French music gets small share of Beyonce-ruled Grammy glory

French indy rock group Phoenix and popular dance-floor DJ David Guetta brought France two highly coveted Grammy music awards on Sunday, sharing a portion of the spotlight clearly focused on US R&B diva, Beyonce.

The young Versailles-based band Phoenix won the best alternative album category for their fourth album, “Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix”. The four-man band won against such longstanding pop legends as Depeche Mode ("Sounds of the Universe") and David Byrne and Brian Eno ("Everything Will Happen Today"). They also beat up-and-coming US bands Death Cab for Cutie and Yeah Yeah Yeahs.

French DJ and nightclub star Guetta won the best remix award for the smash hit, “When Love Takes Over”, featuring US soul singer Kelly Rowland.

Mavericks on the French music scene

Both Phoenix and Guetta are mavericks on the French music scene.

Phoenix, dismissed by critics as a band of faux-rebel youth from the aristocratic Parisian suburb of Versailles, are better known abroad than in France for their upbeat, English-language tunes. The preppy ensemble was the first French band ever to perform on the US late-night show “Saturday Night Live”.

Guetta, 42, and his flamboyant wife, Cathy, have long been figures of French and European nightlife scene, organising gigantic dance parties in exclusive nightclubs from Paris to Ibiza, a Spanish nightlife hotspot. However, the DJ’s fame remained confined to clubbing circles until 2005, when his remix of a song by British band, The Egg, with his own national hit, “Love Don’t Let Me Go,” topped British and French charts all summer. His career has shot upwards ever since and has included highly successful collaboration with US rap-and-pop band, Black Eyed Peas.

Beyonce triumph

Sunday night’s 52nd Grammy awards, however, were dominated by mainstream American artists and major music labels.

The unchallenged queen of the ceremony at the Los Angeles Staples Centre was R&B singer Beyonce, who topped the competition with six awards and ten nominations and electrified audiences with her live performance. She won the prestigious song of the year award for her hit single, “Single Ladies (Put a Ring On It)”.

The Record of the Year was the rock band Kings of Leon's "Use Somebody", and Taylor Swift won the Grammy for the  best country album of the year for  "Fearless". Oddball New York singer Lady Gaga picked up two Grammys with her dance hit "Poker Face", while pop powerhouses Black Eyed Peas bagged three awards for best short-form music video, best pop performance and best pop vocal album.