NOMINATIONS: OTHER CATEGORIES

0 Comments | Sunday Herald, The, Nov 2, 2003

BEST HIP HOP Nominees: Missy Elliott, 50 Cent, Eminem, Jay-Z, Nelly It's slightly depressing that in the year that Missy Elliott stormed back with a sexy album full of fun and playfulness, the biggest hip hop story of 2003 was the crashing return of gangsta rap in the form of 50 Cent. Not even big guns like Eminem, Jay-Z and Nelly will be able to match the mighty Fiddy.

2002 winner: Eminem Who should win: Missy Elliott Who will win: 50 Cent

BEST R&B Nominees: Beyonce, Ashanti, Craig David, Jennifer Lopez, Mary J Blige Setting aside Craig David - who's clearly more pop than R&B - there's really no competition for Beyonce here. The once- stellar Ashanti has been too quiet of late to make an impact while Jennifer Lopez has been concentrating on her film/tabloid career. The awesome Mary J Blige returned with the brilliant Love And Life album this summer - reuniting her with P Diddy at the production desk - but although it's rightly hailed as a masterpiece in the US, it hasn't really made a dent in Europe. A shame.

2002 winner: Alicia Keys Who should win: Mary J Blige Who will win: Beyonce

BEST DANCE Nominees: Panjabi MC, Junior Senior, Moby, Paul Oakenfold, The Chemical Brothers It's difficult to deny that the dance music scene is in dire shape when one-trick ponies Junior Senior make this shortlist. It's rounded out by some old hands who are all starting to sound a little creaky, apart from the dynamic Panjabi MC, who combined Indian rhythms, the Knight Rider theme tune and the bass mumble of Jay-Z to create the smash hit Mundian To Bach Ke. But Moby will probably win.

2002 winner: Kylie Minogue Who should win: Panjabi MC Who will win: Moby

BEST ROCK Nominees: Red Hot Chili Peppers, Good Charlotte, Linkin Park, Metallica, The White Stripes Good Charlotte are arguably too young and Metallica are arguably too old, so you'd think it would be a close call between the breezy, tune-filled funk of the current incarnation of the Red Hot Chili Peppers and the reductive, gut- punch racket of The White Stripes. But it would be foolish to underestimate the insidious power of Linkin Park, who've managed to shift millions of copies of their turgid Meteora album in mainland Europe.

2002 winners: Red Hot Chili Peppers Who should win: The White Stripes Who will win: Linkin Park

BEST POP Nominees: Justin Timberlake, Christina Aguilera, Kylie Minogue, Pink, Robbie Williams Strong local support in Europe for Robbie (and, to a lesser extent, Kylie) might see a surprise winner in this category; it's probably too late for Pink but Aguilera might be able to engineer an upset. Justin's way out in front, but would he want to win it anyway? He seems keen to distance himself from his old *N Sync "pop" persona as he readily embraces the sexualised bling- bling of R&B.

2002 winner: Kylie Minogue Who should win: Christina Aguilera Who will win: Justin Timberlake

BEST VIDEO Nominees: UNKLE - An Eye For An Eye, Missy Elliott - Work It, Queens Of The Stone Age - Go With the Flow, Sigur Ros - Untitled 1, The White Stripes - Seven Nation Army There's a psychedelic feel to the shortlist, with both The White Stripes and Queens Of The Stone Age favouring colour-saturated live action to make their videos, like, so trippy, man. The cute, Pixar-esque CGI of the UNKLE promo is undermined by the amount of nipple-sucking, while (barring a block vote from Iceland), it's hard to imagine the impressionistic Sigur Ros film making an impact. The hot favourite is Missy Elliott - she picked up two gongs at the MTV Video Awards earlier in the year.

2002 winner: Royksopp - Remind Me Who should win: UNKLE Who will win: Missy Elliott

BEST MTV2 UK Nominees: The Darkness, Funeral For A Friend, The Coral, The Libertines, The Thrills Welsh metallers Funeral For A Friend have yet to transform their grassroots support into mainstream exposure. So any other year scally jokers The Coral, shambolic punks The Libertines or US-obsessed tunesmiths The Thrills could be in with a shout. But they will all ultimately have to cower before the precious metal of The Darkness, currently Britain's best-loved band.

2002 winner: Coldplay Who should win: The Coral Who will win: The Darkness

BEST WEBSITE Nominees: www.goldfrapp.co.uk, www.madonna.com, www.qotsa.com, www.juniorsenior.com, www.marilynmanson.com If you're a toiling musician, creating art from the raw material of your soul, there must be some small feeling of vindication when you receive an award recognising your exertion. But what if you win an award for your website, undoubtedly run by dweebs in your record company's marketing department? What kind of artisitic justification is that? A hollow one, that's what. (Despite this, Junior Senior will be in Edinburgh on the night. Just in case.) 2002 winner: Moby Who should win: Marilyn Manson (for his great weblog) Who will win: Does it matter?

FREE YOUR MIND There's no shortlist for this special award, created by MTV to help raise awareness of key social issues. It's designed to celebrate freedom from intolerance and prejudice, and it can be won by either an individual or an organisation. There's also no public vote, so it's hard to predict who'll get it, but previous winners include Amnesty International, Greenpeace and, of course, Bono.