Last Sunday we had the Super Bowl. Next Sunday we have the Grammys. You've probably figured that out if you've seen EPL's Music Mike Likes display which features many Grammy nominees.
What does one have to do with the other? Well, besides occupying my Sunday nights for two weeks in February, they are both occasions on which you should listen to me.
After all, I did pick the Pittsburgh Steelers to win the Super Bowl before the playoffs began. I also predicted Gary Russell would score the game's first touchdown and Hines Ward would make the first catch of the game, but what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas.
Anyway, what this all means is that my Grammy predictions are as good as a gold record. A Cleveland Browns fan who picks the Pittsburgh Steelers to win the Super Bowl has to know what he's talking about, right?
Let's find out:
RECORD OF THE YEAR
Nominees: "Chasing Pavements"/Adele, "Viva La Vida"/Coldplay, "Bleeding Love"/Leona Lewis, "Paper Planes"/M.I.A., "Please Read the Letter"/Robert Plant & Allison Krauss
Winner: Call it the "Slumdog Millionaire" factor. The movie that's chugging through awards season like a freight train is scooping everyone up in its wake. An offbeat pick as Record of the Year is made more mainstream by, "Paper Planes" is made more acceptable by an extended sequence in "Slumdog" which features the song.
ALBUM OF THE YEAR
Nominees: "Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends"/Coldplay, "Tha Carter III"/Lil Wayne, "Year of the Gentleman"/Ne-Yo, "Raising Sand"/Robert Plant & Allison Krauss, "In Rainbows"/Radiohead
Winner: I'd like to call for the upset and give the Grammy to Plant and Krauss. But that would be a heck of an upset. Kinda like the Browns winning the Super Bowl. Or even the AFC North, which is kind of what this category is. You've got the nomination leaders, the Steelers (aka Lil Wayne) and the Ravens (aka Coldplay) squaring off, with everyone else just scratching and clawing. When the dust settles, Lil Wayne will be margianalized as a rapper with Coldplay winning Album of the Year.
SONG OF THE YEAR
Nominees: "American Boy"/Estelle (featuring Kanye West), "Chasing Pavements"/Adele, "I'm Yours"/Jason Mraz, "Love Song"/Sara Bareilles, "Viva La Vida"/Coldplay
Winner: Not a day goes by that I don't hear Sara Bareilles' "Love Song" pouring out of something -- my car radio, a television show, an Old Navy store, someone's water faucet. In one sense it is the song of the year because almost everyone had it running through their head at some time in 2008. But Coldplay really does rule the world, and the Song of the Year, with "Viva La Vida".
BEST NEW ARTIST
Nominees: Adele, Duffy, Jonas Brothers, Lady Antebellum, Jazmine Sullivan
Winner: For the last 20 or so years this award has belonged almost exclusively to a solo female singer. Starting with Cyndi Lauper in 1985 solo female singers have won 15 of 23 Best New Artist awards. For me, that eliminates the Jonas Brothers and Lady Antebellum. Jazmine Sullivan isn't as well-known as Adele and Duffy, so the field is down to two chanteuses from the UK. And I'm calling for a bit of the upset, as Adele is your Best New Artist.
BEST ROCK ALBUM
Nominees: "Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends"/Coldplay, "Rock N Roll Jesus"/Kid Rock, "Only By the Night"/Kings of Leon, "Death Magnetic"/Metallica, "Consolers of the Lonely"/Raconteurs
Winner: And it's Coldplay's Grammy again. Only Metallica has a chance to take down the powerhouse band.
BEST RAP SONG
Nominees: "Lollipop"/Lil Wayne, "Low" /Flo Rida (featuring T-Pain), "Sexual Eruption"/Snoop Dogg, "Superstar"/Lupe Fiasco (featuring Matthew Santos), "Swagga Like Us" (Jay-Z & T.I. featuring Kanye West & Lil Wayne)
Winner: It's not your grandfather's lollipop, lollipop, oh lolly, lollipop. It's Lil Wayne's "Lollipop", and his Grammy, too.
BEST RAP ALBUM
Nominees: "American Gangster"/Jay-Z, "Tha Carter III"/Lil Wayne, "The Cool"/Lupe Fiasco, "Nas"/Nas, "Paper Trail"/T.I.
Winner: Eight nominations, at least two awards for Lil Wayne, as "Tha Carter III" takes home the Best Rap Album trophy.
BEST COUNTRY ALBUM
Nominees: "That Lonesome Song"/Jamey Johnson; "Sleepless Nights"/Patty Loveless; "Troubadour"/George Strait; "Around That Bend"/Randy Travis; "Heaven, Heartache and the Power of Love"/Trisha Yearwood
Winner: His Wikipedia page says he's called a living legend and sometimes the King of Country. He holds the record for most No. 1 hits on the Billboard charts (58). Only the Beatles and Elvis Presley have outsold him. And yet he's never won a Grammy. Until "Troubadour".
Think you can do better? Send your picks to me at mstein@euclidlibrary.org. Next week I'll post the picks of the people who beat me.