{blackbabes} If you didn't know Arcade Fire, Spalding before ...

http://i.usatoday.net/life/_photos/2011/02/15/spaldingx-large.jpg

Every awards show has a Cinderella champion, and at Sunday night's Grammys, there were at least two.

First, Esperanza Spalding, a jazz singer/composer/multi-instrumentalist unknown to most casual pop fans, was named best new artist, beating hip-hop star Drake and omnipresent tween idol Justin Bieber. Then the alt-rock band Arcade Fire edged out Eminem, Katy Perry and Ladys Antebellum and Gaga for album of the year, for 2010's acclaimed The Suburbs.

Rolling Stone contributing editor Anthony DeCurtis was "surprised but not shocked" by Arcade Fire's victory. "They have a strong critical following and a growing popular one," he says; The Suburbs sold 484,000 copies, according to Nielsen SoundScan, whereas the other nominees were platinum sellers. "They've been on magazine covers" and gotten headlining gigs at Coachella (2011) and Lollapalooza (2010) festivals.

Album of the year is a category in which commercial success isn't necessarily a key factor, DeCurtis says. "People want to honor something substantial. (The Suburbs) is an unimpeachable choice, a certifiably serious record by a certifiably serious band."

Similarly, while Spalding's Chamber Music Society sold only 31,000 copies, it garnered admiring reviews. And her fans include such icons as Stevie Wonder, Prince and Herbie Hancock — not to mention President Obama, who invited her to play at 2009's Nobel Peace Prize ceremonies.

Paul Grein, who writes Yahoo's Chart Watch blog, says Spalding "was helped by the fact there was no clear-cut favorite in her category." Grein expected Drake to win, but rap is still "a hard sell with voters."

That also may have been a factor in the album category, Grein says. "The good thing is they saluted Arcade Fire on their breakthrough album. If they had given it to Eminem, it would have been in part a makeup for not giving it to him for The Marshall Mathers LP."

The Recording Academy, which has about 12,000 voting members, has diversified in recent years, says president Neil Portnow. "My sense is we have more younger members voting and taking the process seriously. Arcade Fire can't win with just a bunch of 50-year-old white guys voting."