Grammy predictions: Who will win, who should win, who got shafted
You want “artistic excellence?” Though that’s what the Grammy Awards vow to recognize each year, you may not necessarily get it when you tune in to the 52nd annual ceremony at 7 p.m. CST Jan. 31 on CBS-TV. For every deserving winner in recent years (hard to argue with last year’s album-of-the-year winners, Robert Plant and Alison Krauss), there are a half-dozen blunders (my all-time favorite is the New Vaudeville Band’s “Winchester Cathedral” topping the Beatles’ “Eleanor Rigby” and the Beach Boys’ “Good Vibrations” in 1966 for best rock recording). Below, we play the perilous game of predicting how the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences will vote, and point out the artistic excellence they overlooked (remember, only recordings released between Oct. 1, 2008, and Aug. 31, 2009 are eligible).
Who should win: Lady Gaga, “The Fame”
Who got shafted: Kanye West, “808’s and Heartbreak”
Record of the Year
(Award to the artist and the producer, recording engineer and-or mixer)
Nominees: Beyonce, “Halo”; Black Eyed Peas, “I Got a Feeling”; Kings of Leon, “Use Somebody”; Taylor Swift, “You Belong With Me”; Lady Gaga, “Poker Face.”
Who will win: Taylor Swift “You Belong to Me”
Who should win: Lady Gaga “Poker Face”
Who got shafted: Phoenix, “Lisztomania”
Album of the Year
Nominees: Beyonce, “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.”
Who will win: Beyonce, “I Am … Sasha Fierce”Who should win: Lady Gaga, “The Fame”
Who got shafted: Kanye West, “808’s and Heartbreak”
Record of the Year
(Award to the artist and the producer, recording engineer and-or mixer)
Nominees: Beyonce, “Halo”; Black Eyed Peas, “I Got a Feeling”; Kings of Leon, “Use Somebody”; Taylor Swift, “You Belong With Me”; Lady Gaga, “Poker Face.”
Who will win: Taylor Swift “You Belong to Me”
Who should win: Lady Gaga “Poker Face”
Who got shafted: Phoenix, “Lisztomania”
Song of the Year
(A songwriters award)Nominees: Lady Gaga, “Poker Face”; Maxwell, “Pretty Wings”; Beyonce, “Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)”; Kings of Leon, “Use Somebody”; Taylor Swift, “You Belong With Me.”
Who will win: Beyonce “Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)”
Who should win: Maxwell “Pretty Wings”
Who got shafted: Neko Case, "People Got a Lotta Nerve"
Best New Artist
(For an artist who releases the first recording that establishes the artist's public identity)
Nominees:
Zac Brown Band, Keri Hilson, MGMT, Silversun Pickups, The Ting Tings
Who will win: Keri Hilson
Who should win: The Ting Tings
Who got shafted: The XX
Best Pop Vocal Album
Nominees:
Black Eyed Peas, “The E.N.D.”; Colbie Caillat, “Breakthrough”; Kelly Clarkson, “All I Ever Wanted”; the Fray, “The Fray”; Pink, “Funhouse.”
Who will win: Black Eyed Peas “The E.N.D.”
Who should win: Pink “Funhouse”
Who got shafted: Lady Gaga “The Fame”
Best Rock Album
Nominees: AC-DC, “Black Ice”; Eric Clapton and Steve Winwood, “Live from Madison Square Garden”; Green Day, “21st Century Breakdown”; Dave Matthews Band, “Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King”; U2, “No Line on the Horizon.”
Who will win: U2 “No Line on the Horizon”
Who should win: AC-DC “Black Ice”
Who got shafted: Them Crooked Vultures “Them Crooked Vultures”
Best R&B; Album
Nominees: Anthony Hamilton, “The Point of it All”; Maxwell, “BLACKsummers’night”; India.Aria, “Testimony: Volume 2, Love & Politics”; Ledisi, “Turn Me Loose”; Charlie Wilson, “Uncle Charlie.”Who will win: Maxwell “BLACKsummers’night”
Who should win: Maxwell “BLACKsummers’night”
Who got shafted: The Dream “Love Vs. Money”
Best Rap Album
Nominees: Common “Universal Mind Control”; Eminem “Relapse”; Flo Rida “R.O.O.T.S.”; Mos Def “The Ecstatic”; Q-Tip, “The Renaissance.”
Who will win: Eminem “Relapse”
Who should win: Q-Tip, “The Renaissance”
Who got shafted: Kid Cudi “Man on the Moon: The End of Day”
Best Country Album
Nominees: Zac Brown Band, “The Foundation”; George Strait, “Twang”; Taylor Swift, “Fearless”; Keith Urban, “Defying Gravity”; Lee Ann Womack, “Call Me Crazy,”
Who will win: Taylor Swift “Fearless”
Who should win: Keith Urban “Defying Gravity”
Who got shafted: Brad Paisley “American Saturday Night”
Best Alternative Music Album
Nominees: David Byrne and 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!”
Who will win: Phoenix “Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix”
Who should win: Phoenix “Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix”
Who got shafted: St. Vincent “Actor”
greg@gregkot.com
gaga got shafted in best new artist.
Posted by: yoyo | January 20, 2010 at 11:06 PM
You sound like a hater. Fearless was a great CD.
Posted by: Alice | January 20, 2010 at 11:11 PM
Hope you are wrong, and GaGa doesn't get shafted like this. She also, clearly, deserves a Best New Artist nom AND win, but wasn't eligible because "Just Dance" had been nominated in the Dance category last year. Sad. Next year she won't be a "new artist." But perhaps she'll win it anyway; she going to keep cranking out the hits.
Posted by: Little Monster | January 21, 2010 at 04:20 AM
Lets just hope that this prediction is wrong. I can't see Beyonce winning album of the year when Lady GaGa's cd was clearly more creative, much more commercially successful, although Sasha Fierce came out before GaGa's cd pulled up steam. But it's all about whose paying who, and since Jay-Z has people and Matthew Knowles has people this may be the case that she win. Unless, there is an upset like the MTV awards, and Lady GaGa gets her just due. She is much more diverse and talented than Beyonce. That knockoff cd Beyonce put out was nothing more than a bunch of crap thrown on a cd and distributed.
Posted by: troy | January 21, 2010 at 06:29 AM
I agree with your country posting except I believe "The Foundation" should win. "Defying Gravity" is just pop fair.
Posted by: Robin | January 21, 2010 at 09:23 AM
Not sure "Empire State of Mind" is even eligible this year. I think it's release date was past the cut-off.
Greg replies: Yes, it was too late. I changed the entry.
Posted by: Damian | January 21, 2010 at 09:31 AM
what are you smokin kid?
Posted by: Mike | January 21, 2010 at 11:31 AM
Disagree with Best Country Album. Should go to George Strait for Twang--neither Taylor nor Keith are true country.
Posted by: maureen | January 21, 2010 at 11:40 AM
Beyonce deserves Album,Song and Record of the year more than Lady Gaga..I love them both equally but Beyonce is better in everyway.Besides, her Album was more successful worldwide than Gaga's.
Posted by: WUSN | January 21, 2010 at 12:46 PM
Given the history of the Best Alternative award never going to the coolest artists, I'm pretty skeptical about your pick for Phoenix. But I hope you're right.
Posted by: Andy Mitchell | January 21, 2010 at 12:48 PM
I think Beyonce deserves song of the year and record of the year. I think Lady GaGa Deserves ALbum of the Year.
Posted by: Eddie | January 21, 2010 at 05:03 PM
yes, AC/DC should win best rock album, by a landslide!
Posted by: BV | January 21, 2010 at 05:36 PM
I like your AC/DC pick, too, and agree that Neko Case got shafted.
Who cares, though, right? It's the Grammys.
Posted by: ChicagoConcertgoers.com | January 22, 2010 at 01:24 AM
You're just a [expletive] who love slutty bitch Gaga!!!!!
You can't see the talents like Taylor or Kings of Leon or Beyonce.
What a moron!!!!!
Posted by: talent lover | January 22, 2010 at 03:31 AM
Who should win Pop VOCAL album- Kelly Clarkson "All I Ever Wanted"....I mean...if they follow the title and vote on VOCAL....it'd be between KC and Pink.
Posted by: Sarah | January 22, 2010 at 08:29 AM
I think Kelly Clarkson's All I Ever Wanted should win the Best Pop Vocal Album category.
Posted by: Annelise | January 23, 2010 at 12:21 PM
Double Oscar winner A R Rahman is nomined for 2 Grammey awards for his work in Slumdog Millionaire should def win especially after his music in Couple's Retreat was wonderful.
Posted by: Sheetal | January 23, 2010 at 04:50 PM
kid cudi's man on the moon isnt eligible. september 1 is the deadline, man on the moon was released on the 15th. im sure its gonna get a nod next year along with drake's album
Posted by: jerel | January 24, 2010 at 04:57 AM
Jeff Beck totally deserves the Grammy for Best Rock Instrumental performance. His all guitar rendition of the Beatles' "A Day In The Life" is stunningly brilliant !
Posted by: Brien Comerford | January 24, 2010 at 01:49 PM
Eminem clearly deserves the award..its sad some people dont realize about integrity of the mind of a drug addicts point of view that eminem has tried to put forward in Relapse....Relapse 2 is THE commercial album that you all wanted it to be
Posted by: ASID | January 25, 2010 at 07:50 AM
I just hope and pray Taylor doesn't win Female Country Vocalist of the year. That girl cannot sing live or in tune half the time. The other 4 definitely can. Country fans do not want the shocker that came when she won CMA Female vocalist. I'm hoping the Grammy's have more sense!
Posted by: Vicki | January 25, 2010 at 04:30 PM
Honestly Depeche Mode should win the Alternative award; but as always they are ahead of their time.
Posted by: Hec | January 26, 2010 at 03:04 PM
Kelly Clarkson should win for pop vocal album. Her album shows that she can sing any genre... unheard of from almost every other artist out right now. I mean who can sing country one minute, pop the next, then punk? She's a mad woman.. love her for that!
Posted by: Brenda | January 26, 2010 at 03:24 PM
all of yall wrong i dont know why but beyonce is the bestest well actually nicki minaj is th bestest! lol
Posted by: sally | January 26, 2010 at 03:56 PM
All I know is beyonce deserves two out of the three major categories, I don't give a damn who wins the last one!!!
Posted by: puunky | January 27, 2010 at 10:08 AM