LONDON: Lady Gaga, Jay-Z and Robbie Williams top the bill Tuesday at the 30th anniversary edition of Britain's top music awards the Brits, where this year's nominations are dominated by female artists.

Flamboyant US superstar Lady Gaga is up for three awards, as are homegrown talents Lily Allen, Florence And The Machine and Pixie Lott.

The show has even received royal approval—Prince Harry, grandson of Queen Elizabeth II, has recorded a special message to be played at the event, at London's Earls Court venue Tuesday evening, AFP reported.

Lady Gaga, whose single “Poker Face” was Britain's top seller last year, is in the running for best international female solo artist, best international album and best international breakthrough act.

Allen and Florence And The Machine are in contention for best British female solo artist and best British album, while Allen is up for best British single (“The Fear”) and Florence And The Machine best British breakthrough act.

Lott is up for best British female solo artist, best British breakthrough act and best British single.

“I'm just really excited,” she told Sky News television. “British females have really taken over, it's definitely girl power—females are leading at the moment.”

Williams will receive a lifetime achievement award amid reports he could take to the stage with his former band Take That, who have staged a highly successful comeback in recent years.

There will also be a performance from Cheryl Cole, whose Chelsea footballer husband Ashley is at the centre of reports about an alleged sex text flirtation with another woman.

The Brits has witnessed a host of headline-grabbing incidents over the years.
In 1996, Michael Jackson's performance of “Earth Song” was interrupted when Pulp singer Jarvis Cocker ran across the stage and waved his bottom in Jackson's direction.

And the following year, Britain's then Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott had a bucket of iced water thrown over him by Danbert Nobacon of anarchist band Chumbawamba.

This year's event also features two awards designed to mark 30 years of the Brits—best album of the last 30 years and best single.LINK

MIAMI: Haiti's devastating earthquake has moved Hollywood and pop music stars to lead a rally for disaster relief donations and open their own wallets.
Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt were the first to reach out to Haiti by donating $1 million from their foundation to Doctors Without Borders, which has been tending to victims of the quake that demolished buildings in Haiti's capital of Port-au-Prince on Tuesday. Tens of thousands are feared dead.

Actress Alyssa Milano, a goodwill ambassador for Unicef, on Thursday used her blog on The Huffington Post to challenge US corporations to match her donation. She said the funds would go to buy medical supplies, tarpaulins, food and water kits for Haiti.

“I cried and then I did the only thing I could do ... I wrote a check to the US Fund for Unicef for $50,000,” she wrote.

Haiti-born hip-hop musician Wyclef Jean launched a texting campaign, calling on fans to donate $5 to his Yele Haiti Earthquake Fund charged to their cell phone bills by texting “Yele” to 501501.

Jean has already raised more than $1 million for the disaster relief effort and is in Haiti “giving aid and assessing the situation,” according to his www.yele.org website.

Actor George Clooney will host a telethon on MTV next week to raise funds for victims of Tuesday's earthquake, the music network said on Thursday.

The event will be broadcast on all MTV Network channels on Jan. 22. Clooney is expected to be joined by as yet unnamed pop music and movie stars.

Grammy-winning Latina pop singer Shakira asked her fans for donations to help rebuild Haiti to be channeled through Unicef and Wyclef Jean's foundation.

Coldplay musician Chris Martin called for donations through Oxfam, whose global ambassador, actress Scarlett Johansson, also appealed for contributions for Haiti.

Oprah Winfrey got involved on Wednesday by asking viewers of her popular show to donate to the Red Cross.

Actor Ben Stiller, who has been raising money for a school in Ceverine in Haiti through Save the Children, also made an appeal on CNN's “Larry King Live” for $10 donations charged to phone bills by texting “Haiti” to 90999.

First lady Michelle Obama made a public appeal for this texting campaign, which had raised $5.9 million dollars for the red Cross by late Thursday.

Cycling legend Lance Armstrong's LiveStrong Foundation pledged $250,000 to help Haiti's recovery, according to its website. The money will go to Doctors Without Borders and Partners in Health founded by Harvard professor Paul FarmerLINK.

BEVERLY HILLS: ‘Up in the Air,’ starring George Clooney as a man who fires people for a living, earned six Golden Globe nominations on Tuesday, including best drama, as Hollywood's awards season got down to business.

‘Up in the Air’ had the most nominations, followed by musical ‘Nine,’ with five, including for best musical or comedy. Science-fiction action adventure ‘Avatar’ and director Quentin Tarantino's World War Two fantasy ‘Inglourious Basterds’ were nominated for four awards, including best drama.

Rounding out the movies nominated for Golden Globes, one of Hollywood's most-watched awards shows, were Iraq war movie ‘The Hurt Locker’ and urban drama ‘Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire.’

Joining ‘Nine’ in the category for best movie musical or comedy were cooking movie ‘Julie & Julia,’ box office sensation ‘The Hangover,’ relationship film ‘The Hangover’ and Sundance hit ‘(500) Days of Summer.’

The Golden Globes are given out in January by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association and are seen as a key indicator of which movies will compete for the world's top film honors, the Oscars, in March.

Among nominees for best actor in a film drama were Clooney, whose character in ‘Up in the Air’ is forced to contemplate his own life, Jeff Bridges playing a down-and-out country singer in ‘Crazy Heart,’ Colin Firth as a man considering suicide in ‘A Single Man,’ Morgan Freeman playing Nelson Mandela in ‘Invictus’ and Tobey Maguire for ‘Brothers.’

Nominations for best actress in a drama went to Sandra Bullock for football film ‘The Blind Side,’ veteran Helen Mirren for ‘The Last Station,’ Emily Blunt in ‘The Young Victoria,’ Carey Mulligan with ‘An Education’ and newcomer Gabourey Sidibe in ‘Precious: Based on the Novel Push By Sapphire.’ -Reuters LINK