Grammy award voters can't stop loving Ray Charles or, for that matter, the R&B-rooted music of freshman rapper Kanye West, contemporary R&B singer Usher and neo-soul singer-songwriter Alicia Keys, who between them picked up 33 of the Grammy nominations announced on Tuesday

Charles, West, Usher, Keys — get 33 Grammy nominations

Los Angeles, California, Nov. 8 — Grammy award voters can't stop loving Ray Charles or, for that matter, the R&B-rooted music of freshman rapper Kanye West, contemporary R&B singer Usher and neo-soul singer-songwriter Alicia Keys, who between them picked up 33 of the Grammy nominations announced on Tuesday.

Ray Charles, who died in June, received 7 Grammy nominations for his million-plus-selling final album, Genius Loves Company.

But Kayne West has been short-listed for 10 Grammy nominations, including Best Rap Solo Performance, Best Rap Song and Best Rap Album of the year for his debut album The College Dropout, one of the top 5 sellers in 2004. The disc has received rave reviews from critics because it's stayed away from rap's standard themes of sex, money, and violence, but touches instead upon everything from religion to Kayne West’s own insecurities.

Heartthrob Usher, who topped sales having sold more than 7 million copies of his Confessions album, got 8 Grammy nominations.

Alicia Keys, who won five Grammys in 2001, is nominated again for best album with her sophomore effort, The Diary of Alicia Keys, and song of the year for If I Ain't Got You.

Green Day have also been nominated for 6 Grammy awards including the prestigious album of the year category. The punk trio won a Grammy award back in 1995 for their major label debut Dookie, and have recently enjoyed number 1’s on both sides of the Atlantic with the acclaimed ‘American Idiot’.

Ray Charles' nominations, from record and album of the year to others in pop, R&B and gospel categories, reflect his wide-ranging influence over a half-century career that has already earned him 12 Grammys.

Online bookmaker BoDog.com was one of the first operators to release its odds on Grammy awards such as Record of the Year, Album of the Year, and New Artist. Beyonce’s “Crazy in Love”, and Eminem’s “Lose Yourself” are odds on favorites for Record of the Year at 2/1. In the New Artist category, bullet riddled 50-Cent is the favorite at even 1/1 odds, with Heather Headley the long shot at 20/1.

“It is nice to see an awards event finally recognizing some new genres and formats,” said Rob Gillespie, President of BoDog.com. “This has been a great year in music, and the Grammy’s are a perfect ending. The Grammy's are the musical event of the year, and we are proud to be the first to offer the wagering public odds for this event.”