53rd Annual Grammy Predictions

The nominees are here. These are just my predictions. If I don’t choose your faves, get a life. 

Record of the Year: B.o.B. featuring Bruno Mars, “Nothing On You”, Eminem featuring Rihanna, “Love The Way You Lie”, Cee-lo Green, “Fuck You”, Jay-Z & Alicia Keys, “Empire State of Mind”; Lady Antebellum, “Need You Now” - There’s no denying that all of these songs were big hits but “Need You Now” was definitely THE biggest. Plus the Grammy’s love Lady A.

Album of the Year: Eminem - Recovery, Arcade Fire - The Suburbs, Lady Antebellum - Need You Now, Katy Perry - Teenage Dream, Lady Gaga - The Fame Monster - I’m a bigger fan of Gaga but she’s not going to get this one. Katy has NO chance in Hell. Eminem and Lady A’s records were huge so this is basically a coin toss; one of them has it in the bag. I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s given to the unknown Arcade Fire just as Herbie Hancock was given the award.

Song of the Year: Ray LaMontagne, songwriter (Ray LaMontagne And The Pariah Dogs) - “Beg, Steal or Borrow”; Cee Lo Green, Philip Lawrence & Bruno Mars, songwriters (Cee Lo Green) - “Fuck You”; Tom Douglas & Allen Shamblin, songwriters (Miranda Lambert) - “The House That Built Me”; Alexander Grant, Holly Hafferman & Marshall Mathers, songwriters (Eminem Featuring Rihanna) - “Love The Way You Lie”; Dave Haywood, Josh Kear, Charles Kelley & Hillary Scott, songwriters (Lady Antebellum) - “Need You Now” -There’s no denying this one.

Best New Artist: Justin Bieber, Drake, Florence & The Machines, Mumford and Sons, Esperanza Spalding - Honestly, anybody but Justin(a) or Drake.

Best Female Pop Vocal Performance: Sara Bareilles, “King of Anything”; Beyonce, “Halo (Live from I Am…Yours An Intimate Performance at Wynn Las Vegas)”; Norah Jones, “Chasing Pirates”; Lady Gaga, “Bad Romance”; Katy Perry, “Teenage Dream” - I won’t even start with the Beyonce nomination. Straight to the point: it’s Lady Gaga or Norah Jones (another Grammy darling).

Best Male Pop Vocal Performance: Michael Jackson, “This Is It”; Bruno Mars, “Just The Way You Are”; Michael Buble, “Haven’t Met You Yet”; Adam Lambert, “Whataya Want From Me”; John Mayer, “Half of My Heart” - Definitely one of the toughest categories, I’m just going out on a limb and say Bruno Mars will take this one. Don’t quote me on this one, though. Either guy could win.

Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals: Glee Cast, “Don’t Stop Believin’ (Regionals Version)”; Maroon 5, “Misery”; Paramore, “The Only Exception”; Sade, “BabyFather”; Train, “Hey, Soul Sister (Live)” - If this was 10 years ago when the Grammy’s still had substance and serious credibility, Sade would take this home. But it’s 10 years later, and I’m going with Paramore. Still, a tough one.

Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals: B.o.B featuring Hayley Williams and Eminem, “Airplanes Pt. II”; Herbie Hancock featuring P!NK, 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 featuring Snoop Dogg, “California Gurls” - This is a toss-up between Katy, Gaga and B.o.B. The other two doesn’t exactly scream “pop”. If fans were voting, Katy would win. But they’re not so BeyGaga has this one.

Best 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 -SuBo. Nuff said. And I don’t even like her.

Best Female R&B Vocal Performance: Faith Evans, “Gone Already”; Fantasia, “Bittersweet”;Monica, “Everything To Me”; Kelly Price, “Tired”; Jazmine Sullivan, “Holding You Down (Going In Circles)” - If the Grammy’s were true to the vocal performances then, hands down, Kelly would just pick up her award without needing the winner announced. But the Grammy’s are more-so about popularity these days. It’s a battle between Mo and Fanny but Miss Thang will most likely take this one. One of the biggest songs, most added and 7 weeks at number one…what more do you need? Some SERIOUS sangin’-your-ass-off, of course.

Best Male R&B Vocal Performance: El DeBarge, “Second Chance”; Jaheim, “Finding My Way Back”; Kem, “Why Would You Stay?”; Kirk Whalum & Musiq Soulchild, “We’re Still Friends”; Usher, “There Goes My Baby” - The Grammy’s love a comeback but not so much, according to the Whitney Houston snub fiasco. So El, no. This goes to Usher. C’mon son, it was another huge song.

Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group: Chuck Brown, Jill Scott & Marcus Miller, “Love”; Chris Brown & Tank, “Take My Time”; Ron Isley & Aretha Franklin, “You’ve Got A Friend”; John Legend & The Roots, “Shine”; Sade, “Soldier of Love” - Tough one. Hmm, Ron and ReeRee, John and the Roots or Sade gets this one. My money…Sade.

Best Traditional R&B Vocal Performance: R. Kelly, “When A Woman Loves”, John Legend & The Roots, “Hang On In There”, Calvin Richardson, “You’re So Amazing”; Ryan Shaw, “In Between”; Betty Wright, “Go (Live)” - Kellz. I mean, have you HEARD the song? Trey Songz who?

Best Urban/Alternative Performance: Bilal, “Little One”; Cee-lo Green, “Fuck You”; Carolyn Malachi, “Orion”; Janelle Monae featuring Big Boi, “Tightrope”; Eric Roberson, “Still” - Cee-lo or Janelle. “Fuck You” was just genius.

Best R&B Song: Charles Harmon & Claude Kelly, songwriters (Fantasia), “Bittersweet”; Ivan “Orthodox” Barias, Curt Chambers, Carvin “Ransum” Haggins, Jaheim Hoagland & Miquel Jontel, songwriters (Jaheim), “Finding My Way Back”; E. Debarge & Mischke, songwriters (El DeBarge), “Second Chance”; John Stephens, songwriter (John Legend & The Roots), “Shine”; K. Owens, songwriter (Kem), “Why Would You Stay” - Monica, Kelly Price, Alicia Keys, Sade, R. Kelly and Usher were snubbed in this category. The only one deserving of this nomination is Fantasia, so she gets it.

Best R&B Album:  Raheem DeVaughn, The Love & War Masterpeace; Fantasia, Back To Me; Jaheim, Another Round; John Legend & The Roots, Wake Up!; Monica, Still Standing - Mo or Fanny gets this. Two of the best R&B albums released this year. By the way, where’s Alicia.

Best Contemporary R&B Album: Chris Brown, Graffiti; R. Kelly, Untitled; Ryan Leslie, Transition; Janelle Monae, The ArchAndroid; Usher, Raymond v. Raymond - My vote would go for Janelle. But this is the Grammy’s. Chris or Usher? Chris would be a pity win, though I liked his album. So…it’s Usher. Alicia’s missing again.

Best Rap Solo Performance: Drake, “Over”; Eminem, “Not Afraid”; Ludacris, “How Low”; T.I., “I’m Back”; Kanye West, “Power” - Too easy. Eminem. He’s a Grammy favorite. Yeezy is a close 2nd.

Best Rap Performance by a Duo/Group: Big Boi & Cutty, “Shutterbugg”; 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” - It’s either Jay and Swizz or Luda and Nicki. Whether Nicki wins or loses, stan wars volume 75498…

Best Rap/Sung Collaboration: B.o.B. & Bruno Mars, “Nothing 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” - Eminem’s a Grammy favorite, so in this order: Love the Way You Lie, Deuces, Nothing on You.

Best Rap Song: Shawn Carter, Angela Hunte, Burt Keyes, Alicia Keys, Jane’t “Jnay” Sewell-Ulepic & Alexander Shuckburgh, songwriters (Sylvia Robinson, songwriter) (Jay-Z & Alicia Keys) - “Empire State of Mind”; Alexander Grant, Holly Hafferman & Marshall Mathers, songwriters (Eminem & Rihanna) - “Love The Way You Lie”; M. Burnett, J. Evans, Marshall Mathers, L. Resto & M. Samuels, songwriters (Eminem) - “Not Afraid”; Philip Lawrence, Ari Levine, Bruno Mars & Bobby Simmons Jr., songwriters (B.o.B & Bruno Mars) - “Nothing On You”; Shawn Carter, J. Chaton & K. Dean, songwriters (G. Auge & X. De Rosnay, songwriters) (Jay-Z & Swizz Beatz) - “On To The Next One” - Wow. Jay-Z and Eminem are nominated twice here. B.o.B. has no chance. If Jay wins, it should be “Empire State of Mind”. If Em wins, it’s “Not Afraid”.

Best 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. That’s a given.

The thing called the Grammys....

Last night was the biggest night for music. It was also the biggest joke. You didn't need to watch it to know that as evident by the fact that a certain southern bouncy bottom belle had ten nominations and a certain small town country prom queen (is she still like 16) had 8. Plus, stan drama: a certain group of stans were hating very hard on that country prom queen. Then again, they hate anyone they see as a threat. Can you say, dee-lusional?

Let's start with The Performances:
Lady Gaga opened the show. With her, you never know what to expect. She began showstopping performance with her super number one hit, "Poker Face", and concluded by joining a sparkly rhinestoned Elton John at a pair of conjoined pianos for her song "Speechless" and his song "Your Song". It set the tone for the Grammy telecast and I couldn't wait to see who could top her. I love this chick. A+
Beyonce did as I expected. She started off big with a SWAT/military drill team, paraded down the aisles to the stage, and stood in place to kick off her seeming-to-be big show. Did she follow through? Hell no! She performed her boring hit song "If I Were A Boy", a song I hate. She sang, screamed, sashayed, FELL. She even covered Alanis Morisette's "You Oughta Know". *Cringe* Of course, the S.T.A.N.S. love their GAWDESS and gave her WAAAY too much praise. A crotch grab would have made this more interesting. C-
P!NK - what else can I say? Quietly walking out while singing the song "Glitter in the Air", I almost wasn't going to like the boring stand-there-and-sing. It just wasn't her. Then she stripped from the rob and started flying, flipping, spinning and showering. It was like watching the Cirque du Soleil. Ah-mazing! Third best of the night. A
Black Eyed Peas performed their new single, "Imma Be" - which, by the way, goes the fuck AWF! - and their number one hit, "I Gotta Feeling", another song that goes the fuck AWF! B
Jamie Foxx featuring T-Pain, George Clinton and Doug E. Fresh - "Blame It"...#EpicFAIL!!! It was like the BET Awards. I felt offended. WTF was that shit? And I'm not going to touch the subject of his sister who happens to be mentally challenged. The people on Twitter were so wrong for calling that girl "Precious". Not funny at all. Positive: Slash is a BEAST on the guitar. F-
Andrea Bocelli - A+ for SANGIN' "Bridge Over Troubled Water" during Haiti tribute. Mary J. Blige - D- for SCREAMIN' "Bridge Over Troubled Water" during Haiti tribute.
Drake, Lil Wayne and Eminem were bleeped during their entire performance. Literally, the ENTIRE damn performance. Is it that serious, FCC? What was the purpose of the Grammy's having them on the stage then? Positive: Travis Barker is a BEAST on those drums. I can't even grade them.
The Michael Jackson Tribute: The song - "Earth Song", my most favorite MJ tune. The performers - Celine Dion, Jennifer Hudson and Carrie Underwood all KILLED IT, Smokie Robinson was nice and Usher failed. The over-hyped 3D? #Fail. Prince Michael and Paris accepting the Grammy honor for their dad, the King? #Priceless. Best of the night. A

Some of The Winners:
Record of the Year: "Use Somebody" by Kings of Leon. (Well deserved. Beats out "Halo" by Bouncy, "I Gotta Feeling" by Black Eyed Peas, "Poker Face" by Lady Gaga and "You Belong With Me" by Taylor Swift.)
Album of the Year: "Fearless" by Taylor Swift. (Lady Gaga's "The Fame" was robbed. Oh well, better her than Beyonce. #EpicFail)
Song of the Year: "Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It)" by Beyonce. (This is a songwriters award. Maxwell's "Pretty Wings" or Kings of Leon's "Use Somebody" should have been the winner. #Fail)
Best New Artist: Zac Brown Band. (Condolences to Keri Flopson.)
Pop Vocals Female: "Halo" by Beyonce. (I'll settle for this one even if I preferred P!NK's "Sober".)
Pop Vocals Duo/Group: "I Gotta Feeling" by Black Eyed Peas.
Pop Vocal Album: "The E.N.D." by Black Eyed Peas.
Dance Recording: "Poker Face" by Lady Gaga.
Electronic/Dance Album: "The Fame" by Lady Gaga.
Rock Vocals Duo/Group: "Use Somebody" by Kings of Leon.
Rock Song: "Use Somebody" by Kings of Leon.
Rock Album: "21st Century Breakdown" by Green Day.
R&B Vocals Female: "Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It)" by Beyonce. (This is NOT R&B nor is it any impressive vocal performance. Melanie, Jazmine or Lalah should have taken this home.)
R&B Vocals Male: "Pretty Wings" by Maxwell. (The way it should be.)
R&B Vocals Duo/Group: "Blame It" by Jamie Foxx featuring T-Pain. (Eh. It was more popular than the others but the others were better quality.)
R&B Vocals Traditional: "At Last" by Beyonce. (Another one Bouncy shouldn't have won. Anthony Hamilton, Ann Nesby, Calvin Richardson <---- Any one of them would have been the better winner.)
R&B Song: "Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It)" by Beyonce. (I'd be okay with this if it was about popularity and sales. However, it's a SONGWRITERS award. To me, this award is about the lyrical content and quality of the song. "Single Ladies" seems like it was written by a bunch of 5th graders. "Pretty Wings" by Maxwell or "Lions, Tigers and Bears" by Jazmine Sullivan should have taken this one. Plus, I consider "Single Ladies" a Pop song, not R&B.)
R&B Album: "BLACKsummer'snight" by Maxwell. (Well deserved.)
R&B Album Contemporary: "I Am...Sasha Fierce" by Beyonce. (Trey Songz's "Ready" was more deserving than this horrible mess. Hell, Whitney Houston's "I Look To You" should have been nominated and taken this one.)
Rap Solo: "D.O.A. (Death of Autotune)" by Jay-Z. (Either this or Kid Cudi's "Day N Nite".)
Rap Group/Duo: "Crack A Bottle" by Eminem, 50 Cent and Dr. Dre. (Eh. I'd have gone with "Amazing" by Kanye West and Young Jeezy.)
Rap/Sung Collaboration: "Run This Town" by Jay-Z, Rihanna and Kanye West. (Kinda tough category. "Knock You Down" by Keri Hilson, Kanye West and Ne-Yo was my joint, and so was "Dead and Gone" by T.I. and Justin Timberlake.)
Rap Song: "Run This Town" by Jay-Z, Rihanna and Kanye West. (Again, another tough one. Kid Cudi's "Day N Night", T.I. and Justin Timberlake's "Dead and Gone", and Jay-Z's "D.O.A. (Death of Autotune)".)
Rap Album: "Relapse" by Eminem. (I never heard this but I would have given this to Common for "Universal Mind Control or Q-Tip for "The Renaissance".)
Gospel Song: "God In Me" by Mary Mary.

Bouncy should NOT have 16 Grammy's. Half, maybe. But 16? Hell no. Aretha has 19. Quincy Jones has 27. Michael Jackson, 14. Whitney, 6. Celine, 5. You see where I'm going with this?

And now...the Fashion:

 

Bey finally gave me a Red Carpet look I like. Best Dressed Winner. Then she performed:
 

The lackluster performance was done in a dress that Rihanna modeled in Vogue a few months ago.
 

...then this travesty. Are those chains?

 

Rihanna doing what she does best...owning it!
 

Lady Gaga be doing the most...
 

And I love it!
 

J.Hud looks nice. She better WERQ that new weight loss!

Melanie is a pretty girl but the bottom of that dress is like a bean bag.
 

Yep, Rihanna's big twin sister is MJB.

 

P!nk looks great. The dress has scales, kinda like a mermaid.
 

Then comes Ciara. More like C-Error. A mess!
 

And Britney just HAD to upstage her. A hot ass mess is an understatement. SMH!