>2011 Grammy Nominations — Winner Predictions!

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Adam Lambert, Alicia Keys, Arcade Fire, B.o.B., beatles, beyonce, Black Keys, Broken Bells, Bruno Mars, Danger Mouse, Dr. Luke, Drake, Elton John, Eminem, Fantasia, Glee, Grammy Predictions, Grammys, Jay-Z, John Legend, John Mayer, Justin Bieber, Kanye West, Katy Perry, Kings of Leon, Lady Antebellum, Lady GaGa, Leon Russell, Ludacris, Maroon 5, Michael Buble, Michael Jackson, Miranda Lambert, Mumford & Sons, Mumford and Sons, Muse, Neil Young, Nicki Minaj, Norah Jones, Paul McCartney, RedOne, rihanna, The Beatles, The Black Keys, The Roots, The Smeezingtons, Train

>This Sunday night, The 53rd Annual Grammy Awards will take place. And who’s going to emerge the big winner is anybody’s guess. In fact, the nominees are spread so evenly there might not be any clear winner  — Although I’m looking at Eminem and Lady Antebellum to come out on top.

What we do know right now is who’s performing, and with Mick Jagger, Barbra Streisand & Bob Dylan taking the stage, it looks like the history of Popular Music might be a focal point. Still there are those current acts to look forward to, Lady GaGa who is set to perform her newest single live for the first time. Rihanna and Drake are set to perform together, as well as Eminem and Dr. Dre and of course Justin Bieber will be there for the little girls watching.  And get your ears ready for the Over-Sing-Fest of Jennifer Hudson and Christina Aguilera doing an Aretha Franklin tribute. We can probably expect minimal mentions of the late Teena Marie, and a bunch of overrated artists performing their overrated songs.

As I do every year, I’m gonna take a stab at predicting these quite odd Grammy’s. (I’m late!)

Record of the Year.
B.o.B. & Bruno Mars, Nothin’ on You
Eminem & Rihanna, Love the Way You Lie
Cee-Lo Green, F**k You
Jay-Z & Alicia Keys, Empire State of Mind
Lady Antebellum, Need You Now

Looks like the domestic abuse anthem is the favorite, so that’s one for Eminem. He will probably pick up alot of awards Grammy night, and this song was really popular. However in a race dominated by Hip Hop acts, Lady Antebellum also has a really great shot at picking this one up, and their song was also a pretty big hit for a Country group. It’s a toss up, but I think Lady Antebellum might just come out on top here.

Will Win: Lady Antebellum.
Should Win: Jay-Z. Empire State of Mind instantly captured the hearts of people in every city and became Jay’s biggest hit and first #1 single. He won’t have many chances to win for this song, but this future classic deserves to get a Top 4 Honor.

Album of the Year.
Arcade Fire, The Suburbs
Eminem, Recovery
Lady Antebellum, Need You Now
Lady GaGa, The Fame Monster
Katy Perry, Teenage Dream

A slightly better race than last year, save for the GaGa EP being nominated. The ones I think should be taken off the list are probably the ones that have the biggest shot. Lady GaGa and Eminem. Still, Arcade Fire and Lady Antebellum have an equally good chance. The only drawback with Arcade Fire is that Indie acts hardly ever win this award. Country acts rarely do either, but Taylor Swift pulled the surprise win last year. It’s really between Eminem and Lady Antebellum, and Eminem is the one who’s been in the industry the longest so he might get the “legend” win here.

Will Win: Eminem
Should Win: Arcade Fire. It would be nice if the Grammy’s showed they could be ahead of the curve for once, awarding an Indie act would do that. Arcade Fire have continued to be one of the most critically acclaimed act of the Indie scene, which is quickly beginning to surface on the mainstream.

Song of the Year.
Ray LaMontagne and The Pariah Dogs, Beg Steal or Borrow
Cee-Lo Green, F**k You
Miranda Lambert, The House That Built Me
Eminem & Rihanna, Love the Way You Lie
Lady Antebellum, Need You Now

This is a race between the country songs, with both Miranda Lambert and Lady Antebellum coming out in front. Both of their nominated songs are lyrically deserving of the title, however Lady Antebellum probably has the edge because the message in “Need You Now” is more universal, and the song is also a little more Pop-leaning. If the two country acts cancel each other out, Eminem might get yet another win.

Will Win: Lady Antebellum.
Should: Lady Antebellum. It’s really a great, simple, catchy and relateable song. It would deserve any prize it got.

New Artist.
Justin Bieber
Drake
Florence and the Machine
Mumford and Sons
Esperanza Spalding

Drake might seem like the favorite here, but this race will probably result in a big surprise. And I feel like Mumford & Sons will take the trophy. It was a surprise this 4 piece band was even nominated, but along with a critically hailed album and the buzz from their live shows, they might just take the crown. Drake and Bieber are fall backs if not enough voters know who Mumford & Sons are. Still I feel they might pull the upset here.

Will Win: Mumford & Sons.
Should Win: Drake.

Female Pop Vocal Performance.
Sara Bareilles, King of Anything
Beyonce, Halo (live)
Norah Jones, Chasing Pirates
Lady GaGa, Bad Romance
Katy Perry, Teenage Dream

The Grammy voters are obviously in love with Lady GaGa so she’ll probably take it, and why not, her vocals on “Bad Romance” were some of the high points of the song. This could be an interesting race though because Norah Jones is another Grammy favorite, and Katy Perry has a good chance of being the winning underdog.GaGa and her song were staples of last year though so she should probably get it.

Will Win: Lady GaGa.
Should Win: Lady GaGa.


Male Pop Vocal Performance.
Michael Buble, Haven’t Met You Yet
Michael Jackson, This Is It
Adam Lambert, Whataya Want From Me
Bruno Mars, Just the Way You Are
John Mayer, Half of My Heart

With 6 nominations already, it seems the Grammy voters are falling for Bruno Mars fast, so he’ll probably get this one. Even though Adam Lambert is the one that truly deserves it. Michael Jackson might get the sympathy votes however, but who knew “This is It” was even a song. John Mayer has also been a Grammy favorite in the past, but that was before the serial-celeb dating and questionable public comments. Michael Buble had a hit with “Haven’t Met You Yet”, and since he’s up against Barbra Streisand and Barry Manilow in the other category he’s nominated for, he might get this one. This is actually a hard race to predict.

Will: Bruno Mars.
Should: Adam Lambert.

Group Pop Vocal Performance.
Glee Cast, Don’t Stop Believin’
Maroon 5, Misery
Paramore, The Only Exception
Sade, Babyfather
Train, Hey, Soul Sister (live)

Will the love for the TV show “Glee” translate over to the Grammy’s? It looks like highly possible. The biggest competition comes from Train with their huge hit single “Hey, Soul Sister”, and maybe since it’s actual music insiders voting they’ll go with the well respected band as opposed to the manufactured television show cast.

Will: Glee Cast.
Should: Maroon 5.

Pop Vocal Collaboration.
B.o.B., Hayley Williams & Eminem, Airplanes Part II
Herbie Hancock, Pink, India.Arie, Seal, Konono No 1, Jeff Beck & Oumou Sangare, Imagine
Elton John & Leon Russell, If It Wasn’t for Bad
Lady GaGa & Beyonce, Telephone
Katy Perry & Snoop Dogg, California Gurls

Seems like GaGa and Beyonce are the favorites in this race, there is a question mark though. You have Elton John there with Leon Russell, and since Katy might not grab too many of the awards she’s up for she might take this one. Also the Eminem connection might help B.o.B. Still, Lady GaGa and Beyonce are obvious Grammy favorites so I think this win is a bit of a sure thing.

Will: Lady GaGa & Beyonce.
Should: Lady GaGa & Beyonce.

Pop Vocal Album.
Justin Bieber, My World 2.0
Susan Boyle, I Dreamed a Dream
Lady GaGa, The Fame Monster
John Mayer, Battle Studies
Katy Perry, Teenage Dream

Even though it’s only 8 tracks it’s up for Lady GaGa is up frikkin ALBUM OF THE YEAR!! It’s gotta win this one if they thought highly enough to nominate it for the top prize. Slight competition may come from John Mayer and Katy Perry, but Lady GaGa is on fire and I don’t think either of them have enough power to take her down here.

Will Win.: Lady GaGa.
Should Win: Katy Perry.

Solo Rock Performance.
Eric Clapton, Run Back to Your Side
John Mayer, Crossroads
Paul McCartney, Helter Skelter
Robert Plant, Silver Rider
Neil Young, Angry World

This is the battle of the old fogeys versus John Mayer. All the four guys are legends, so Mayer can basically kiss his chances goodbye. The two favorites being Neil Young and Paul McCartney. With Beatle mania happening again this year, and this performance coming from the nationally televised concert special, McCartney has a good chance of taking it. Still Neil Young is the only nominee here (besides Mayer) nominated for his entire album this year. If he doesn’t win this one, he’ll take Rock Album. Which will than leave it open for Paul.

Will: Paul McCartney.
Should: Paul McCartney.

Group Rock Performance.
Arcade Fire, Ready To Start
Jeff Beck & Joss Stone, I Put a Spell on You
The Black Keys, Tighten Up
Kings of Leon, Radioactive
Muse, Resistance

Kings of Leon had the best vocal of the nominated song, and they should win. Doing so great last year might hurt them this year. Which would leave the race open to the Black Keys, Arcade Fire and Muse. Muse had the biggest hit single with their nominated single, The Black Keys’ song was an underground and commercial favorite, and Arcade Fire seems to be the Grammy favorite of the three. I think Muse’s hit-factor might give them this win.

Will Win: Muse.
Should Win: Kings of Leon.

Alternative Album.
Arcade Fire, The Suburbs
Band of Horses, Infinite Arms
The Black Keys, Brothers
Broken Bells, Broken Bells
Vampire Weekend, Contra

This one obviously goes to Arcade Fire, who have won this award with every previous album. Now that they are also up for the big Album prize, it’s a no-brainer they will take this one again.

Will Win: Arcade Fire.
Should Win: Broken Bells.

R&B Album.
Raheem DeVaughn, The Love & War Masterpiece
Fantasia, Back to Me
Jaheim, Another Round
John Legend & The Roots, Wake Up!
Monica, Still Standing

Another very easy race, John Legend & The Roots pulled together an organic and instantly classic album by paying homage to the songs and album of R&B’s greatest era. Slight competition comes from the sympathy vote which might go to Fantasia. However individually John Legend and The Roots have won a few Grammys already, teaming up looks like a winning idea.

Will Win: John Legend & The Roots.
Should Win: John Legend & The Roots.

Solo Rap Performance.
Drake, Over
Eminem, Not Afraid
Ludacris, How Low
T.I., I’m Back
Kanye West, Power

Eminem may just sweep all the Rap categories, but I don’t think after such a critically acclaimed album on their brain that the Grammy voters will skip a chance to give Kanye an award this year. Drake also has a chance here, but I think it’s definitely between Em and Kanye. And since Eminem has so many chances to win this year, Kanye will probably get it.

Will Win: Kanye West.
Should Win: Kanye West.

Duo or Group Rap Performance.
Big Boi, Bosko, Cutty & Mouche, Shutterbug
Drake, T.I. & Swizz Beatz, Fancy
Jay-Z & Swizz Beatz, On To the Next One
Ludacris & Nicki Minaj, My Chick Bad
Young Jeezy & Plies, Lose My Mind

Ludacris has the best shot because voters are going to want to give Nicki Minaj her first Grammy this year, this is the only category she’s up for tonight and the competition here isn’t that difficult to beat.

Will Win: Ludcaris & Nicki Minaj.
Should Win: Ludacris & Nicki Minaj.

Rap/Sung Collaboration.
B.o.B. & Bruno Mars, Nothin’ On You
Chris Brown, Tyga & Kevin McCall, Deuces
Eminem & Rihanna, Love the Way You Lie
Jay-Z & Alicia Keys, Empire State of Mind
John Legend, The Roots, Melanie Fiona & Common, Wake Up Everybody

Empire State of Mind and Love the Way You Lie look like the favorites here, both big hit singles from very popular Hip Hop acts. Don’t count out the John Legend & Roots collaboration here who might just pull the upset. These Rap categories are hard to call, because with so many top names nominated who knows if the voters will go Eminem for everything or if they want to diversify their picks.

Will Win: Jay-Z & Alicia Keys. Ultimately I think this may be the one award they give Jay.
Should Win: Jay-Z & Alicia Keys. It deserves every award it’s nominated for.

Rap Album.
B.o.B., The Adventures of Bobby Ray
Drake, Thank Me Later
Eminem, Recovery
Jay-Z, The Blueprint 3
The Roots, How I Got Over

Eminem definitely, even though his was the lesser album of them all, with his track record there’s no way he  could lose this one this year.

Will Win: Eminem.
Should Win: Jay-Z. His best album in years, which helped him get the biggest hit singles of his career. It’s just sad to think he might walk home empty handed.

Producer of the Year.
Rob Cavallo
Danger Mouse
Dr. Luke
RedOne
The Smeezingtons

RedOne or Dr. Luke might sadly take this award simply for their volume of work this year, and it won’t be about quality at all. (And why haven’t Stargate been nominated here?). Danger Mouse deserves it, but his albums weren’t as high-profile as those of the aforementioned producers. The Smeezingtons, relatively new, produced some of the top nominated songs this year, so they are the underdogs, and I’d much rather see them win. But it’s gonna be either Dr. Luke or RedOne, with the latter being the favorite for their GaGa connection.

Will Win: RedOne.
Should Win: Danger Mouse.

Okay there you have it, I’m so sorry I’m so late. I think as I’m about to post this nominees are being announced. Forgive any sloppiness and the lack of visuals, I was racing to finish this.

Enjoy!

>Album Review: Quick Update/GET ‘ER DONE (Part One)!!!!

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Album Review, Body Talk Pt. 2, Body Talk Pt. 2 Review, Brandon Flowers, Brandon Flowers Flamingo, Brandon Flowers Flamingo Review, Brandon Flowers Review, Come Around Sundown, Come Around Sundown Review, Danger Mouse, Dark Night of the Soul, Dark Night of the Soul Review, Flamingo, Flamingo Review, Kings of Leon, Kings of Leon Come Around Sundown, Kings of Leon Come Around Sundown Review, LCD Soundsystem, LCD Soundsystem Review, LCD Soundsystem This Is Happening, LCD Soundsystem This Is Happening Review, Robyn, Robyn Body Talk Pt. 2, Robyn Body Talk Pt. 2 Review, Robyn Review, Sparklehorse, Sparklehorse Dark Night of the Soul, Sparklehorse Dark Night of the Soul Review, Sparklehorse Review, The Killers, This Is Happening, This Is Happening Review

>Okay it’s November, and I have reviews for albums that were released as far back as March!
So you know what, I’m gonna review them ALL… RIGHT NOW!!! In the words of Larry the Cable Guy, I’m on a mission to GET ‘ER DONE!!!! So here we go…

LCD Soundsystem “This Is Happening”

The third album from the highly buzzed about Electronic producer LCD Soundsystem (aka James Murphy) was released to mass critical acclaim in May. “This Is Happening” is a fun dance album in general, although it does come off as a bit one-note at times. Some of the best the album has to offer actually can come off as copy cats of other artists (Devo on “Drunk Girls”, She Wants Revenge on “All I Want”), but the overall effect is a new level of Electronic music. Murphy maintains a Electronic sound, but there are heavy traces of Punk, Rock and Pop on any given track. The albums high points are the unapologetic fun of “Pow Pow”, while “One Touch” “You Wanted A Hit” and “I Can Change” are near perfection. The album is a unique listen, but can wear a little thin at times.

Rating: 3.5 Stars
Best: “Pow Pow“, “I Can Change“, “You Wanted a Hit”

Robyn “Body Talk Pt. 2”

After the first portion of her “Body Talk” trilogy was released earlier this year, Robyn dropped the sequel in September and it completely blows the original out of the water. Robyn has somehow managed to make club and radio friendly Dance music but layers it with so much heart and intensity that it sounds like a Musical Masterpiece compared to the Ke$ha’s and Willow’s of the Pop world. “Pt. 2” is a little more intense and heavier than “Pt. 1”, songs like “We Dance to the Beat” and “Criminal Intent” have such a hard House sound that’s so enjoyable the scant lyrics are more than appropriate. Than you get the honest and heartfelt lyricism on “Hang with Me” “Love Kills” and the Acoustic “Indestructible”. “Pt. 3” will be sold as a combination of all albums on November 22nd and there’s no doubt that compilation will be better than most albums released this year. Unfortunately not many in America will hear them, and Ke$ha will forever rule the airwaves.

Rating: 4.5 Stars
Best: “Hang with Me“, “Love Kills“, “We Dance to the Beat”

Brandon Flowers “Flamingo”

The solo debut of The Killers’ front man Brandon Flowers came to very little fanfare this October. Maybe because the albums first single “Crossfire” sounded almost exactly like a unreleased cut from the groups last album “Day and Age”. And once you listen further to this album, there’s not much that separates Flowers as The Killers’ lead singer and Flowers as a solo star. The beginning of the album is very lackluster, however towards the middle and to the end he does manage to deliver some outstanding tracks, still very Killers-esque. “Only the Young” the albums second single just sounds like an instant classic, the first single is no slouch either. Most of the last half of the album is enjoyable, though a tad forgettable. Which, unfortunately, is probably what this solo venture will end up being. A forgotten one.

Rating: 3 Stars
Best: “Only the Young“, “Crossfire“, “Jacksonville”

Kings of Leon “Come Around Sundown”

Last year Kings of Leon emerged from the Indie scene and got a big Pop single and a handful of Grammy gold. And the bright side of their 5th album “Come Around Sundown” is the group doesn’t seem to be worried about duplicating their mainstream success. Nothing on the album feels forced, however the overall feeling the albums leaves is pretty boring. The vibe is their original sort of grass roots Rock sound mixed with a lighter feeling. And maybe that lighter feel is my problem, I just don’t feel like they “rocked out” hard enough on this album, even though their first single “Radioactive” and “Pony Up” for instance are pure energetic Rocker romps, the rest of the album is just a little too mellow. Still, the group members are skilled and experienced musicians and lead singer Caleb Followill still has one of the most distinct and powerful voices in the industry. Those two facts alone make the album worthy.

Rating: 3 Stars
Best: “Birthday“, “Radioactive“, “Pony Up”

Danger Mouse & Sparklehorse “Dark Night of the Soul”

Danger Mouse the Go-To Producer for Moody Alternative-Pop is back with probably his moodiest darkest work yet. Teaming up this time with Alternative group Sparklehorse, the album was actually released on the internet last year, however after some legal disputes the album was re-released for retail this Summer. It should be noted that Sparklehorse front man Mark Linkous committed suicide in March of this year so that definitely adds to the eery effect of the album. Another note, always creepy film director David Lynch wrote an accompanying 100 plus page book as visual accompaniment to what is called a “concept album about Spiritual Crisis”. Having not read that book, or even knowing about Linkous, the overall tone of the album is very well felt. With guest artists like Iggy Pop, Suzanne Vega, The Flaming Lips, Gruff Rhys providing very haunting vocals over the very spooky tracks. The songs more or less bleed into each other, with not many standouts, but a great overall feel. (Though Julian Casablancas from The Strokes’ “Little Girl” is easily my favorite).

Rating: 3.5 Stars
Best: “Little Girl“, “The Man Who Played God“, “Star Eyes (I Can Catch It)“,

>Grammy’s 2010, Update

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50 Cent, beyonce, Black Eyed Peas, Brian Eno, Coldplay, Dave Matthews Band, David Byrne, Dr. Dre, Elton John, Eminem, Grammys, Jamie Foxx, Jason Mraz, Jay-Z, Kanye West, Kings of Leon, Lady GaGa, Maxwell, p!nk, Phoenix, pink, rihanna, Taylor Swift, Zac Brown Band

>

Yeah, Yeah, I know.

The Grammy’s were Sunday night and I probably should have written something either Sunday night or Monday, I’ve been kind of busy at work and starting this Spring semester. And on top of that I unfortunately missed a good chunk of the telecast. When I finally actually remembered it was on, Jamie Foxx was performing. Having missed all of my favorite artists performances I watched the rest on Mute.

So what I’ll be doing here is just to Gloat on how close I was with my predictions and just talk about the wins.

First let’s talk about Me, (and by the way, i advertised the Mess out of my Grammy prediction blog on Twitter, and only one comment. I Love comments, so if you happen to be reading my blog now or in the future, don’t be afraid to leave a comment) of the 20 categories I ventured to make predictions on, I got 11 of them correct and only 8 wrong. I got a half point for the biggest surprise of the night Album of the Year, I said Dave Matthews Band “Will Win” (they didn’t) but I said Taylor Swift “Should Win” (she did).

Here’s a quick rundown of the predictions I got right:

New Artist – Zac Brown Band (Only because I don’t see any other act winning)
Female Pop Vocal Performance – Beyoncé “Halo” (A Heartfelt Emotional and Intense vocal on a really popular song)
Male Pop Vocal Performance – Jason Mraz “Make it Mine” (Sometimes Grammy’s give an artist an award one year because they lost the previous year. Mraz should have gotten Grammy gold for his now Record Breaking hit “I’m Yours” but went home empty handed. This award might be his redemption.)
Pop Vocal Album – Black Eyed Peas “The E.N.D.” (this may be their category)
Dance Recording – Lady GaGa “Poker Face” (If she only gets one award on Sunday, this will be it. It has her name written all over it.)

Rock Performance, Duo or Group – Kings of Leon “Use Somebody” (No Brainer. I talked them up for Record of the Year and Song of the Year, so there’s no reason they can’t take this.)
Female R&B Vocal Performance – Beyoncé “Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)” (I don’t think Mrs. Carter has anything to worry about here.)
Male R&B Vocal Performance – Maxwell “Pretty Wings” (Another No Brainer... nobody else even comes close.)
R&B Album – Maxwell “Blacksummers’night” (His first album in 8 years, it debuts at #1 and has a #1 single. No way he won’t win.)
Contemporary R&B Album – Beyoncé “I Am… Sasha Fierce” (Although I consider this album a POP album, this should be the clear winner.)
Rap Album – Eminem “Relapse” (His album was a major disappointment, but in this race he’s the most popular and most successful name. So unfortunately this goes to him.)

and here’s what I got wrong:

Record of the Year – Kings of Leon “Use Somebody”(in my defense: Kings of Leon have a really great shot at winning both of these awards for “Use Somebody”)
Song of the Year – Beyoncé “Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)”
Electronica/Dance Album – Lady GaGa “The Fame” (GaGa is their biggest competition)
Rock Song – Kings of Leon “Use Somebody”
Alternative Album – Phoenix “Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix” (I was so extremely happy to see Phoenix and Yeah Yeah Yeah’s nominated in this category… Although I ranked Phoenix higher)
R&B Song – Beyoncé “Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)”
Rap Solo Performance – Jay-Z “D.O.A. (Death of Auto-Tune)”
Rap Song – Jay-Z “Run This Town” (Note: i picked Jay-Z for “Should Have Won” just the wrong song… I actually have no idea who is the favorite here. I could say Jay-Z cancels himself out, but “Run this Town” was a pretty big hit for him and he’s bound to win at least one award on Sunday)

Although I didn’t have a perfect score, I got more than half of my predictions right (but with a 57.5% average, I most certainly would have failed if this was a test) and I’m totally Not surprised by the actual wins. Well a few. Since I had predicted it, I wasn’t shocked by Taylor Swift’s Album of the Year win. Like I said she’s had a great run this past year, and she’s like America’s Sweetheart of the moment. And in the absence of any real Legendary artists, it was a pretty open race to begin with. I predicted Dave Matthews Band would take that award, but surprisingly enough they lost both of their two nominations for the album.

My predictions for Kings of Leon were pretty spot on though. I actually gave them Song of the Year and not Record of the Year, so I was a little backwards there. They triumphed over Lady GaGa for Record of the Year with “Use Somebody”, but Beyoncé took the Song of the Year prize. That actually surprised me, I honestly didn’t think the songs popularity would translate into a Songwriting award. However, Kings of Leon ended up winning three awards total and I predicted they’d win two of the three.

Jay-Z‘s wins were a little surprising to me. Well not his, Rihanna and Kanye West‘s win for Rap/Sung Collaboration for “Run This Town”, but his dominance in every rap category outside of Album (his “Blueprint3” missed the cut off date for nominations, expect it to be nominated next year). He snatched up Rap Solo Performance and Rap Song from newbies Drake and Kid Cudi, who I predicted would win. For Rap Album, I was actually hoping I wasn’t right but Eminem‘s mediocre album won anyway. (I will say that “Crack a Bottle”, featuring 50 Cent and Dr. Dre, which won for Rap Performance Duo or Group DID deserve the win it got)

I wanted to point out how happy I am that Phoenix won for Alternative Album. I was certain that award would go to Brian Eno and David Byrne because of their legendary status. I feared that Phoenix was still clinging to the “underground” crowd too much for the more mainstream Grammy voters to give them the prize. They managed to scoop up the very deserved trophy though. The only other win that I was really surprised by was the R&B Song race. Beyoncé triumphed over Maxwell in this category, and I personally don’t think it’s right. I said it over and over on the last blog post, “Pretty Wings” was almost the epitome of an R&B song whereas “Single Ladies” was more or less a catchy Club song. And I also disagree with the win for Short Form Video to Black Eyed Peas‘ “Boom Boom Pow”. I bought the video from iTunes, so it is a great video. Not better (in my opinion) than Coldplay‘s weird but hilarious “Life in Technicolor ii”.

So that’s the extent of my complaints about the winners. As I said before, I didn’t actually see the telecast but I did catch a few of the performances on Youtube. I watched Lady GaGa, prior to the ceremony it was announced that her and Elton John would perform together. She opened the show with “Poker Face” and than her and John sat at a double-sided piano, which was adorned with severed limbs, and belted out a mix of GaGa’s “Speechless” and John’s classic “Your Song”. A Good performance, not as groundbreaking or forward thinking as some of her previous outings but still one of the best of the night.

Upon hearing that Beyoncé broke the record for most wins by a female in a single night, I had to go onto her board and Gloat to all the haters. And on the boards people were talking, glowingly, about Pink’s performance. She performed “Glitter in the Air” from her nominated album “Funhouse”. The performance started off simple with her just walking and stripping on the stage, than she attached herself to a massive piece of cloth and started her now too familiar Trapeze act. Sure she did practically the same thing on the 09 VMA’s (and on her tour DVD from 2007), but it was slightly different in that she ended the performance with water dripping off of her. I was personally not impressed.

I also wasn’t very impressed with Beyoncé’s performance of “If I Were a Boy”. She sounded okay, but I just really don’t like the live arrangement of that song with Alanis Morrissette’s hit “You Oughta Know” attached. And the way she changed the lyrics to the first verse made the performance feel like a medley of three songs. Not her best, but still pretty solid I suppose.

And of course as I mentioned before I caught a glimpse of Jamie Foxx. His backing track was at a seriously loud volume to drown out his voice, the only way I could tell he was actually singing was due to some glitch with the sound system where you could faintly hear vocals coming from his mic randomly. He brought a bunch of other people on stage, but I muted his performance almost as soon as I turned it on. There were countless performances, but really GaGa, Beyoncé and Pink were the only ones I even cared to watch.

So until next year!

>Grammy 2010 Predictions!!

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adele, Anthony Hamilton, beyonce, Black Eyed Peas, Brian Eno, Bruce Springsteen, Colbie Caillat, Common, Dave Matthews Band, David Byrne, David Guetta, Drake, Eminem, Flo Rida, FloRida, Grammy Predictions, Grammys, Green Day, Jamie Foxx, Jason Mraz, Jay-Z, John Legend, Katy Perry, Kid Cudi, Kings of Leon, Lady GaGa, Madonna, Maxwell, Melanie Fiona, MGMT, Mos Def, p!nk, Pet Shop Boys, Phoenix, pink, Pleasure P, Q-Tip, QTip, Silversun Pickups, T-Pain, Taylor Swift, The Black Eyed Peas, The Pet Shop Boys, The Ting Tings, The-Dream, thedream, Ting Tings, TPain, Trey Songz, Yeah Yeah Yeah's, Zac Brown Band

>This Sunday, the 52nd Annual Grammy Awards will be telecast via CBS.

The biggest night in music, and as always I’m definitely interested to see who picks up one of those beloved trophies. The nominations came out at the end of 2009, and they were pretty odd. Grammy has steadily been trying to change their image over the past 10 years, so it’s become less about a critical success, or even just honoring established artists. It seems that the Grammy’s are more about who has sold the most and who is more popular overall. Hence the Album of the Year race, which (imo) is one of the weakest in Grammy history. There are also some very odd happenings in the races for Song of the Year, Record of the Year and New Artist. And certain artists seem to be misplaced, for instance Black Eyed Peas nominated for Pop Album and not Dance album. The nominations are very odd, but like I do every year I’m going to try to make sense of all the nominees and make some sound predictions and Hope that I can maintain my near-flawless record.

Album of the Year:

Beyoncé, I Am… Sasha Fierce
Black Eyed Peas, The E.N.D.
Lady GaGa, The Fame
Dave Matthews Band, Big Whiskey and the Groogrux King
Taylor Swift, Fearless

There have been some very questionable Albums up for this award in recent history, but they always lose out to classic artists (Robert Plant and Alison Krauss last year, Herbie Hancock in 2008 and Ray Charles in 2005). This year, the only act you can consider Classic is Dave Matthews Band. And for that reason I think they will win. Though when I look at Metacritic, the album got a really average rating. The album was a #1 hit and managed to sell a million copies, but I’m not quite sure it’s their year. Black Eyed Peas and Lady GaGa are pretty much out of this race, and I would say the same about Beyoncé and Taylor Swift. These four acts and their music are too young and contemporary for older members to vote for them. However both Taylor and Beyoncé have a shot because they are both insanely popular and well-respected in the industry. This is a hard call, but…

Will Win: Dave Matthews Band. Classic and well -respected band. Enough said

Should Win: Taylor Swift. And I’ve not heard this album, but she writes her own songs and was a huge phenomenon this year and she’s only 17. Though what’s going to hurt her most in this category is the fact she’ll most likely sweep all the Country categories she’s up for.

Record of the Year:

Beyoncé, Halo
Black Eyed Peas, I Gotta Feeling
Kings of Leon, Use Somebody
Lady GaGa, Poker Face
Taylor Swift, You Belong with Me

Song of the Year:

Lady GaGa, Poker Face
Maxwell, Pretty Wings
Beyoncé, Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)
Kings of Leon, Use Somebody
Taylor Swift, You Belong with Me

Even though I think it’s one of their worst songs, Kings of Leon have a really great shot at winning both of these awards for “Use Somebody”. They emerged as the Hot Rock Group of the year thanks to their far superior single “Sex of Fire” (and last years Grammy winner for best Rock Vocal, Duo or Group). “Use Somebody” became their first Top 5 US Hit, and completely assaulted Pop radio this summer. I wouldn’t be surprised, and I wouldn’t even mind if they won both of these categories. They’ve been working hard and it took them their fourth album to successfully cross over to the mainstream.

However, “Poker Face” and “Single Ladies” were HUGE this past year. And this is where things get odd. Generally Record of the Year goes to the song that was most popular that year, and Song of the Year goes to the more critically lauded single. “Single Ladies” would have been a natural in the Record of the Year race, but it’s not there and lyrically, I don’t think the song was as critically acclaimed so it will probably lose the Song of the Year race. Which leaves “Poker Face”, nominated in both categories. This addictive hit basically put GaGa on the map, so for that reason I think it has a good shot at Record of the Year.

Record of the Year
Will Win: Lady GaGa. Insanely popular and catchy, a natural for the category.
Should Win: Black Eyed Peas. Guetta’s production and the Peas’ energetic delivery make this song a clear 10.

Song of the Year
Will Win: Kings of Leon. An inspirational A/C leaning Rock Ballad. Total Grammy bait.

Should Win: Maxwell. This is probably the best and most authentic R&B song in a long while, plus Maxwell’s gotta win something this year.

New Artist:

Zac Brown Band
Keri Hilson
MGMT
Silversun Pickups
The Ting Tings

Also very odd. This category is always odd though. Like when Lauryn Hill was nominated and won in 1998, although she had previously won multiple Grammy’s as a member of Fugees. And this year we have Lady GaGa out of the running because she was nominated for a Grammy last year, but MGMT and Ting Tings who released their debuts in 2008 are up for new artists this year. And worst than that Silversun Pickups released their first album 4 years ago. Very Very odd, but I think this race comes down to Silversun Pickups and Zac Brown Band, the two acts I know the least about. I do know that the Zac Brown Band are the only country acts up for the award. In the past 10 years only one country act has won this award (Carrie Underwood in 2007), but this race is so wide open it might go to the most popular act and Zac Brown Band might be that act, with over a million in sales and a #1 Country single.

Will Win: Zac Brown Band. Only because I don’t see any other act winning.

Should Win: MGMT. “Oracular Spectacular” was one of the most talked about and critically acclaimed albums of that year. And more important than that, they brought a fresh new sound more so than anybody else nominated.

Female Pop Vocal Performance:

Adele, Hometown Glory
Beyoncé, Halo
Katy Perry, Hot N Cold
Pink, Sober
Taylor Swift, You Belong with Me

Off the top we can cancel out Katy Perry and Taylor Swift. Their nominated singles are no doubt fun, but not in the same league vocally as the rest. Pink has a good shot, but Beyoncé will probably take this one home.

Will Win: Beyoncé. A Heartfelt Emotional and Intense vocal on a really popular song.
Should Win: Adele. Because this song is one of the best vocal performances of the decade.

Male Pop Vocal Performance:

John Legend, This Time
Maxwell, Love You
Jason Mraz, Make it Mine
Seal, If You Don’t Know Me By Now
Stevie Wonder, All About the Love Again

Will Win: Jason Mraz. Sometimes Grammy’s give an artist an award one year because they lost the previous year. Mraz should have gotten Grammy gold for his now Record Breaking hit “I’m Yours” but went home empty handed. This award might be his redemption.
Should Win: John Legend. Just for an amazing song which is pretty much the definition of this category.

Pop Vocal Album:

Black Eyed Peas, The E.N.D.
Colbie Caillat, Breakthrough
Kelly Clarkson, All I Ever Wanted
The Fray, The Fray
Pink, Funhouse

Will Win: Black Eyed Peas or Colbie Caillat. Even though they were one of the nominee leaders, I don’t see Black Eyed Peas winning a bunch of awards this year. So this may be their category. Although Caillat is becoming a rising star in the pop world, and I wouldn’t be surprised if she pulled the win on this one.
Should Win: Pink. Only because I consider “The E.N.D.” to be more of a Dance album, while “Funhouse” is a really good mix of different Pop sounds.

Dance Recording:

Black Eyed Peas, Boom Boom Pow
David Guetta and Kelly Rowland, When Love Takes Over
Lady GaGa, Poker Face
Madonna, Celebration
Britney Spears, Womanizer

Will Win: Lady GaGa. If she only gets one award on Sunday, this will be it. It has her name written all over it. Her only real competition is the equally successful “Boom Boom Pow”.
Should Win: Madonna. Since “Sexy Bitch” by Guetta and Akon isn’t in the running, this song is the only one with a straight up and genuine Dance sound. And it’s one of her best singles in years.

Electronic/Dance Album:

The Crystal Method, Divided by Night
David Guetta, One Love
Lady GaGa, The Fame
LMFAO, Party Rock
Pet Shop Boys, Yes

Will Win: Pet Shop Boys. Only because they are Classic artists, and classic artists in this specific genre too. GaGa is their biggest competition, but I think they have a really good chance here.
Should Win: David Guetta. For getting some really top name acts, and giving them some real dance music to sing over.

Rock Performance, Duo or Group:

Eric Clapton & Steve Winwood, Can’t Find My Way Home
Coldplay, Life in Technicolor II
Green Day, 21 Guns
Kings of Leon, Use Somebody
U2, I’ll Go Crazy If I Don’t Go Crazy Tonight

Will Win: Kings of Leon. No Brainer. I talked them up for Record of the Year and Song of the Year, so there’s no reason they can’t take this.

Should Win: Green Day. Because I’m not going to give the award to a Live recording (Clapton and Winwood) or a Remix (Coldplay) or a song from an album that completely sucked (U2). And this song is another instant classic like their Record of the Year winning “Boulevard of Broken Dreams”.

Rock Song:

Pearl Jam, The Fixer
U2, I’ll Go Crazy If I Don’t Go Crazy Tonight
Green Day, 21 Guns
Kings of Leon, Use Somebody
Bruce Springsteen, Working on a Dream

Will Win: I would say Kings of Leon, but Bruce Springsteen has won this award Two years in a row (and Four times total) and it looks likely that he’ll win for a third.
Should Win: Green Day. See previous category.

Alternative Album:

David Byrne & Brian Eno, Everything That Happens Will Happen Today
Death Cab for Cutie, The Open Door
Depeche Mode, Sounds of the Universe
Phoenix, Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix
Yeah Yeah Yeahs, It’s Blitz!

I was so extremely happy to see Phoenix and Yeah Yeah Yeah’s nominated in this category. They are two very worthy competitors (and my #3 and #6 Top Albums of 2009), but unfortunately I feel like they are going to lose out.

Will Win: David Byrne & Brian Eno. Simply because they really are the orchestrators of the Alternative (back than No-Wave and New Wave) sound. In fact, I’m 100% sure all of the acts nominated were heavily influenced by either Byrne or Eno at some point in their careers.
Should Win: Yeah Yeah Yeahs. Although I ranked Phoenix higher, I think “It’s Blitz” is closer to the Alternative sound, and the production value is Loud, Punk and Rock but also very polished.

Female R&B Vocal:

Beyoncé, Single Ladies (Put a Ring On It)
Melanie Fiona, It Kills Me
Lalah Hathaway, That Was Then
Ledisi, Goin’ Thru Changes
Jazmine Sullivan, Lions Tigers and Bears

Will Win: No Brainer. Beyoncé. In fact it looks like they nominated lesser known acts and songs just so Beyoncé would have no problem winning this. Slight upset possibility with Melanie Fiona, but I don’t think Mrs. Carter has anything to worry about here.

Should Win: Beyoncé. “Whu-Uh oh, oh oh oh oh oh ooh, oh oh oh, Whu-Uh oh!” how can lyrics that great NOT win? =P

Male R&B Vocal:

Anthony Hamilton, The Point of it All
Maxwell, Pretty Wings
Musiq Soulchild, Sobeautiful
Pleasure P, Under
Charlie Wilson, There Goes My Baby

Will Win: Another No Brainer. Maxwell. And this seems to be the same case with Female R&B Vocal, nobody else even comes close.

Should Win: Maxwell. but Anthony Hamilton’s nominated song is just as flawless as Maxwell’s hit.

R&B Song:

Jamie Foxx, Blame It
Jazmine Sullivan, Lions Tigers and Bears
Maxwell, Pretty Wings
Beyoncé, Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)
Pleasure P, Under

Will Win: Maxwell. Like I said before, this song is Pure and Classic R&B.

Should Win: Maxwell. For the very same reason.

R&B Album:

Anthony Hamilton, The Point of it All
India.Arie, Testimony: Vol. 2 Love & Politics
Ledisi, Turn Me Loose
Maxwell, Blacksummers’night
Charlie Wilson, Uncle Charlie

Will Win: Maxwell. His first album in 8 years, it debuts at #1 and has a #1 single. No way he won’t win.

Should Win: Anthony Hamilton. Maxwell’s album had 8 songs on it, Anthony Hamilton put together a FULL album with very few flaws.

Contemporary R&B Album:

Beyoncé, I Am… Sasha Fierce
Jamie Foxx, Intuition
Pleasure P, The Introduction of Marcus Cooper
Trey Songz, Ready
T-Pain, Thr33 Ringz

Now first I want to get on a little tangent. Where is The-Dream!? And in fact where was he last year when J. Holiday’s inferior album “Back of my ‘Lac” (even the title sucks) was nominated in place of The-Dream’s “Love/Hate”. Can’t cry over spilled milk, but than this year comes along and The-Dream’s “Love vs Money” is excluded, but under performing and nearly forgotten T-Pain and Pleasure P (WHO?) are nominated instead. I don’t understand what they are doing, but it might be similar to the Female R&B Vocal where they are just giving this award away to Beyoncé.

Will Win: Beyoncé. Although I consider this album a POP album, this should be the clear winner.

Should Win: Beyoncé. Sure go ahead and give it to her. The only albums that could upset are Trey Songz and Jamie Foxx, but I doubt many voters would pass her over for these two guys.

Rap Solo Performance:

Drake, Best I Ever Had
Eminem, Beautiful
Jay-Z, D.O.A. (Death of Auto-Tune)
Kid Cudi, Day n Nite
Mos Def, Casa Bey

Will Win: Drake. That was clearly the most popular song of the 5, and the rap categories are always less about the quality and more about who has the most recognizable name and which song was most memorable.

Should Win: Mos Def or Kid Cudi. “Casa Bey” might be too short of a song, but Mos Def’s flow on the song definitely trumps everybody else nominated. Cudi because his hit “Day n Nite” was the most different, it didn’t sound like a typical Hip Hop/Rap song. In fact, Cudi might be next in line to win.

Rap Song:

Drake, Best I Ever Had
Kid Cudi, Day n Nite
T.I., Dead and Gone
Jay-Z, D.O.A. (Death of Auto-Tune)
Jay-Z, Run this Town

Will Win: I actually have no idea who is the favorite here. I could say Jay-Z cancels himself out, but “Run this Town” was a pretty big hit for him and he’s bound to win at least one award on Sunday. Cudi and Drake also have great chances of winning this. I’m gonna just take a wild guess and say Kid Cudi “Day n Nite” will take the prize.

Should Win: Jay-Z, D.O.A. This single marked a true return to form for Jigga. It’s agressive and hectic, and he’s actually saying something worthwhile. However, Cudi also Should win (now that I think of it, why wasn’t he nominated for best New Artist??)

Rap Album:

Common, Universal Mind Control
Eminem, Relapse
Flo Rida, R.O.O.T.S.
Mos Def, The Ecstatic
Q-Tip, The Renaissance

Just like I was very happy to see Phoenix and Yeah Yeah Yeahs up for Alternative Album, I was VERY happy to see Mos Def Q-Tip and Common up in this category. Unfortunately they won’t win. All of those very classic and very original Hip Hop albums didn’t make any noise sales wise, or even singles wise. I just pray that Flo Rida doesn’t come in and get the Popularity vote (I doubt he will, he hasn’t been very relevant since “Right Round” finally fell off the charts after an impressive run.

Will Win: Eminem. His album was a major disappointment, but in this race he’s the most popular and most successful name. So unfortunately this goes to him.

Should Win: Q-Tip. Common and Mos put together some fantastic albums, but Q-Tip is the one that had the clearer message and the most consistent sequencing of material.

Alright that’s it. There’s like, 22 Million categories but these are the ones I feel I’m more qualified to have an opinion on. Looking through the nominations I did see a bunch of stuff I need to actually listen to. Maybe if I can listen to everything by Sunday my predictions may change. I doubt it though, the quality doesn’t really matter at the Grammy’s. And that’s not really a bad thing I suppose, The Grammy’s do mean a lot. They just basically mean your peers respect you, maybe just for one album or just one song, but I’m certain it means a lot to artists who were inspired by Music Legends and their peers. To be inspired by them, and than being awarded by them has to be Awesome.

So watch the Grammy’s on Sunday. Among the performers are Bon Jovi, Maxwell, Pink, Green Day, Lady Antebellum, Beyoncé. Mary J Blige and Andrea Boccelli are going to duet (Whoa!). And the obligatory Michael Jackson tribute performance, which I read somewhere was going to be in 3D (probably a terrible rumor). Most importantly, watch to see how Awesome I am at predicting the winners!