“Sjekk de nominerte til Spellemannsprisen”:http://www.ba.no/puls/article1889259.ece

I feel like after staring at things written in Norwegian for the past few years, I should have at least picked up some Norwegian. But. No. And how hard could it be? At least it uses the same alphabet, roughly. The letters may have different pronounciations but if I’m just reading it, it doesn’t matter.

So I don’t know what the title means exactly, but the link goes to an article about the “Spellmann”:http://www.spellemann.no/main.html awards (I suppose “prise” has to do with awards?…did I learn something?), Norway’s Grammy Awards equivalent. Because of that, there are about a gazillion articles about it, and…oh, there’s actually one in English, courtesy of “MIC Norway”:http://www.ballade.no/mic.nsf/home/forsiden?opendocument&url=http://www.ballade.no/mic.nsf/doc/art2006010313064618980086. Here are the nominees:

*Male artist*
Alejandro Fuentes – Diamonds or Pearls
Robert Post – Robert Post
Magnet – The Tourniquet
Sofian – This is Sofian

*Female artist*
Ane Brun – A Temporary Dive
Lene Marlin – Lost in a Moment
Marthe Valle – It’s A Bag of Candy
Maria Mena – Apparently Unaffected

*Pop act*
Jim Stärk – Jim Stärk
Ravi & DJ Løv – Den nye Arbæidsdagn
Röyksopp – The understanding

*Elektronica*
Alog – Miniatures
Datarock – Datarock Datarock
Toy – Toy

*Contemporary*
Cikada String Quartet – Saariaho Cage Maderna
Nils Henrik Asheim – 19 March 2004, Oslo Cathedral
Sigyn Fossnes/Steinar Henning Smedbye – Tightrope Walker

*Rock*
Big Bang – Poetic Terrorism
JR Ewing – Maelstrom
Madrugada – The Deep End
My Midnight Creeps – My Midnight Creeps
Serena-Maneesh – Serena-Maneesh

*Blues*
Kåre Virud Band – Ild og vann
Ronnie Jacobsen – Soulfield
Vidar Busk – Starfish

*Country*
Elisabeth Andreassen – Short Stories
Sergeant Petter – Monkey Tonk Matters
The Respatexans – Shine On

*Metal*
Audrey Horne – No Hay Banda
El Caco – The Search
Extol – Blueprint

*Hip hop/R’ n B*
Cast – Problembarn
Paperboys – When Worlds Collide
Tommy – Tommy tycker om mej

*Folk music / traditional dance music*
Nordafjells – General
Sigrid Moldestad/Einar Mjølsnes/Håkon Høgemo – Gamaltnymalt
Tom Willy Rustad – Fiolsteinen

*Dance orchestra*
Anne Nørdsti – Bonderomantikk
Lasse Johansens Orkester – Hematt att
Ole Ivars – Vi tar det tel manda”;n

*Jazz*
Hans Mathisen – Quiet Songs
Jimmy Rosenberg/Stian Carstensen – Rose Room
Karin Krog/Bergen Big Band – Seagull
Sigurd Køhn kvartett – This Place
Solveig Slettahjell – Pixiedust

*Classical*
Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra/Ole Kristian Ruud – Edvard Griegs Peer Gynt
Einar Steen-Nøkleberg/Terje Mikkelsen/Trondheim symfoniorkester – Thomas Tellefsen Complete
Piano Concertos
Håkon Austbø – Debussy, Complete Works for Piano Solo, Vol II
Leif Ove Andsnes – Rachmaninov, Piano Concertos 1 & 2

*Folk*
16 artister hedrer Erik Bye – En hildringstime
Kari Bremnes – Over en by
Vamp – Siste stikk
Øystein Sunde – Sånn er”;e bare

*Newcomer of the Year*
Marthe Valle
Animal Alpha
Draumir
Audrey Horne
Sofian

*Hit of the year*
Alejandro Fuentes – Stars
Kurt Nilsen – Never Easy
Madrugada and Ane Brun – Lift Me
Maria Mena – Miss You Love
Ravi & DJ Løv – Tsjeriåu me de Månråus

*Music video*
Maria Mena – Miss You Love
Animal Alpha – Bundy
Ravi & DJ Løv – E-Ore
Robert Post – Got None
Röyksopp – What Else Is There

*Open class*
Arild Andersen Group – Electra
Beady Belle – Closer
Jaga Jazzist – What We Must
Nils Petter Molvær – ER
Shining – In The Kingdom Of Kitch You Will Be A Monster

*Child record of the year*
Diverse artister – Elias den lille redningsskøyta
Geirr Lystrup – Sangen om Yebo
Jannike Kruse & Forsvarets musikkorps Trøndelag – Kjente, kjære og noen glemte barnesanger

I think I’ve listened to most of the more popular artists at some time or another, but I honestly haven’t liked many of them. Although some people think I’m obsessed with Norwegian music, there actually isn’t a whole lot that I like. It just may be that I like more Norwegian artists compared to most people. Or that I like “Magnet”:http://www.homeofmagnet.com a whole lot, which is one reason I posted the nominees list. I don’t know if he’d win, but I’m thinking no because he won it last year for “On Your Side”. I’ll take a listen to more of these artists. If I were less lazy, I’d link to their homepages, but google is your friend. Use it. 🙂