The 54th Grammy Awards are happening this weekend (Feb 12) and given this is the first time I’ve remembered about this event prior to the day of, I thought I’d toss out some predictions.
Of course, this is a fairly futile exercise — and not just because I’m an Australian commenting on a US music industry awards show that I cannot even watch in real time. Every year the Grammy Award winners are notoriously impossible to predict. I lost faith in the Recording Academy’s judgment back in 1992, when they allowed a 20-year old re-recording of Eric Clapton’s “Layla” to beat out Pearl Jam’s “Jeremy” and Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit”. That’s a real thing that happened.
There are 78 categories in this year’s Grammy Awards, but I’m just going to cover a few. Check out the full list of categories and nominees here.
Record Of The Year
Rolling In The Deep – Adele
Holocene – Bon Iver
Grenade – Bruno Mars
The Cave – Mumford & Sons
Firework – Katy Perry
Who will win: Adele. I don’t think I’ve met someone who doesn’t enjoy, or at the very least tolerate, “Rolling In The Deep,” at least until high rotation killed it. I cannot say that about any other song in this category.
Who should win: Anyone but Katy Perry, basically. The only thing that could be worse than “Firework” winning this category is if that song about Barbra Streisand won instead. I do enjoy a few Katy Perry tracks, but “Firework” is not one of them.
Album Of The Year
21 – Adele
Wasting Light – Foo Fighters
Born This Way – Lady Gaga
Doo-Wops & Hooligans – Bruno Mars
Loud – Rihanna
Who will win: Adele. *Spoiler* Adele’s next album will be named 23, after the number of golden gramophones that will be sitting on her bookshelf next week. My first thought re: this category was ‘Loud? Really?’ but then I remembered that it includes that one catchy song that won’t go away. When the world ends there will just be cockroaches and CD singles of “Cheers (Drink To That)”.
Who should win: PJ Harvey for Let England Shake or Bon Iver for Bon Iver. Sadly neither of those artists were nominated, so.
Song Of The Year
All Of The Lights – Kanye West
The Cave – Mumford & Sons
Grenade – Bruno Mars
Rolling In The Deep – Adele
Holocene – Bon Iver
Who will win: Adele or Kanye West, I guess? I’m a little confused over the difference between Record Of The Year and Song Of The Year.
Who should win: Lana Del Rey for “Video Games.” But don’t worry, Lana wasn’t eligible because she is not a real person. Kidding. She wasn’t eligible because she didn’t make the cut-off date. I’m sort of surprised that Nicki Minaj’s “Super Bass” didn’t get a look in. Also, wouldn’t it have been cool if tUnE-yArDs were nominated for “Bizness”?
Best New Artist
The Band Perry
Bon Iver
J Cole
Nicki Minaj
Skrillex
Who will win: Bon Iver told the Grammy organisers to get f*cked and I can’t help feeling like that could perhaps put them at a disadvantage. I think Nicki Minaj or Skrillex will own this one.
Who should win: Bon Iver or Nicki Minaj.
Best Pop Vocal Album
21 – Adele
The Lady Killer – Cee Lo Green
Born This Way – Lady Gaga
Doo-Wops & Hooligans – Bruno Mars
Loud – Rihanna
Who will win: Adele. I guess it’s possible (but not likely) that Lady Gaga might get a look in after last year’s ‘upset’ where The Fame Monster was beaten by Who Are The Arcade Fire. I’m not saying that Academy votes can be influenced by backlash from America’s youth, I’m just saying.
Who should win: Adele or Cee Lo Green.
Best Dance Album
Zonoscope – Cut/Copy
4×4=12 – Deadmau5
Nothing But The Beat – David Guetta
Body Talk, Pt. 3 – Robyn
Scary Monsters And Nice Sprites – Skrillex
Who will win: If Robyn doesn’t win this category then I’m quitting music. In fact I’ve already signed up for unemployment benefits because I’m feeling confident that Skrillex will take this one.
Who should win: Robyn.
Best Rap Album
Watch The Throne – Jay-Z & Kanye West
Tha Carter IV – Lil Wayne
Lasers – Lupe Fiasco
Pink Friday – Nicki Minaj
My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy – Kanye West
Who will win: Jay-Z and Kanye West.
Who should win: Kanye West for either of his albums. Love him or hate him, the guy had a really good year. Truth is I wouldn’t really be upset if any of these nominees won.
Best Rock Album
Rock ‘N’ Roll Party Honoring Les Paul – Jeff Beck
Wasting Light – Foo Fighters
Come Around Sundown – Kings Of Leon
I’m With You – Red Hot Chili Peppers
The Whole Love – Wilco
Who will win: The Foo Fighters. I haven’t actually heard their album but I’m gonna take a shot in the dark and assume that it sounds exactly the same as all of their other Grammy Award-winning albums.
Who should win: Of the artists who were nominated, Jeff Beck. Of the artists who should have been nominated, PJ Harvey for Let England Shake.
Best Alternative Music Album
Bon Iver – Bon Iver
Codes And Keys – Death Cab For Cutie
Torches – Foster The People
Circuital – My Morning Jacket
The King Of Limbs – Radiohead
Who will win: I think this category offers Bon Iver their best shot of taking home some gramo gold. All of the other albums are decent but they’re not Bon Iver decent.
Who should win: Bon Iver.
Agree? Disagree? Don’t really care? Leave your own predictions in the comments section.
