The last time singer Mariah Carey received a batch of Grammy nominations, she endured one of the most humiliating experiences of her career as she lost out all six times while a worldwide television audience watched her mood darken throughout the ceremony.


Now ten years on, and with eight Grammy nominations this year, we'll see if the comeback queen of 2005 has a more enjoyable time at the music industry's biggest night of the year on Wednesday. She has collected only two Grammys to date, winning in 1991 for best new artist and for her breakthrough single "Vision of Love."


Carey, 35, shares the lead with rapper Kanye West and soul singer John Legend, and is the only person nominated in all three key categories of record, album and song of the year.


Four acts have six nominations: rapper 50 Cent, R&B singer Beyonce Knowles, funk musician William Adams of the Black Eyed Peas, and Motown icon Stevie Wonder.


The Grammys are voted on by 12,000 people in the music industry. The awards are designed to honour creative excellence, but the voters have often been swayed by commercial success, nostalgia or an artist's back story.