It was another epic Cincinnati Entertainment Awards ceremony tonight at the Madison Theater, as a full house celebrated some of the best Greater Cincinnati music has to offer. And drank. A lot.The show went off great, with some excellent live performances from nominees and lots of fun from new host Ted Clark. I'll have more on the CEA show tomorrow (the afterparty is still in full effect as I type this), but gotta give props to CityBeat's own Jac Kern, who provided one of the funniest moments in CEA history before presenting the CEA for Hip Hop. Beyonce ain't got nothing on you, Jac! More tomorrow (fear not — the show will actually be broadcast on cable this year; details coming soon), but, in the meantime, here's who won what at tonight's ceremony. Wussy — which has been on a serious roll since releasing the fantastic Strawberry near the end of 2011 (it made the cut-off for this year's awards, since the album came out around the same time as the last CEAs) — had the best night, taking home both the Artist of the Year and Album of the Year CEAs. Congrats to all of the nominees and winners and everyone who showed up to party. Y'all are crazy. 1 Country - Mason James
2 Jazz - Blue Wisp Big Band
3 Singer/Songwriter - Kelly Thomas4 World Music/Reggae - The Cliftones5 Metal - Pulse8
6 Blues - Ricky Nye7 Alternative/Indie - The Seedy Seeds8 Hip Hop - Gold Shoes9 Folk/Americana - The Tillers
10 Rock - Buffalo Killers
11 Bluegrass - Rumpke Mountain Boys
12 Electronic - You, You're Awesome
13 Live Act - 500 Miles to Memphis
14 Hard Rock - Chakras
15 R&B/Soul/Funk - The Cincy Brass
16 Punk - Switchblade Syndicate

17 Best new Artist – DAAP Girls
18 Album of the year - Wussy's Strawberry19 Artists of the year - Wussy

Last Friday at Bogart's, CityBeat and the Cincinnati Entertainment Awards presented a showcase featuring some of the best new local bands of 2012. (Check out some pics from the event here.) This coming week, four brand-new acts (featuring musicians from other established groups) will be playing their first shows ever. Here's a round-up of the new bands (possible nominees for next year's CEAs?) debuting.  • Joey Cook of Indie Pop greats Pomegranates has a new solo project called Danny and His Fantasy. Cook — who also headed up the side project Firs and has done a few solo shows with friends and bandmates — leaked the great track below via YouTube a couple of weeks ago. The piano-laden track "Too Out of Touch" is a great slice of dancey and wonderfully melodic Pop, highlighted by Cook's soulful falsetto, that wouldn't be out of place on an of Montreal record. Danny and His Fantasy's debut show is this Friday at Mayday in Northside. Cook will be joined at the free show by Phil Cogley, the Indie Pop maestro from Columbus who performs under the name The Saturday Giant. Cogley's been making waves from our state's capitol, recently earning a slot on Columbus Alive's annual list of "Bands to Watch" for 2013. Locals Speaking Suns also perform.• Also Friday, Pop Goes the Evil plays its first live show. The new crew debuts at MOTR Pub, playing a free show with Indiana rockers Left Lane Cruiser. Pop Goes the Evil is fronted by singer/guitarist Lucas Frazier, formerly of the popular, kick-ass local Rock outfit The Dukes Are Dead. The new group — rounded out by drummer Jordin Goff (also of The Yugos) and bassist Evan Roberts (organist for heavy local band Grey Host) — has issued a couple of great music videos, showcasing a swaggering, energized Pop/Rock sound that's not chasing any trends, opting instead for a more timeless appeal. Here's the second single from Pop Goes the Evil, "Golden Apple." Pop Goes the Evil "Golden Apple" Official Music Video from POP GOES THE EVIL on Vimeo.•  Ian Gullett from the great Electro/Indie act Diet Audio is back with a new Electronic project called Photo Electric. Teaming with talented vocalist Cassie Mullen, the duo issued a three-song teaser EP called Boom on Bandcamp for free download. Mullen's crafty, sweeping melodies and seductive vocals combine with Gullett's backdrop of evocative Electronic soundscapes, with intriguing beats, ethereal-to-noisy guitar and an overall ghostly ambiance. Click here to download the EP and check out the duo's first video, for their tune "Tom," below. Photo Electric's debut live performance is Saturday at Newport's Southgate House Revival. The band performs with local Electronic band Playfully Yours and Lexington act SHOZO. Showtime is 9 p.m. and cover is $5 ($8 for those 18-20). The band is asking fans to shoot video at the debut show and send it their way for a planned music video (click here for details). Photo Electric is currently finishing up their debut album. • Tuesday, Jan. 29, at The Comet in Northside, as part of Electronic duo You, You're Awesome's residency at the club, you can check out one of the first shows by Halvsies. The band spawned from a collaboration between YYA's Yusef Quotah and vocalist (and CityBeat contributor) Maria Seda-Reeder, whose voice floats on the same wavelength as Marianne Faithful, Marcy Mays and Hope Sandoval. Halvsies' first EP, Words + Music, showcases the group's eclectic sound, a somewhat trippy brand of Indie Rock with Garage/Nuggets flourishes. Quotah and Seda-Reeder are joined by Stephen Streit (formerly of The Host) on bass and Ohio Knife's Joe Suer on drums. Here's "Stronger Than Teflon" from the debut EP:<a href="http://halvsies.bandcamp.com/track/stronger-than-teflon">Stronger Than Teflon by Halvsies</a>Halvsies plans to release two more EPs over the next few months.

The sixth season of TV One's entertaining and informative Unsung series, showcasing artists who did well but didn't quite reach the heights many expected, kicks off tonight at 10 p.m. with an episode about the late, great Soul star Isaac Hayes. Next week, on Jan. 30, the series focuses on a group that was formed at Kentucky State University and ended up calling Cincinnati its home base — Midnight Star. The R&B/ElectroFunk nine-piece band was a major success in the ’80s, giving the music world massive hits like "Slow Jam," "No Parking on the Dance Floor" and "Freak-a-Zoid." But the band eventually splintered — due to "arguments over money and management," according to the Unsung synopsis — with Reggie Calloway and brother Vincent leaving and eventually forming Calloway (which had success with the smash "I Wanna Be Rich" in 1989). Midnight Star carried on and produced a couple more albums that featured R&B chart hits before taking a break. The "hiatus" ended in 2000 and Midnight Star continues to this day, performing most recently at the Macy's Music Festival last summer. Click here to read up on the band circa 2013.The Unsung series has a loose definition of "unsung" (as the Isaac Hayes episode suggests), but its profiles of various R&B/Soul, Hip Hop, Funk and Gospel artists are always fairly illuminating. The show has dedicated episodes to a wide range of successful artists, from The Ohio Players and Zapp to Kool Mo Dee and Big Daddy Kane to George Clinton, The Spinners and another Cincinnati-affiliated star, Bootsy Collins. Unsung (Documentary) - Bootsy Collins... by GENERATIONDISCOFUNKThe rest of Unsung's season six includes episodes on EPMD, Lou Rawls, Eddie Kendricks, The Whispers, Mint Condition, Johnny Gill and a special two-hour look at the Disco phenomenon. TV One is channel 217 for local Time Warner Cable subscribers (1217 for the HD channel).