LIFE; THE NOMINATION WHICH PROBABLY WON'T


A Grammy nomination? For Keith Urban it’s old (cowboy) hat; for Harley Streten, aka Flume, this could be the kind of thing to blow his (peaked) cap right off. For Sia? Well, it’s likely to produce a new wig, if she turns up at all.

As Kylie Minogue could confirm, a Grammy nomination, of which she has four, or even a win, in her case for best dance recording in 2004, with Come Into My World, won’t necessarily change a musician’s life.

For a few weeks the media chase and ask “how does it feel?” but soon after that trophy goes to someone else the only people who remember nominees are parents and Wikipedia trawlers.

Minogue’s profile in the USA is still modest and even Gotye’s presence in the USA since his triple win in 2013 has been deliberately low key to the point of non-existent.

However, Urban, who won the Grammy for best male country vocal performance four times (2006, ’08, ’10 and ’11) and been nominated a further 11 times in different categories, has been one of the biggest names in the - very loosely defined - country music scene in the USA for more than a decade now.

So that might suggest he’d be blasé about his triple nominations this year: best country album, for Ripcord, and best country solo performance and best country song for Blue Ain’t Your Color.

(Presumably his end of year performance with wife Nicole Kidman of a raft of songs from recently dead stars such as Leonard Cohen and David Bowie must have been too late to be recognised. Look for it on Youtube. Especially the dancing.)

However, there’s no such thing as too many nominations when you’re always one big-hat-replacement away from being yesterday’s woman or man so Urban was “totally blown away” according to his statement. It’s been a long time between drinks of winner’s champagne after all.

Streten/Flume, who looks too young to drink celebratory champagne in most states of the USA – though he is 25 under his favourite baseball cap – is fresh meat compared with Urban when it comes to the Grammy Awards, which will air on Monday, Sydney time.

If the producer/writer from the northern beaches of Sydney wins with either or both of his nominations, for best dance recording for his song with Kai Never Be Like You, and best dance/electronic album for his second album, Skin, it might seal his ascension to international electronica star.

Which may explain why he’s not saying anything publicly.

On the other hand, the musician who has already twice collected a swag of ARIA Awards and last month topped the triple j Hottest 100, would be aware that his nominations are in categories which in the USA don’t rate –for the TV broadcast or in the industry – as much as ones such as rock album or best pop vocal.

That’s the territory occupied by Sia, the Adelaide songwriter of hits for Rihanna, Katy Perry, Beyonce and Britney Spears, and latterly a hitmaker for herself who is nominated for best pop vocal album, for This Is Acting, best pop duo/group performance with Sean Paul, for Cheap Thrills, and for best song written for visual media, Try Everything.

The reigning best female artist at the ARIA Awards, Sia Furler, to use her full name, has been here before with five previous Grammy nominations, including for the big ones, song of the year (for songwriting) and record of the song (for performing) for her song Chandelier.

(Though when you say “been here before” it doesn’t necessarily mean she turns up or if she turns up says anything at awards programs. More often Furler will be hiding under a big wig saying nothing or sitting at home possibly knitting a big wig.)

While better known than Flume, Furler has not won yet and this year isn’t up against lightweights – though luckily for the South Australian she won’t be competing directly with one of the expected big winners, Beyonce, who has nine nominations.

In the best pop vocal album category, it’s likely she will be competing with Demi Lovato, Ariana Grande and Justin Bieber to lose to the hot favourite and five-times nominated Adele’s 25.

Likewise in best pop duo/group performance Furler and Paul face hitmakers Rihanna and Drake (Work), Chainsmokers (Closer) and Twenty One Pilots (Stressed Out) and the year’s breakout hit from Lukas Graham (7).

And if the lesser known visual media category – for songs written for games, films and television – has neither Adele (already the owner of 10 Grammys) nor Beyonce (a winner of 20 Grammys so far), it does have the stiff challenge of the sugary hit Can’t Stop The Feeling from Justin Timberlake.

Still, if the wig fits …..

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