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The 50th Grammy Awards are to take place in the US, with Kanye West and Amy Winehouse leading the nominations.

But Winehouse will not perform at the ceremony in Los Angeles despite a last-minute issue of a US visa.

West is shortlisted for eight awards including album of the year, while Winehouse has six nominations.

Five acts - rock band the Foo Fighters, rapper Jay-Z, producer Timbaland, R&B singer T-Pain and Justin Timberlake - are vying for five awards each.

'Second chance'

The prestigious record of the year category is made up of Beyonce's Irreplaceable, Foo Fighters' The Pretender, Rihanna's Umbrella, Justin Timberlake's What Goes Around Comes Around and Rehab by Amy Winehouse.

The UK star, whose hits include Back to Black and Rehab, entered a rehabilitation centre last month a few days after a video emerged that apparently showed her smoking a crack pipe.

She was fined for cannabis possession in Norway last year but plans to appeal later this month.

The singer will now perform via satellite from a London studio.

"I'm really sorry I can't be there but I appreciate that I'm being given a second chance via satellite," said the singer.

Artists who will be performing include West, Tina Turner, Beyonce, Andrea Bocelli, Josh Groban, Fergie and Alicia Keys.

Stevie Wonder, Prince, Tony Bennett, Nelly Furtado, Ringo Starr and Tom Hanks are among the award presenters.

Songwriter Burt Bacharach received a Grammy Award for lifetime achievement at a ceremony which was held on Saturday.

The main ceremony was spared the threat of industrial action after the striking Writers Guild of America agreed to let writers work on the show.

The guild said it wants to offer support to musicians facing challenges getting "compensation for the use of their work in new media."

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