Thursday, December 1, 2011

2012 Grammy Winner Predictions

If you happened to catch the Grammy Nominations Concert last night, there were many great performances--well, all except Rihanna, of course.

Lady Gaga opened the show with another freakish, but yet, intriguing performance--this time her new single, "Marry the Night." She also closed the show with an effortless performance of "You and I," accompanied by country group Sugarland, and, well....it actually worked well. There's a reason for the past three years Gaga has received a Grammy nomination for Album of the Year. Maybe this time she'll actually win. Although, Adele will be tough to beat.

Rihanna's lip synced performance of "We Found Love" was pre-taped from a show during her tour in London. I don't know what's worse: Disgracing the Grammys or cheating thousands of fans that paid hundreds to see a live concert. It's a double whammy for Rihanna, as she consistently sings terrible or doesn't sing at all (More often doesn't sing at all). Have we really gotten to the point where the most respected music awards show turns a blind eye to artists that lip sync? Rihanna received four nominations for next year, including *sigh* Album of the Year.


The reason a Grammy award is considered much more credible than all other music awards is because both the nominations and winners are determined by music professionals in an elite committee called the National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences (NARAS).

Many music award shows, such as the VMAs and American Music Awards, determine winners based on the highest amount of online fan votes. Yes, that means any moron with a computer, bias opinion and no knowledge of music can contribute to the fate of all artists nominated.

Anyway, here are some of my predictions for who will win next year:

Record of the Year: Rolling In The Deep (Adele),  Holocene (Bon Iver), Grenade (Bruno Mars), The Cave (Mumford & Sons), Firework (Katy Perry)

Album of the Year: 21 (Adele), Wasting Light (Foo Fighters), Born This Way (Lady Gaga), Doo-Wops & Hooligans (Bruno Mars), Loud (Rihanna)

Song of the Year: All of the Lights, (Jeff Bhasker, Fergie, Malik Jones, Warren Trotter & Kanye West, songwriters; performed by Kanye West, Rihanna, Kid Cudi & Fergie); The Cave (Ted Dwane, Ben Lovett, Marcus Mumford & Country Winston, songwriters; performed by Mumford & Sons); Grenade (Brody Brown, Claude Kelly, Philip Lawrence, Ari Levine, Bruno Mars & Andrew Wyatt, songwriters; performed by Bruno Mars); Holocene (Justin Vernon, songwriter; performed by Bon Iver); Rolling In The Deep (Adele Adkins & Paul Epworth, songwriters; performed by Adele)

Best New Artist: The Band Perry, Bon Iver, J. Cole, Nicki Minaj, Skrillex

Best Pop Solo Performance: Someone Like You (Adele), You and I (Lady Gaga), Grenade (Bruno Mars), Firework (Katy Perry), F***in' Perfect (Pink)

Best Pop Duo/Group Performance: Body And Soul (Tony Bennett & Amy Winehouse), Dearest (The Black Keys), Paradise (Coldplay), Pumped Up Kicks (Foster the People), Moves Like Jagger (Maroon 5 & Christina Aguilera)

Best Pop Vocal Album: 21 (Adele), The Lady Killer (Cee Lo Green), Born This Way (Lady Gaga), Doo-Wops & Hooligans (Bruno Mars), Loud (Rihanna)

Best Rock Song: The Cave (Ted Dwane, Ben Lovett, Marcus Mumford & Country Winston, songwriters; performed by Mumford & Sons); Down By The Water (Colin Meloy, songwriter; performed by The Decemberists), Every Teardrop Is A Waterfall (Guy Berryman, Jonny Buckland, Will Champion & Chris Martin, songwriters; performed by Coldplay), Lotus Flower (Colin Greenwood, Jonny Greenwood, Ed O'Brien, Phil Selway & Thom Yorke, songwriters; performed by Radiohead), Walk (Foo Fighters, songwriters; performed by Foo Fighters)

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 Live (Wilco)
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)

Best Country Album: My Kinda Party (Jason Aldean), Chief (Eric Church), Own The Night (Lady Antebellum), Red River Blue (Blake Shelton), Here For A Good Time (George Strait), Speak Now (Taylor Swift)