STOCKHOLM - The Swedish "Grammi" nominations are out. But the Swedes' favorite artists have been totally ignored by the jury. Now, Sweden's best selling artists might be "no shows" at the event.

  Roxette, Patrik Isaksson, Excellence, Uno Sveningsson, E-type, Vikingarna, Shebang, Real Group, Lambretta, Barbados och Markoolio.

  They had some of the biggest hits last year in Sweden. Together, they sold well over 1 million albums and singles. But according to the Grammis jury, they don't exist.

  Some of these artists have indicated they plan to stay away from the Grammis gala on February 14th in the Globe in Stockholm.

  Nutta Hultman, project leader for the Swedish branch of IFPI, the organization behind the Grammis, says that the Grammis purpuse is to stimulate quality and creativity in the Swedish music scene.

Expressen reporter Andreas Nordström asked, "Does this mean that the Swedish people have a poor taste in music?"

  "What makes the Grammis one of the most important prizes is the it draws attention to those artists that doen't get much space normally in the media," she answered.

• Expressen's article (In Swedish)