Who's in your Final Four? Of music, that is.

If you're like me and frankly couldn't care less about the NCAA tournament, have I got the bracket for you.

Or, you know, if you just like music. But I digress.

Today's N&O includes Matt Ehler's annual bracket—and this year it's got a musical theme (past brackets centered around TV shows, action heroes, etc.). Head on over there now, register on the site and complete your bracket.

The bracket is divided into pre-1980 rock, post-1980 rock, pre-1980 R&B and post-1980 R&B. And yes, organizers realize they left Led Zeppelin off the list all together—a glaring omission but accidental oversight. If you wish to complain about that or any other omission, they ask that you do that here.

Because I haven't gotten any hate mail in a while and am feeling brave, I'm sharing the brackets Kevin and I filled out here. (Click each for the full image.) We both went about it differently—I just picked who I liked while Kevin chose a mix of the acts he thought were the most influential and his personal favorites.

So who's in your Final Four? Any particularly difficult matches to decide? For me it was Guns N Roses vs Pearl Jam and Van Halen vs Dave Matthews Band, mostly because I don't particularly care for either.

But back to the contest. Brackets must be completed by noon Thursday, at which point everyone's bracket will be tallied to create the "master bracket." Then, the person whose bracket is closest to the master bracket will win a music-related prize. The Sweet Sixteen will be revealed on March 23, the Final Four on March 30 and the winner on April 6, the day of the men's championship game (or so I'm told).

The Great 8's class of 2009 goes live

The News & Observer's Great 8 of 2009 has gone live. This year's list is a diverse group featuring everything from retro-pop to screamo to hip-hop to a young film/videogame composer.

I'm happy to see one of my favorite local groups Violet Vector and the Lovely Lovelies made the list but was a little disappointed that The Love Language didn't make the cut. Maybe next year. Check out Jason Graves feature about his work composing music for videogames and films. He's someone I was aware of but knew little about until checking out his Great 8 feature.

Here's the complete '09 class:

Violet Vecto and the Lovely Lovelies
Jason Graves
Alesana
Hammer No More the Fingers
Inflowential
The Loners
Lonnie Walker
Double Negative

Check out the multimedia extraveganza here which includes video of each artist.

The Great 8 showcase will take place at Local 506 on Friday, February 13 for only $6. The show will feature Violet Vector and the Lovely Lovelies, Hammer No More the Fingers, Double Negative and Lonnie Walker.

Revealing Great 8 sneak peak online

An incredibly revealing Great 8 sneak peak has gone up on the News & Observer's website. I was able to pick out three of the eight after one pass. I won't spoil the fun here and name names because the full package will go up on Friday, but check out the video if you like spoilers.

Last year's Great 8 multimedia extravaganza can still be seen here.

Great 8 20009 sneak peek

Farming it out for the Jonas Brothers

David Menconi and the folks over at the N&O are running a contest that is sure to get dozens upon dozens of entries.

One lucky winner who submits an essay of 300 words or less will get to the review the Jonas Brothers concert at Walnut Creek on July 30 for the News & Observer. Read the contest details here.

The Jonas Brothers, if you're not "in the know," are essentially a Disneyfied version of Hanson.

And David, good call -- I wouldn't want to go see the Jonas Brothers either.

On a semi-related note, teen hearthrobs of my own generation New Kids on the Block recently announced a show at the Time Warner Cable Arena in Charlotte for Oct. 30. Roadtrip, anyone?