Joe Bonamassa

By DAILY MAIL REPORTER

Golden girl: Katy Perry at the Grammy nominations concert at Club Nokia in Los Angeles, California

But rapper didn't manage to make it along to ceremony in LA

SuBo to go up against Lady Gaga for best pop vocal album

Katy Perry chalked up another golden moment in her career tonight after receiving four Grammy nominations in Los Angeles.

The singer, who dressed for the theme in a metallic confection, is up for both album of the year and best pop vocal album for Teenage Dream.

She also received a nod for best female pop vocal performance for her single by the same name, and best pop collaboration with vocals for California Gurls alongside Snoop Dogg.

But it was rapper Eminem, riding high on the comeback trail after spending several years battling drug addiction, led the field of Grammy contenders with 10 nominations.

Opening act: After rehearsing her routine yesterday, Katy slipped back into her silver dress to perform her hit California Gurls

The 38-year-old, who did not attend the nomination ceremony, will compete for the three big awards of album, song and record of the year, as well as in a host of rap categories.

Meanwhile, Lady Gaga and former Britain's Got Talent contestant Susan Boyle will be going head to head in the best pop vocal album category with their respective records The Fame Monster and I Dreamed A Dream.

The nominations were announced as part of an hour-long TV special from Club Nokia, which Katy opened with a high-energy performance.

The show also featured appearances by nominees such as Bruno Mars, Train and Miranda Lambert.

It was a night that also saw the academy honor one of the year's most profane but infectious hits: Cee Lo's F*** You, so rude it had to be changed for radio to Forget You, was nominated for both record and song of the year.

Leading the charge: Eminem, pictured here in January, received an impressive 10 nominations for his comeback album, Recovery

'It wasn't meant to be a radio song,' said Cee Lo, of Gnarls Barkley, after the nominations.

'It was meant to be something with flair and first impression and it really took on a life of its own, and I had no idea it would become what it is today.'

That song was co-written by Bruno Mars and helped him garner seven nominations, the second-highest tally.

'It's just been a great year, incredible, incredible year, and I can't believe this is happening to me,' said Mars, who was also nominated for best male pop vocal for his own hit, Just the Way You Are.

'We've worked so hard trying to make a living doing music and the fact that we're here right now is incredible, incredible.'

Other top nominees included Lady Antebellum, Jay-Z and Lady Gaga, who were all nominated for six each. Gaga also was nominated for album of the year - the second straight nomination in the category for her.

Jumping for joy: Songwriter/producers Ari Levine, Bruno Mars and Philip Lawrence from production team The Smeezingtons celebrate their nominations

For Eminem, Recovery was a critical and commercial triumph. It became the best-selling album of the year so far, with more than three million copies sold, and spawned top hits like Love the Way You Lie featuring Rihanna, which was nominated for song and record of the year.

But it was also a mark of personal redemption for Eminem, and came almost 10 years after he was first nominated for album of the year for The Marshall Mathers LP.

Since then, Eminem has become one of the top-selling artists in the world, but also struggled through prescription drug addiction that led to lags between albums and sub par material. With Recovery, his status as the best rapper - and pop's top artist - was restored.

Country trio Lady Antebellum couldn't be more opposite than Eminem, but their album Need You Now was the second-best selling album of the year, doing almost as well as Recovery, with almost 3 million albums sold and fueled by the lovelorn title track - a huge crossover hit for the band.

Special guests: Rocker Dave Grohl and actress Selena Gomez helped announce the nominees

Grammy voters rewarded that success, nominating them for album of the year and also record and song of the year for the hit.

Only last year, they were celebrating their first Grammy win.

'It's been a wild and crazy year; it definitely feels like Christmas came early for us,' said Lady A's Dave Haywood in a telephone interview after the awards were announced.

'It's just kind of complete shock that we'd be recognized, especially to be recognized in some of these all-genre categories,' Haywood said.

Other nominees for record of the year included the rap hit Nothin' On You by newcomer B.o.B and featuring Mars, and Jay-Z and Alicia Keys' anthem for New York, Empire State of Mind.

Rounding out the nominations for song of the year were Ray LaMontagne's Beg Steal Or Borrow and Lambert's hit The House that Built Me, written by Tom Douglas and Allen Shamblin.

Perry's California Gurls was one of the year's top hits but was shut out of the record and song of the year categories.

Yet Perry, who performed the hit on the live nominations broadcast, was far from disappointed: Her album Teenage Dream was nominated for album of the year, along with Gaga's The Fame Monster, Recovery, Need You Now and Arcade Fire's The Suburbs.

Music stars: Stevie Wonder took to the stage alongside singers of today including singer/songwriter B.o.b

'It's amazing. It's like no other award show because I feel like you're being recognised by your peers,' she said.

'And there's so many fantastic performers and artists that could be in this category, so when they nominate you, it feels like a win.'

Bieber appeared on the show from London and the 16-year-old was rewarded for staying up: he was nominated for best new artist in a category that also included Drake, Florence & the Machine, British band Mumford & Sons and jazz artist Esperanza Spaulding.

Speaking about the nomination, Bieber said: 'It feels amazing, I can't believe I'm in this position. I don't know what to say, I don't think of myself as a superstar, I feel like an ordinary person.'

'I feel like an ordinary person': Justin Bieber, who appeared via satellite link in London, said he was amazed by his Grammy nomination

'It feels amazing. I can't believe I'm in this position. Thank you to the fans,' he said. 'I don't know what to say.'

The evening's biggest snub may have belonged to Ke$ha. Even though the party girl singer had a top-selling debut and several hit songs, she was not nominated for any awards.

The Grammys will be awarded Sunday February 13th 2011 at Staples Centre in Los Angeles and broadcast live on America's CBS.