The Oakland Tribune May 23, 2003 CAMA should amount to coronation for The Donnas By Jim Harrington DURING the past year, as the Donnas have shown up on MTV, "Saturday Night Live" and the covers of national magazines, I've gotten a lot of mileage out of the fact that I once spent Thanksgiving dinner at the home of the group's guitarist Donna R. I expect to get plenty more mileage out of that brief brush with fame after this weekend. With eight major nominations, the Donnas are definitely the frontrunners in the 26th California Music Awards (CAMA). Besides the Punk Princesses from Palo Alto, the list of nominees also includes the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Queens of the Stone Age, Counting Crows, Santana and Green Day. The California Music Awards (formerly the Bammies) will be outdoors this year at an afternoon-long festival-style extravaganza Sunday at Frank H. Ogawa Plaza in Oakland. And the best news is that the event is free. Green Day, Larry Graham, Chuck Prophet, Michelle Williams, Luce, Audiovent, Ledisi, Jon B. and Goapele are set to appear at this year's show. CAMA winners are decided by popular vote based on nominees selected by a panel of industry professionals. Here are my picks for which acts will take home the prizes: Outstanding Album Beck's "Sea Change" drew rave reviews across the board. "Power in Numbers," by Jurassic 5, was a truly bumping affair. With "Maladroit," Weezer made a strong case for the continued relevance of slacker rock. The Queens of the Stone Age's "Songs for the Deaf" made for a delightful return to decadent rock'n' roll. But it won't be the Queens of the Stone Age who will rule this night. It will be the queens from Palo Alto. If the Donnas are to be crowned at this year's California Music Awards -- as appears to be the case -- it should definitely include the band's "Spend the Night" winning Outstanding Album. Outstanding Hard Rock/ Alternative Album The self-titled albums by the Transplants and Boxcar Racer don't seem to have much of a chance in the running. Besides those two discs, this field is wide open. Vacaville's Papa Roach will draw strong local support for "lovehatetragedy," even though the album did not meet expectations set by the band's debut. Linkin Park is a favorite with the kids. And the Queens of the Stone Age are just plain fun. Still, the edge goes to Audioslave for its self-titled debut, which is full of rage, even if it is not full of Rage Against the Machine. Outstanding Songwriter Pete Yorn has buzz. John McCrea (Cake) and Rivers Cuomo (Weezer) have got the hits. Jennifer Turner (Inner) and Chuck Prophet don't have enough name recognition. But Beck delivered the goods with "Sea Change" and should go home the winner. Outstanding Debut Album Hoobastank's self-titled debut will get some votes -- likely more than Audiovent's "Dirty Sexy Knights in Paris," Go Go Market's "Hotel San Jose" or Luce's "Luce." But all those albums put together probably won't equal the vote count of the seemingly unbeatable Audioslave's self-titled album. Outstanding Punk Album The Donnas' "Spend the Night" likely won't receive much competition from Rocket From the Crypt's "Live from Camp X-Ray," The Distillers' "Sing Sing Death House" or the Transplants' self-titled album. The only entree that has a slim chance of taking the prize from the Donnas is "Boxcar Racer." Outstanding Group This is one of the toughest categories of the night. Berkeley's Green Day is a CAMA favorite. Jurassic 5 will pull the hip-hop vote. Weezer has its fanatic fans. Queens of the Stone Age and System of a Down will split the rocker vote. But, again, it looks like the Donnas' night. Outstanding Drummer Count out talented local guy Scott Amendola and the Counting Crow's Jim Bogios and you have a tight race between Brad Wilke (Audioslave), Donna C., John Dolmayan (System of a Down) and Lars Ulrich (Metallica). Let's go old-school on this one and pick the Metallica guy. Outstanding Bassist The Red Hot Chili Peppers' Flea and Les Claypool are always threats in this category. Phil Lesh will draw the tie-dyed vote. The Queen of the Stone Age's Nick Oliveri is a possibility. Local guy Todd Sickafoose doesn't have a chance. And then there is Donna F., who is my guess to be the only Donna of the night to win a solo award. Outstanding Jazz Album Oakland's Jenna Mammina delivered a wonderfully realized work with "Meant to Be" and deserves to win. But the tin hat trio has the most name recognition, which will count for plenty with the non-jazz fans trying to complete the CAMA ballots. Look for the tin hat trio's "The Rodeo Eroded" to beat out "Meant to Be," Kitty Margolis' "Left Coast Life," Ledisi's "Feeling Orange, Sometimes Blue," Rova Saxophone Quartet's "Resistance" and Wadada Leo Smith's "The Year of the Elephant." Outstanding Blues/Roots Album Dave Alvin's "Out in California" was a raucous affair and I'd like to see this former Blaster go home with the award. But Elvin Bishop's "Rock my Soul" and Tommy Casto's "Gratitude" seem to be the frontrunners in a list that also includes Jackie Greene's "gone wanderin'" and Roy Rogers & Norton Buffalo's "Slideways." Give it to Bishop for longevity. Outstanding Single There are some good songs on the list -- including the Queens of the Stone Age's "No One Knows," Phantom Planet's "California," Weezer's "Keep Fishin'" and the guilty pleasure of Counting Crows' "Big Yellow Taxi." Santana's "The Game of Love" has a strong shot, but it's an awful song. So, we will hope for the best and continue to wave the Donnas flag with "Take It Off." Outstanding Hip-Hop Album "Party Music," by Oakland's own The Coup, was a personal favorite. But I wouldn't be disappointed to see the award go to Awol One & Daddy Kev's "Number Three On The Phone" or Blackalicious' "Blazing Arrow." Snoop Dogg is the biggest name and will get mad votes for "Paid Tha Cost to Be Da Bo$$." But Jurassic 5 deserves the award for "Power in Numbers," one of the best albums of last year. Outstanding Female Vocalist Count out Brody Armstrong of the Distillers and Ledisi. Bonnie Raitt would win if this were'93, instead of'03. Sheryl Crow and Donna A. are both possibilities. But there's little doubt that No Doubt's Gwen Stefani will take home this prize. Outstanding Rock/Pop Album Start by scratching off Chuck Prophet's "No Other Love," Phantom Planet's "The Guest" and Mates of State's "Our Constant Concern" and you have a three-way race between Counting Crows' "Hard Candy," Los Lobos' "Good Morning Aztlan" and the Red Hot Chili Peppers' "By The Way." And, by the way, the Chili Peppers will win. Outstanding R&B Album It'll either be Oakland-native Raphael Saadiq's "Instant Vintage" or Tyrese's "I Wanna Go There," leaving Goapele's "Even Closer," Jon B.'s "Greatest Hits ... R U Still Down" and Ledisi's "Feeling Orange, Sometimes Blue" in the dust. Look for Saadiq to follow up his strong Grammy showing with a CAMA win. Outstanding Male Vocalist Aside from Alex Greenwald of Phantom Planet, all of the other nominees -- Anthony Kiedis (Red Hot Chili Peppers), Beck, Josh Homme (Queens of the Stone Age), Rivers Cuomo (Weezer) and Serj Tankian (System of a Down) -- have a legitimate chance. But the kids are so down with the System that Tankian should squeak by in a close race. Outstanding Guitarist Carlos Santana and Joe Satriani are perennial contenders. Billie Joe Armstrong of Green Day is a punk-rock champion. Jazz-great Will Bernard doesn't have a chance. Donna R. has the best shot at taking this award from Audioslave axe-man Tom Morello. However, I expect she will come up just short and Morello will pull out the victory. Outstanding DJ Despite the wealth of talented nominees -- Cut Chemist, D-Styles, Dan The Automator and KutMasta Kurt -- this appears to be a fairly straightforward pick: DJ Shadow. Outstanding Latin Album Again, name recognition comes into play and Los Lobos should win for "Good Morning Aztlan" over Bobi Cepedes' "Rezos," Caravana Cuvana's "Del Alma," John Santos & Machete's "S.F. Bay," Los Tigres Del Norte's "Reina del Sur" and Quetzal's "Sing the Real.