GRAMMY.com

The GRAMMY Awards honor recordings in 108 categories across 31 fields, from rap to classical. To help readers get a better sense of the nominees and the wealth of recordings they’ve created over the past year, GRAMMY.com has prepared these field Roundups, which give quick details on the nominees in an easy-to-read format.

For the first time in 14 years, all five finalists for RECORD OF THE YEAR are first-time nominees in the category. Mary J. Blige, this year's most nominated artist with eight bids, is represented with the soulful ballad "Be Without You." English troubadour James Blunt, who received five nominations, is competing with his pop ballad "You're Beautiful." Dixie Chicks, who also garnered five nominations, are in the running with "Not Ready To Make Nice," in which they stand their ground against their detractors. Gnarls Barkley — the widely-admired duo consisting of producer Danger Mouse and rapper-singer Cee-Lo — is represented with "Crazy." The act received four nominations, including Best Urban/Alternative Performance for this track. In addition, Danger Mouse is nominated for Producer Of The Year, Non Classical for the second year in a row. English pop vocalist Corinne Bailey Rae, a three-time nominee, rounds out the category with "Put Your Records On."

Dixie Chicks and Justin Timberlake make return appearances in the ALBUM OF THE YEAR category, where they face first-time finalists Gnarls Barkley, John Mayer and Red Hot Chili Peppers. Dixie Chicks' Taking The Long Way is the trio's third to be nominated in this category. Fly was in the running in 1999, followed by Home three years later. Dixie Chicks are the first country-rooted act in GRAMMY history to receive three Album Of The Year nominations. Justin Timberlake's second solo album, FutureSex/LoveSounds, has followed his first, 2003's Justified, to an Album Of The Year nomination. The former 'N Sync star received four nominations this year. Red Hot Chili Peppers' Stadium Arcadium is the first double-disc album to make the finals since OutKast's Speakerboxxx/The Love Below three years ago. The veteran rock band is nominated for six awards, second only to Blige. John Mayer is nominated for Continuum. Mayer received a total of five bids. Gnarls Barkley is in the running with their debut, St. Elsewhere. Producer Of The Year, Non Classical nominee Rick Rubin produced or co-produced three of the five albums, the greatest dominance of the category by any producer in GRAMMY history. Rubin produced the albums by Dixie Chicks and Red Hot Chili Peppers and co-produced Timberlake's entry. All five finalists are also vying for top genre awards: Mayer and Timberlake are nominated for Best Pop Vocal Album; the Chili Peppers for Best Rock Album; Gnarls Barkley for Best Alternative Music Album; and the Dixie Chicks for Best Country Album.

Four of the five finalists for SONG OF THE YEAR were co-written by the artists who made them famous. Mary J. Blige co-wrote the soulful ballad "Be Without You" with Johnta Austin, Jason Perry and the recording's producer, Bryan-Michael Cox. The Dixie Chicks (Martie Maguire, Natalie Maines and Emily Robison) co-wrote the country-rooted statement of defiance "Not Ready To Make Nice" with Dan Wilson. Corinne Bailey Rae co-wrote the pop tune "Put Your Records On" with John Beck and the recording's producer, Steve Chrisanthou. James Blunt co-wrote the pop ballad "You're Beautiful" with Amanda Ghost and Sacha Skarbek. The only finalist not co-written by the artist was Carrie Underwood's country hit, "Jesus, Take The Wheel," which was written by Brett James, Hillary Lindsey and Gordie Sampson.

For the first time in more than two decades, three of the five finalists for BEST NEW ARTIST are English. The Brit contingent consists of James Blunt, whose five nominations include Best Pop Album for Back To Bedlam; three-time nominee Corinne Bailey Rae, whose eponymous debut album has drawn raves; and two-time nominee Imogen Heap, who made noise in the pop world with her album, Speak For Yourself. Heap also wrote "Can't Take It In" for the film The Chronicles Of Narnia — The Lion, The Witch & The Wardrobe, which is vying for Best Song Written For A Motion Picture, Television Or Other Visual Media. The two American finalists, with two nominations each, are Chris Brown, whose eponymous debut album is vying for Best Contemporary R&B Album, and Carrie Underwood, whose album Some Hearts was received warmly in country circles. Brown, 17, is the first teenager to make the Best New Artist finals since Joss Stone, who was also 17 when she was nominated two years ago. Underwood, whose "Jesus, Take The Wheel" is nominated for Best Female Country Vocal Performance, is the first "American Idol" alumnus to receive a Best New Artist nomination.