15th "An Irish Person" Music Awards: Part IV

OUTSTANDING NEW ARTIST:

Cardi B

H.E.R.

Kelela

Post Malone

Troye Sivan

AND THE WINNER IS:

CARDI B

This is the second win and third nomination for Cardi B. She was also nominated this year for Rap Performance and won for Rap Album.

OUTSTANDING RECORD OF THE YEAR:

Ariana Grande, “God is a Woman” (Produced by Ilya)

Bradley Cooper & Lady Gaga, “Shallow” (Produced by Lady Gaga & Benjamin Rice)

The Carters, “APESHIT” (Produced by Pharrell Williams)

Childish Gambino, “This is America” (Produced by Donald Glover & Ludwig Göransson)

Janelle Monae, “Make Me Feel” (Produced by Mattman & Robin) AND THE WINNER IS:

JANELLE MONAE, “MAKE ME FEEL” (PRODUCED BY MATTMAN & ROBIN)

This is the first win and fourth nomination for Mattman & Robin. They were previously nominated for Album of the Year (2015) & Record of the Year (2015, 2016).

OUTSTANDING SONG OF THE YEAR:

Ariana Grande, “God is a Woman” (Written by Ariana Grande, Ilya Salmanzadeh, Max Martin, Savan Kotecha, Rickard Göransson)

Bradley Cooper & Lady Gaga, “Shallow” (Written by Lady Gaga, Andrew Wyatt, Anthony Rossomando, Mark Ronson)

Childish Gambino, “This is America” (Written by Donald Glover, Ludwig Göransson, Jeffery Lamar Williams)

Janelle Monae, “Make Me Feel” (Written by Janelle Monáe Robinson, Julia Michaels, Mattias Larsson, Robin Fredriksson, Justin Tranter)

St. Vincent, “Pills” (Written by Annie Clark, Mark Anthony Spearsm Jack Antonoff)

AND THE WINNER IS:

ARIANA GRANDE, “GOD IS A WOMAN” (WRITTEN BY ARIANA GRANDE, ILYA SALMANZADEH, MAX MARTIN, SAVAN KOTECHA & RICKARD GORANSSON)

OUTSTANDING ALBUM OF THE YEAR:

Ariana Grande, “Sweetener”  (Produced by Ariana Grande, Scooter Braun, Charles Anderson, Malik, Tommy Brown, Michael Foster, Hit-Boy, Ilya, Max Martin, Pharrell Williams)

The Carters, “EVERYTHING IS LOVE”  (Produced by Beyoncé, Jay-Z, Cool & Dre, Fred Ball, Pharrell, NAV)

Janelle Monae, “Dirty Computer”  (Produced by Janelle Monae, Nate Wonder, Chuck Lightning, Puff Daddy, Nana Kwabena, Roman GianArthur, Jon Jon Traxx, Wynne Bennett, Jon Brion, Mattman & Robin, Organized Noize)

Kacey Musgraves, “Golden Hour”  (Produced by Daniel Tashian, Ian Fitchuk, Kacey Musgraves)

St. Vincent, “Masseducation”  (Produced by Jack Antonoff, St. Vincent, Lars Stalfors, John Congleton)

AND THE WINNER IS:

JANELLE MONAE, “DIRTY COMPUTER” (PRODUCED BY JANELLE MONAE, NATE WONDER, CHUCK LIGHTNING, PUFF DADDY, NANA KWABENA, ROMAN GIANARTHUR, JON JON TRAXX, WYNNE BENNETT, JON BRION, MATTMAN & ROBIN, ORGANIZED NOIZE)

OUTSTANDING FEMALE ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE

Mackenzie Davis as Tully in “TULLY”

Elizabeth Debicki as Alice in “WIDOWS”

Anne Hathaway as Daphne Kluger in “OCEAN’S EIGHT”

Jong-seo Jun as Shin Hae-mi in “BURNING”

Regina King as Sharon Rivers in “IF BEALE STREET COULD TALK”

AND THE WINNER IS:

ELIZABETH DEBICKI AS ALICE IN “WIDOWS”

This is the first win and nomination for Elizabeth Debicki. She wins for her performance as Alice in Widows.

Debicki was previously nominated for my breakthrough/debut award for 2013’s The Great Gatsby. Since then she has continued to impress me in the small roles she’s been given in films good and bad. However with this years Widows she was finally given a role worthy of her immensive skill. As one of the three widows involved in the robbery Debicki plays Alice whose arc begins as an abused wife/daughter and ends as the confident & in control member of the four women planning the robbery for their lives. Debicki plays every moment of fear and strength expertly, additionally my already established fandom made me more appreciative of her talent and led me to watch all she was doing. Debicki at 6’2 towers above all her co-stars and it’s wonderful to see her also stand tall in acting ability too.

15th "An Irish Person" Music Awards: Part III

OUTSTANDING POP PERFORMANCE:

Ariana Grande, “God is a Woman”

Bradley Cooper & Lady Gaga, “Shallow”

Pink, “Beautiful Trauma”

St. Vincent, “Pills”

Troye Sivan, “Bloom”

AND THE WINNER IS:

ARIANA GRANDE, “GOD IS A WOMAN”

This is the first win and second nomination for Ariana Grande. She was previously nominated for New Artist (2013).

OUTSTANDING POP ALBUM:

Ariana Grande, “Sweetener”

Camila Cabello, “Camila”

Pink, “Beautiful Trauma”

St. Vincent, “Masseducation”

Troye Sivan, “Bloom”

AND THE WINNER IS:

ST. VINCENT, “MASSEDUCATION”

This is the first win and second nomination for St. Vincent. She was also nominated this year for Pop Performance.

OUTSTANDING RAP ALBUM:

Cardi B, “Invasion of Privacy”

Kendrick Lamar, “Black Panther the Album”

Migos, “Culture II”

Nicki Minaj, “Queen”

Travis Scott, “ASTROWORLD”

AND THE WINNER IS:

CARDI B, “INVASION OF PRIVACY”

This is the first win and second nomination for Cardi B. She was also nominated this year for Rap Performance.

OUTSTANDING COUNTRY ALBUM:

Blake Shelton, “Texoma Shore”

Chris Young, “Losing Sleep”

Kacey Musgraves, “Golden Hour”

Kelsea Ballerini, “Unapologetically”

Loretta Lynn, “Wouldn’t It  Be Great”

AND THE WINNER IS:

KACEY MUSGRAVES, “GOLDEN HOUR”

This is the fourth win and seventh nomination for Kacey Musgraves. She previously won for Country Performance (2016, 2018) & Country Album (2016). She was also nominated for New Artist (2013), Country Performance (2013) & Country Album (2013).

OUTSTANDING FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM

Burning (Directed by Lee Chang-dong)

Cold War (Directed by Pawel Pawlikowski)

Roma (Directed by Alfonso Cuaron)

Shoplifters (Directed by Hirokazu Kore-eda)

Zama (Directed by Lucrecia Martel)

AND THE WINNER IS:

BURNING (DIRECTED BY LEE CHANG-DONG)

This is the first and third nomination for a film directed by Lee Chang-dong. He was previously nominated for directing Oasis (2004) & Poetry (2011).

I was lucky enough to attend the Cannes Film Festival back in May of 2018. This attendance allowed me to see some of the best films of the year much earlier than even US citizens (a rarity for me). I remember at the festival Burning was the talk of the town and after trying so hard and waiting hours in a line it became the final film that I saw at the festival. It’s a stunning film achievement and even at a nearly three hour run time it passes by so perfectly. The film is beautiful with memorable moments including the dance of Hae-mi and the horrifying ending scene where Jong-su the main character finally loses it. I’ll surely try to see to this again because a film this good need's to be seen more than once.

OUTSTANDING PRODUCTION DESIGN

Production Design by Mark Digby; Set Design by Michelle Day for Annihilation

Production Design by Nelson Coates; Set Design by Andrew Baseman for Crazy Rich Asians

Production Design by Fiona Cromble; Set Design by Alice Felton for The Favourite

Production Design by Gary Williamson; Set Design by Cathy Cosgrove for Paddington 2

Production Design by Eugenio Caballero; Set Design by Barbara Enriquez for Roma

AND THE WINNER IS:

PRODUCTION DESIGN BY FIONA CROMBLE; SET DESIGN BY ALICE FELTON FOR THE FAVOURITE

This is the first win and nomination for both Fiona Cromble & Alice Felton.

I can’t tell you how suffering the wait to see The Favourite was. I technically didn’t see it until the calendar year of 2019 as it wasn’t released in my area until then. Now that I’ve seen it I fully support the admiration everyone has for it. The film primarily set in an 18th century English castle is a story centered on power and love between three women. The camera clearly appreciates the castle it’s set in with many admiring shots of the interior architecture including the uniquely designed walls, the high ceilings and the multiple levels to a room filled with books. The castle is wholly used for the characters to travel to as they interact with one another.

OUTSTANDING SOUND MIXING

Steve Boeddeker, Brandon Proctor & Peter J. Devlin for Black Panther

Jon Taylor, Frank A. Montaño, Ai-Ling Lee & Mary H. Ellis for First Man

Lewis Goldstein, Tom Ryan & Steven C. Laneri for Hereditary

Skip Lievsay, Craig Henighan & José Antonio García for Roma

Tom Ozanich, Dean Zupancic, Jason Ruder & Steve A. Morrow for A Star is Born

AND THE WINNER IS:

SKIP LIEVSAY, CRAIG HENIGHAN & JOSE ANTONIO GARCIA FOR ROMA

These are the first wins and nominations for Skip Lievsay & José Antonio García. This is the second win and fifth nomination for Craig Henighan. He previously won for sound editing Black Swan (2010), He was also nomination for Requiem for a Dream (2000), Sin City (2005) and sound mixing Black Swan (2010).

The film’s soundscape has to be one of the most immersive in recent time. Everything heard in the film pulls you in to this story of the maid Cleo in 1970's Mexico. The film doesn’t have an original musical score included but still the mix of sound from dialogue to cars and everything else found in Mexico is wonderful. Towards the end of the film when the people’s uprising happens and Cleo the main character starts to give birth there is a lot of contrasting sound’s going on, everything is so clear and crisp that it’s no wonder the film is as marvelous as it is.