Music
Grammy Predictions: Who Will Win Music’s Highest Honor?
By LaDale Anderson
Feb 12, 2012 - 10:00:07 AM

HOLLYWOOD—In the music industry, winning a Grammy is equivalent to winning an Oscar in the film industry. The 54th Grammy Awards will be held this Sunday and inquisitive minds are already speculating as to who will be the night’s biggest winner. If there is one name spectators should remember, it is Adele. The British singing sensation will indeed clean-up at the ceremony, but how many trophies she walks home with is up for debate. Below are my predictions as to who will walk away with the prize in some of the night’s most competitive categories.

Adele is nominated for six Grammy Awards including Album of the Year.

 

Album of the Year:

This is always the one category that has minds swimming year after year.  Foo Fighters are once again nominated in this category for their album “Wasting Light.” The fact that they failed to pick up nominations for Record or Song of the Year decreases their chances of winning. The same could be said for Lady Gaga's “Born this Way” and Rihanna's “Loud”; while both albums were commercial successes, they weren’t critically well received by consumers. This is a two-way race between breakouts Adele's “21” and Bruno Mars's “Doo-Wops and Hooligans.” Adele will likely walk away with the prize, as her album was not only a critical and commercial success, but it dominated the airwaves in 2011 and continues to do so in 2012.

Record of the Year:

This category brings much excitement to my ears as music that dominates the airwaves gets the opportunity to shine. Two nominees in the category are relative unknowns: Mumford & Sons for “The Cave” and Bon Iver for “Holocene.” The Recording Academy loves to pay tribute to records that are not commercial successes so it wouldn’t surprise me if either nominee were to win, but I think there are bigger powerhouses more deserving.   Bruno Mars’s “Grenade” is great pop fare, but he will not be able to compete against Katy Perry for “Firework” and Adele for “Rolling in the Deep.” Perry had the best 2011 for any musical artist, with five number one hits and she deserves the award, but the industry will not overlook the appeal of Adele’s unforgettable break-up song. Almost every movie and TV show featured the song at some point last year. So it is Adele who will capture the win.

Song of the Year:

My argument with this category is that similar nominees also appear in the Record of the Year category. It would be a welcome change to have different nominees for both categories to broaden the range of competitors as the award is given to songwriters and not performers. While “Holecene,” “Grenade” and “The Cave” are all incredible songs, this race comes down to two musical prodigies: Adele and Kanye West. “Rolling in the Deep” has incredibly powerful lyrics and was the top song of 2011, but West delivers a sensational song with “All of the Lights.” He was indeed overlooked in the Album and Record of the Year categories, so if the Recording Academy wants to make up for that error, Kanye West will be victorious. If there is one category where Adele doesn’t have the edge, it’s Song of the Year, where Mr. West may finally capture one of the big awards of the night.

Best New Artist:

This is a polarizing category, both a gift and a curse. Many previous winners of this category seem to disappear from the industry. John Legend, Lauryn Hill and LeAnn Rimes are a few previous winners of the prize. This year’s crop of nominees includes The Band Perry, Bon Iver, J. Cole, Nicki Minaj and Skrillex. In my opinion, the race will ultimately come down to Bon Iver and rapper Nicki Minaj. Bon Iver has had an incredible year which has included nominations for Record and Song of the Year, so as a consolation prize for losing those categories, Iver may take the win. Personally, I feel Rapper Nicki Minaj is much more deserving. She had an incredible 2011 thanks to her hit “Super Bass” and she will be rightfully awarded all the success she deserves as Best New Artist.

Those are my predictions for some of the biggest categories of music’s most important night. Do you agree with my picks? Who do you expect to be the biggest winner? All will be revealed when the 54 Annual Grammy Awards are televised live on CBS at 8 p.m. on February 12 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles.