Hip-hop duo OutKast are leading the field for the MTV Europe Music Awards, with five nominations including best group and best song, for Hey Ya. US R&B star Usher has nominations in four different categories. Mercury Music Prize winners Franz Ferdinand collected three nominations, the most for a British act. The awards will be staged at Tor Di Valle in Rome on 18 November, with Eminem, Beastie Boys and Maroon 5 all confirmed to perform. Other artists who will be performing live on the night include Nelly, Usher, Gwen Stefani and The Hives. OutKast enjoyed huge success at the US MTV Video Music Awards held in Miami in August, picking up four awards. Among their five nominations at the European awards are best video for Hey Ya and best album for Speakerboxxx/ The Love Below. Seven artists have been nominated in three categories, including the newly-wed Britney Spears for best pop, best female and best song for Toxic. Anastacia, Beyonce Knowles, Jay-Z and Maroon 5 are also up for a trio of awards.

British contenders : Among Franz Ferdinand's nominations are best new act, best UK and Ireland act and best alternative act. The Glasgow band won the breakthrough award at the Miami ceremony for their single Take Me Out. British R&B singer Jamelia has also been nominated in the best new act category, following on from her triple success at the UK's Music of Black Origin Awards. Other British artists nominated include Robbie Williams for best pop and Muse and The Prodigy for alternative act. Competing for the best group title alongside Outkast will be the Beastie Boys, Black Eyed Peas, D12 and Maroon 5. Alicia Keys, Anastasia, Avril Lavigne and Beyonce feature alongside Spears in the best female contest. Last year's big winner at the MTV Europe Awards, which were held in Edinburgh, was Justin Timberlake, who walked away with three trophies.

If you have ever lost yourself on a full dancefloor as Donna Summer sings I Feel Love or Love to Love You Baby, Bellotte is the man to thank. With Italian Giorgio Moroder, Bellotte co-wrote and co-produced all of Donna Summer's influential hits from 1976 to 1981. As disco began to rise up from US underground clubs, Munich-based Bellotte and Moroder added their own continental twist that would take it into every bar, radio station and supermarket. The pair had already given Chicory Tip a number one hit with Son of My Father and had released three European singles with Summer when they struck disco gold. "When it all took off for us, it was just serendipity," said Bellotte. "For Love to Love You Baby we incorporated a four-to-the-floor bass drum pattern which funk band The Crusaders had just used, and a hi-hat pattern that was on Rock the Boat by The Hues Corporation," he explained. "We were pretty excited by the result." The erotic, hypnotic song became a hit after a suggestion by the late Casablanca Records head, Neil Bogart. "He was having a party at his home and everyone was getting off on the song, so he had to keep re-playing it," said Bellotte. "He suggested making the track longer, to fill an entire side of vinyl." The original drummer had difficulty with the timing so Moroder and Bellotte bought a music box, as used in Munich restaurants to keep the beat for "awful little one-man bands". "The box kept a regular tempo, enabling us to easily extend the song for as long as we wanted," Bellotte said.