Grammy Awards Show: Airs Feb. 27th on CBS

[DoggyStyle82]

This is a case of sistas having an inferiority complex. Because Alicia is light and India is dark is of little consequence to Grammy voters. Macy Gray is hella unattractive but she won multiple Grammys. Tracy Chapman is no beauty queen either and she has won Grammys on two different occasions. The plain and simple truth is that Alicia Keys music was more accessible to the Grammy voters in those categories. Lauryn Hill is very ethnic and also not light, but the Grammy voters loved her also. Lets not take the easy way out here and blame it on cosmetics and make this a referendum on the worth of ones complexion. Clive Davis plays the game better than Motown, thats all. India Arie looks just fine. She is not beautiful, but not unattractive either.

[Mz. Sports Luva]

I agree w/ Doggy.

If we want certain artists to win, then we need to make sure that our local dj's & radio stations are registered to vote for/with the Grammy's.

I'm not sure of the proper name of the voting org, but call your local radio station & ask.

I don' t think that it's as simple as the "light vs. dark skin" thing.

[librasoul22]

Okay...for Alicia vs. India...

I don't think it is right to discount Alicia for being marketable. The problem is that we were given so much hype for Alicia that it gave us expectations. They were bound to be pretty high considering that she was on Oprah, Letterman, SNL Season Premire, you name it. Also, "Fallin'" was the background music for EVERYTHING. Try to think how you would feel giving Alicia's CD an OBJECTIVE listen without all the hype and build-up surrounding it. It is a very solid album, with a few fillers here and there (Girlfriend, Jane Doe).

India.Arie had little recognition before her Grammy nominations. That is why her seven nominations were such a surprise to the people with more mainstream tastes. Sure she is a talent, but with lower expectations, there little room to say "I thought it would be better," which is what most people are saying about Alicia's CD.

Keep this in mind: Alicia Keys has creative control over her image and music. She wrote and composed most of her album (aside from the songs that were sampled/remade, of course). She left Columbia Records because they wanted her to conform into a pop princess, a la Britney. It is not fair to use Alicia's looks and charisma against her. She is deeply talented, in my opinion. Let us not lose sight of that because we are so eager to find flaws in her work.

BTW, I can think of SEVERAL artists who have had hype machines, that were all set to be the "next big thing," but never caught on. I would name a few but you have probably never heard of them.