'Real music lovers' give Radiohead a shot at five awards
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Your support makes all the difference.Radiohead, the band consistently voted the best on the planet, secured more nominations yesterday than any of their rivals in the prestigious New Musical Express music awards.
The Oxford experimenters are in the running in five categories, including best UK band; best single, "There There"; and best album, Hail to the Thief . But close behind are the surprise stars of 2003, the Darkness, also in the battle for best single and best video against the Detroit duo the White Stripes. Both groups earned four nominations.
The shortlists were announced by Conor McNicholas, the magazine's editor, based on more than 25,000 votes by NME readers. He said the magazine offered the only music award to be nominated by real music lovers. "There had been a huge vote for Radiohead," Mr McNicholas said. "It was such a great year for them. I think Hail to the Thief didn't win over everybody who had been lost by the previous two difficult albums, but it certainly brought a lot of them back to the fold. It had some really stomping good tunes. But more than anything else, they were great live. What we love in this country is great live."
The Darkness, from East Anglia, had grabbed attention because "people appreciated the shock", Mr McNicholas said. "But they also had some good songs ... the Darkness are like Oasis. They have these fantastic sing-along choruses which make their performances like pantomime events."
The arrival of new bands such as Jet and Kings of Leon, both up for best new band, showed that rock had regained its edge. "It wasn't very cool or exciting to be into rock music a couple of years ago," Mr McNicholas said. But the new generations, including the other best new band contenders, the Thrills and Franz Ferdinand, had revitalised the genre.
Radio 1 secured four out of the five nominations for best radio show with the sole commercial contender being Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant's show on XFM. Hot on the heels of his Golden Globes' glory, Gervais gets another chance at success in the best television show category with The Office , which he co-wrote with Merchant.
Other awards include godlike genius, woman of the year, man of the year and living legend titles.
In the run-up to the awards ceremony, at the Hammersmith Palais in London on 12 February, NME is hosting a fortnight of live shows, with performances from many of the nominated acts.
THE NOMINATIONS
Best Single
7 Nation Army White Stripes
There There Radiohead
I Believe In A Thing Called Love The Darkness
Don't Look Back Into The Sun The Libertines
Hey Ya! Outkast
Best Album
Elephant The White Stripes
Absolution Muse
Hail To The Thief Radiohead
Room on Fire The Strokes
Youth & Young Manhood Kings of Leon
Best International Band
The Strokes
Kings Of Leon
The White Stripes
Queens Of The Stone Age
Foo Fighters
Best New Band
Jet
Kings Of Leon
Funeral for A Friend
The Thrills
Franz Ferdinand
Best Live Band
Muse
Radiohead
Queens Of The Stone Age
The Libertines
The Darkness
Best Solo Artist
Ryan Adams
Har Mar Superstar
Justin Timberlake
Damien Rice
Pink
Best UK Band
Radiohead
The Darkness
Coldplay
Muse
The Libertines
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