it took an hour of hot air, but the nominations ordeal finally began when presenters ludacris, rascal flatts, kt tunstall we like HER), james blunt, corinne bailey rae, chris brown, amy lee, justin timberlake and mary j. blige were brought on stage at the music box, the down-at-the-heels theater on hollywood boulevard.

most presenters looked like their luggage was lost on the flight over. dirty jeans and uncombed hair for the boys seemed to be the order of the day. of course, the look was intentional. blunt looked like the homeless guys outside.

girls were much better. tunstall was the most appealing in a nice black outfit.