Coldplay‘s songwriting skills landed them the top honors at the 30th annual ASCAP Awards in London on Wednesday.
Bandmates Chris Martin, Will Champion, Jonny Buckland and Guy Berryman were named the Songwriters of the Year at the ceremony, while their “Viva La Vida” hit won them the Song of the Year award.
Other big winners included Taio Cruz, who picked up the ASCAP Vanguard Award for his record ‘Departure,’ and chart-topping Brits Scouting For Girls won the ASCAP College Award for“Everybody Wants to Be on TV.”
Another 20 song awards were also handed out during the event to honor songwriters – Paul McCartney‘s “Come Together,” U2‘s “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For” and Phil Collins‘ track “In The Air Tonight” were among the tracks recognized.
According to the NY Post, Jay-Z and Coldplay have landed a multimillion-dollar deal to perform at the lavish opening of the Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas on New Year’s Eve. The invite-only event, masterminded by party planner Colin Cowie, will see Jay and Chris Martin’s Coldplay perform separately and then together in a mash-up performance.
A source said:
“Organizers have spent millions securing the acts. The word is that Beyoncé is now looking for a Vegas New Year’s gig so she will be in town with Jay.”
Jay-Z & Eminem’s first show at Yankee Stadium for their “Home & Home” tour was full of surprises. It was a star studded event.
The duo brought out special guests that included: Dr. Dre, Kanye West, Beyoncé, Chris Martin of Coldplay, Drake, Nicki Minaj, B.O.B., 50 Cent, Lloyd Banks, Swizz Beats, and Bridget Kelly for the show in which both headliners went through dozens of songs each.
Check out videos from the show below:
Jay-Z & Kanye perform “Power” Remix and Nicki Minaj comes out for “Monster”
Jay-Z performs his verse from “Free Mason” and does “Renegade” with Eminem.
Jay-Z & Eminem perform “Renegade” and “Light Up” with Drake
Jay-Z & Chris Martin perform “Heart of the City”, “Most Kingz”, “Lost” and “Viva La Vida” at Yankees Stadium
Jay-Z & Beyoncé perform “Forever Young”
Eminem brings out B.o.B., 50 Cent & G-Unit, D-12 & Dr. Dre for his set at Yankee Stadium
Here’s the my brief re-cap of this years Grammy awards ceremony.
Performances:
* U2 kicks the show off with their newest single “Get On Your Boots”off of the new album No Line on the Horizon.
* Al Green, Keith Urban, Justin Timberlake and Boyz II Men perform together in place of Rihanna and Chris Brown.
* Coldplay performed “Lost+”. Set starts off with Chris Martin at piano solo and later joined by Jay-Z to spit his verse. Chris cuts that song and goes to the stage and the rest of the band appears and they perform “Viva La Vida”.
* Carrie Underwood performs.
* Taylor Swift and Miley Cyrus perform together.
* Jonas Brothers perform with Stevie Wonder.
* One of the performances of the night for me was “Swagger Like Us” with T.I., Kanye West, Lil Wayne, Jay-Z and a very pregnant M.I.A. The performance started off with M.I.A. doing a verse of “Paper Planes”, the sample of which “Swagger Like Us” came from. When she hit the words “…swagger like us”, out appeared the four gentlemen above. M.I.A.’s outfit was a bit out there, not my favorite, but I guess her style has always been out there that and add to the fact that she was due to give birth that very day.
* Paul McCartney featuring Dave Grohl from the Foo Fighters on the drums. Performing The Beatles“I Saw Her Standing There”, but Ringo Starr was not to be found on stage.
* Radiohead performance with the USC Trojans Marching band backing, probably one of the better performances of the night for sure.
* T.I. and Justin Timberlake perform “Dead and Gone”
* The Grammys honor and remember Motown legendsThe Four Tops, doing a medley of songs were Smokie Robinson, Ne-Yo, Jamie Foxx and remaining member of The Four Tops,Duke Fakir.
Awards:
* Jennifer Hudson wins Best R&B album of the year. That was teary-eyed moment for me. She deserved it!
* Song of the year went to Coldplay for their song “Viva La Vida”.
* Best Pop collaboration went to Robert Plant and Alison Krauss. WTF!!
* Blink 182 members come out together to announce they’re coming back to do work as well as presenting the Best Rock album, which went to Coldplay.
* Best New Artist award went to Adele.
* In another “WTF?” moment, Record of the year went to Robert Plant and Alison Krauss. On the real, it beat out some deep competition.
* Best Rap Album went to Lil Wayne for Tha Carter III. Good for him, competition was a bit tough, I’m a fan of all the artists that were nominated under that category.
“One of my favorite moments was seeing M.I.A. perform on stage with T.I., Kanye West, Lil’ Wayne, and Jay-Z. I have to tell you that performance gave me the chills. I was waiting to see if M.I.A was going to stop her performance in the middle of it all and say she was in labor. As a mother myself, that performance was the best. She told E! news in an interview on the red carpet, that she was yet to know what the sex of her baby will be. I think it’s going to be a boy. What are your thoughts?”
Video Below: M I A, T I , Lil Wayne, Jay Z, & Kanye West Perform “Swagga Like Us” At The 51st Annual Grammy Awards
JNEL & J. Magazine 