As 2009 draws nearer to its close, we will be acknowledging the releases, events and shocking moments that have made the last 12 months one of music’s most memorable ever with our 3rd annual That Grape Juice: End of Year Awards.

Shaking things up somewhat from last year, the nominations process has been stream-lined this go round, with the provisional list of categories and nominees listed below. Prior to nominations going live and voting commencing this Thursday (December 17th), we’re keen to hear your feedback/suggestions on both the nominees and categories, which you can drop in the comments section below!

So quickly recapping, the final nominee list as well as actual voting goes live on December 17th. Winners will be thereafter announced on Christmas Day ( December 25th)!

(* For those wondering, Beyonce isn’t eligible for many of the awards as ‘Single Ladies’, as well as her album ‘I Am Sasha Fierce’ were both released in October 2008 – and were nominated/won many awards last year!)

That Grape Juice: End of Year Awards 2009 – The Nominees

Album of the Year

* The Fame Monster – Lady GaGa

* The Blueprint 3 – Jay-Z

* The E.N.D – Black Eyed Peas

*  I Look To You – Whitney Houston

* In A Perfect World – Keri Hilson

Single of the Year

* Empire State of Mind – Jay-Z (ft. Alicia Keys)

*  Pretty Wings – Maxwell

* Bad Romance – Lady GaGa

* I Gotta Feelin’ – Black Eyed Peas

The Michael Jackson Music Video of The Year Award

* Love, Sex, Magic – Ciara

* Russian Roulette – Rihanna

* Bad Romance – Lady GaGa

*I Can Transform Ya – Chris Brown

* Bad Boys – Alexandra Burke

Best Collaboration

* Empire State of Mind – Jay-Z & Alicia Keys

* Knock You Down – Keri Hilson, Ne-Yo & Kanye West

* Video Phone (Extended Mix) – Beyonce & Lady GaGa

* Love, Sex, Magic – Ciara & Justin Timberlake

* Hard – Rihanna & Young Jeezy

Best New Artist

* Alexandra Burke

* Drake

* Kid Kudi

* Kesha

Best Female Artist

* Beyonce

* Lady GaGa

* Alicia Keys

* Ciara

* Rihanna

Best Male Artist

* Jay-Z

* Maxwell

* Drake

* Chris Brown

Best Club Banger

* Work – Ciara

* Obsessed – Mariah Carey

* Hard – Rihanna

* Boom Boom Pow – Black Eyed Peas

* I Can Transform Ya – Chris Brown

Best Live Performer (TV, Award Shows etc):

* Beyonce

* Janet Jackson

* Lady GaGa

* Jay-Z

* Ciara

The Kelly Rowland Underrated Artist of the Year Award

* Amerie

* Teairra Mari

* LeToya Luckett

* The-Dream

Most Slept On Album of the Year

* Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel – Mariah Carey

* In Love & War – Amerie

* Love vs Money – The-Dream

* Fantasy Ride – Ciara

* Graffiti – Chris Brown

The Please Go Sit Down Somewhere Award

* Rihanna

* 50 Cent

* Chris Brown

* Mariah Carey

Worst Single of the Year

* Wait Your Turn – Rihanna

* Why R U – Amerie

* Louboutins – Jennifer Lopez

* Happy – Leona Lewis

Worst Album of the Year

* Before I Self Destruct – 50 Cent

* More suggestions needed……

You Slippin’ // Step Your Game Up Award

* Mariah Carey

* 50 Cent

* Britney Spears

* Jennifer Lopez

* Rihanna

Recession Special: Worst Video of  the Year

* I Want To Know What Love Is – Mariah Carey

* Wait Your Turn – Rihanna

* I Get It In – Omarion

* Fresh Out The Oven – Jennifer Lopez

Most Shocking Event of 2009

* Kanye West VMA Outburst

* The Death of Michael Jackson (RIP)

* Whitney Houston’s Grammy Snub

Best Movie

* Precious

* This Is It

* Madea Goes To Jail

Most Anticipated Comeback For 2010

* Usher

* Kelly Rowland

* Janet

*IMPORTANT: This is NOT the vote itself. This is for feedback on the nominees list. Voting starts on Thursday*

Your thoughts / suggestions?

* Banner credit: Luca!!!

It appears Def Jam are wasting no time rushing out a re-release of Rihanna‘s latest effort ‘Rated R‘. For in a recent interview with the the BBC,  Ryan Tedder, the hitmaker behind Beyonce’s ‘Halo’, confirmed that he will be heading into the studio with the model at the start of the new year. Check out an excerpt from the feature:

Those so far on his radar include Ne-Yo, the Noisettes. Lupe Fiasco, Imogen Heap and in the new year, Rihanna.

He admits he’s been trying to synchronise schedules with the Umbrella singer for about a year and a half now and wants to get her pushing the boundaries.

He said: “She’s in a darker musical place right now… she’s got enough of those songs on Rated R to last for a while.

“I can do stuff dark musically, haunting kind of thing, but I want to have her do something vocally that she’s never done before.”

While news of a all-but-confirmed re-release comes as no surprise, two things really struck me upon reading this. The first being that in trying to get her to do something vocally she’s never done before, perhaps he could actually get RiRi to sing out of her mouth instead of her nostrils. More than anything though, it really drove home how disgusting the industry can be at times…it’s as if a re-release was always in the pipeline (yes, we all knew it was coming, but the confirmation leaves a salty taste in my mouth). Surely the general premise of re-releases are to extend the shelf-life of an already-successful album or a poorly selling album that never got a chance first go round (in the way of promotion etc)?

Whatever the eventual fate of ‘Rated R’, there’s no doubt its numbers to date are atrocious – when considering all the promo, sympathy, interviews, her success with her last album and all that jazz. If folk weren’t buying into it now, I have no idea why a re-release – which all indications point to being planned before the original even came out – is being given the green-light. As I type, the notion of another entirely new LP being rushed out next year came to mind, which IMO is equally as bad. SMH…

Your thoughts?

Lady GaGa caps off an amazing 2009 by hitting the top spot on the Official UK Singles Chart with current single ‘Bad Romance’. Though facing a serious challenge by the force that is Susan Boyle, GaGa boasts the UK best selling album and single of 2009. {Source}

The level of success GaGa has attained in little over a year is next to unheard of in recent music history. Yet I can’t think of any other artist in recent times who deserves it more than the 23 year old superstar. A much needed breath of fresh air to the music industry, GaGa unique brand of…well…everything…really must be giving her industry contemporaries a serious kick up bum to step their own game up lol. Go GaGa!

Your thoughts?

Peep this preview of Covergirl model Rihanna‘s latest music video, ‘Hard’. The Melina directed clip is set to premiere any day now! We’re reserving full judgement until seeing the video in its entirety.

{Thanks Music on Play!}

Your thoughts?

The incomparable Whitney Houston was recently interviewed on Australian morning show ‘9 Today’. As ever, the diva of divas, didn’t bite her tongue about any questions put her way, which included her thoughts on her own comeback, the recent Australian controversy surrounding Britney’s Spears’ lip-syncing, future movie roles and much more. A great watch, I must say. {Thanks Sasha!}

Your thoughts?

{Content Removed As Requested}

Check out episode 9 of the hilarious ‘Cleveland Show’.

Enjoy!

Kelly Rowland dazzled at the arrivals lounge at Elton John’s Grey Goose Character & Cocktails Aids fundraiser at The Grosvenor House Hotel here in London tonight.

The international star, 28, was asked by Sir Elton personally to perform a Destiny’s Child medley at the star-studded event, to which Rowland gladly agreed.

Your thoughts?

Pop vocalist Leona Lewis performed on today’s ‘The X Factor’ finale. The singer did a rendition of Oasis’s ‘Stop Crying Your Heart Out’ which is featured on her ‘Echo‘ album. To date, the record has sold over 600, 000 units in the UK; a far cry from her sales in the US which have barely passed 100, 000 copies.

With the exception of a few off-key notes at the beginning, Leona certainly did her thing. Watching that performance reminded me of why Simon Cowell regards her as the best singer that he has discovered on any of his various talent show competitions. All she needs now is a bit more personality and she can very well be at the forefront of the next generation of divas.

Thoughts?

UK singer Alexandra Burke took the stage with popular group JLS on the finale of ‘The X Factor’ earlier today. The performers did a medley of Burke’s hit ‘Bad Boys’ and JLS’ own ‘Everybody In Love’. Joe McElderry took home this year’s title as the show’s winning contestant.

This performance was quite enjoyable. As someone who rarely pays attention to this show, I don’t know much about the quality of contestants but I must admit that Alexandra is definitely has a lot of potential. Other than her and Leona Lewis, I have not seen anyone emerge from that competition that has ‘wowed’ me. JLS…Alexandra certainly has a lot of potential.

Thoughts?

Timbaland and Brandy aka Bran’Nu rocked the stage at Y100’s ‘Jingle Ball 2009’ which was held at Fort Lauderdale’s Bank Atlantic Center last evening. The concert also featured performances from a host of other entertainers who gathered to ring in the Christmas season. Peep more photos from the event below:

Singer JoJo looks all grown up in this white ensemble.

Sexy siren Shakira unleashed her inner she wolf for the fans.

Jordin Sparks worked it out on stage.

Finally, rapper Flo Rida had to cool things down during his blazing hot performance.

What do you think of the pics?

Check out this new commercial for Omarion‘s forthcoming LP ‘Ollusion’, which had me cracking up for a number of reasons. First and foremost, I never knew ‘Ollusion’ was ‘most anticipated’…hell I struggle to remember it’s even coming out! (“Not being a cow…I’m just saying”). What’s more hilarious was the fact Omari was doing the voice-over himself! All-in-all, this one provided a much needed laugh on this cold a** Sunday here in London town.

Jokes asides, I must commend Omari for grinding hard for success (I’m assuming he commissioned this ad himself). His label don’t seem to be doing much of anything with his project and, as they say, if you don’t talk yourself up, who else will? That said, there is the potential to go overboard and be somewhat premature with the ‘Omarion this unstoppable force’ aura this commercial was giving off. I mean, truth be told, beside ‘O’ and ‘Ice Box’, I’d argue Omarion is still largely known for his work in B2K – and we all know how relevant they are now. In any case, “fake it till you make it”…best of luck to him.

Your thoughts?

This week’s classic From The Vault video is Wyclef & Mary J. Blige’s year 2000 collaboration ‘911’, which was lifted from the former Fugee star’s ‘Ecleftic’ LP. Put simply, this track still goes hard today, with the video having aged particularly well some 10 years later. A classic.

Your thoughts?