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Fingers crossed, go Canada!!!

Canadian Grammy hopes run high
TORONTO (CP) – Grammy hopes run high for Canadian favourites Nelly Furtado and Nickelback as the U.S. recording academy announces its nominations Thursday for the best in music.
The “Promiscuous” singer and radio-friendly rockers top the list of Canuck contenders expected to garner serious consideration south of the border.
“Nelly Furtado has had pretty much the biggest, high-profile pop comeback in recent years,” says Aaron Brophy of Chart Magazine.
“This third record (‘Loose’) is a huge, massive worldwide hit. She’s probably our best bet to at least get nominations or some level of attention at the Grammys.”
The 48th annual Grammy Awards will be handed out in Los Angeles on Feb. 11.
A nomination for Nickelback and their bread-and-butter rock would be a long time coming for the Alberta band.
The boys released “All the Right Reasons” on Oct. 4, 2005, mere days after the eligibility period closed for Grammy nominations, shutting them out of the 2006 trophies.
But after a year in which their tunes flooded airwaves both in Canada and the U.S., observers say the hardware could finally be theirs in 2007.
“Nickelback are definitely going to get very serious consideration in Grammy nominations, particularly in the hard rock category,” says Brophy, also offering Peterborough, Ont.’s Three Days Grace as a potential sleeper in the rock category.
Richard Flohil of the trade publication Applaud agrees, also pointing to veteran rocker Neil Young as having a good shot at Grammy notice for his controversial anti-Bush album “Living With War.”
Among the lesser knowns, Flohil reminds music fans that polka king Walter Ostanek of St. Catharines, Ont., is a perennial Grammy favourite.
“The real surprises sometimes come in the categories that nobody worries about, like the niche music categories,” says Flohil.
Dark horses include Broken Social Scene, whose self-titled disc was released late last year and generated heavy critical buzz.
But an early Juno favourite will certainly be shut out. While Toronto’s k-os generated Canadian praise for his catchy “Atlantis: Hymns for Disco” – out here since October – it won’t be released in the U.S. until January, making it ineligible for this year’s trophies.
Among the U.S. acts expected to gain nods are R&B veteran Mary J. Blige, chart-topper Justin Timberlake, “American Idol” winner Carrie Underwood and hip-hop duo Gnarls Barkley.
Other artists likely to garner Grammy notice are John Mayer, James Blunt and British crooner Corinne Bailey Rae.