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In the music industry there is no higher award than that of a Grammy. The long running award ceremony is the highest compliment an artist can dream of, with only those reaching the top levels of commercial success even nominated let alone picked for their category.
This year a surprising amount of British nominees have made the short list as the cream of the crop in the eyes of those behind the Grammy’s. Adele have received a staggering six nominations while folk band Mumford and Sons also hold four nominations across the Grammy’s 78 categories.
Looking at who has been nominated, who should have been nominated and who will probably win regardless of what anybody else thinks, there are some who are truly worthy. While we might all be a little bored of hearing ‘Rolling In The Deep’ and other various tracks from Adele’s phenomenally successful second album ‘21’, you cannot deny that this kind of recognition doesn’t come off hype alone. Sure to win the majority of the BRIT Awards she has also been nominated for, Adele is a strong contender for the ‘Record Of The Year’ Award at this year’s Grammy’s.
However she might just have to begrudgingly give over the ‘Album Of The Year’ award to somebody else. With Foo Fighters, Lady Gaga, Bruno Mars and Rihanna all up for the same category the competition is tough. On the same night as the Grammy’s this year, Lady Gaga is launching her ‘Born This Way Foundation’ just down the road in Los Angeles, an event which is thought to be an after party for the celebrities attending this year’s Grammy’s. With this and the announcement not only of her biggest tour ever, but the longest of any recording artist in some years, Lady Gaga’s ‘Born This Way’ is a sure bet for ‘Album Of The Year’.
Recent hype and news clippings are one way to predict how well an artist will fair in awards season. Looking to the Best New Artist category there is one name who has run a mile ahead to be the clear winner; Nicki Minaj. As a relatively new artist the rapper has recently performed at the Super Bowl with Madonna, The Queen of Pop. It doesn’t get any bigger than performing with the biggest pop star in the world at the biggest sporting event on the planet making the pink haired popstar a shoe-in for the award.
Performing at this year’s award ceremony is another strange and slightly awkward mixture of stars. Foo Fighters are to team up with David Guetta , Coldplay will duet with Rihanna and The Beach Boys are to perform live with Foster The People and Maroon 5. A weird but hopefully wonderful set of performances will also indicate who will win on the night. Kanye West leads the way in the year’s nominations with seven, while Foo Fighters and Bruno Mars are just behind, along with Adele who is to make her first live performance after throat surgery, with six nominations each.
While the Grammy’s are an honourable award ceremony unlike so many others, it must also be taken into account that the public have nothing to do with who wins on the night and only industry insiders get the final say on who should win. An interesting step which will see what other musicians think of their peers.
