The biggest day in the music industry arrives on Sunday with the 54th Annual Grammy Awards.  CBS will once again broadcast (Sunday night starting at Eight) all the festivities - the performances, the winners, the speeches, and those who are not name Adele  that could receive the highest honor in music achievement.

The question for the Grammys will not be if Adele wins, but how many she will take home this year.  Adele is up for 6 Grammys on Sunday.  Tomorrow will dive into whether or not she could pull a clean sweep.  Today we will at categories that does not have Adele battling them for an award, and these categories has some interesting drama to play out:

Best Pop Duo/Group Performance

Body and Soul -- Tony Bennett and Amy Winehouse

Dearest -- The Black Keys

Paradise -- Coldplay

Pumped Up Kicks -- Foster The People

Moves Like Jagger -- Maroon 5 and Christina Aguilera

SHOULD WIN -- "Paradise"  WILL WIN -- "Body and Soul"

Fact is that the Grammy voters seem to always find a way to salute those you have passed on with a win (deserved or not).  Take Winehouse's passing plus the fact that Bennett is 85 and this could be his last Grammy chance of his incredible career, the win will honor both and it will be deserved.  The song is a wonderful duet, but when you look at 3 significant radio hits that you know, Coldplay crossed through 5 different formats with this song that deserves the award.  Their chances for a win is better in the Rock categories for "Every Teardrop Is A Waterfall", but the battle with The Foo Fighters (6-time winner with 25 career nominations) plus Mumford and Sons (the buzz band from the 2011 Grammy Awards) could shut this band out this year (which would be an injustice to this band).

Best Country Album

My Kinda Party by Jason Aldean

Chief by Eric Church

Own The Night by Lady Antebellum

Red River Blue by Blake Shelton

Here For A Good Time by George Strait

Speak Now by Taylor Swift

SHOULD WIN -- Jason Aldean  WILL WIN -- Lady A

3 of these artists have crossed over in the last year, 1 is now a fixture in pop culture, 1 is a Country legend, and the last guy was an opener for a few of these acts.  Church has broken out in the last year, and the nomination is all he'll get this time around.  Strait is royalty, but not the winner.  Swift was Country Music's Entertainer of The Year, but not nominated for Album of The Year (OUT!)  Shelton's CD is wonderful, his popularity is now at a fever pitch because of The Voice on NBC, and is the dark horse here.  Aldean's CD produced a pair of #2's and a pair of #1's at Country, and his first 2 Top-10 Pop hits (one with Kelly Clarkson, and one that has him rapping).  What may sway the voters to Lady Antebellum is one song - "Just A Kiss" (one of the biggest songs across the board this past year).

Best New Artist

The Band Perry  /  Bon Iver  /  J. Cole  /  Nicki Minaj  /  Skrillex

SHOULD WIN -- Minaj  WILL WIN -- Minaj

The Grammy voters may surprise us all with Bon Iver or Skrillex, but the Minaj impact at R&B, Rap, and Pop culture is truly too much to ignore.

Best Dance Recording and Best Dance/Electronica Album

The battle has 3 interesting stories.  First is Robyn, who back in 1997 scored 2 Top-10 Worldwide hits with "Do You Know What It Takes" and "Show Me Love" by her 18th birthday.  She disappeared for a decade and began a comeback in the UK when she scored a #1 hit there ("With Every Heartbeat").  Robyn has been nominated 4 times in the last 3 years in the Dance categories, and a win could make American rediscover her talent, but she's up against the man who only create hits and one with serious buzz.

Skrillex is up for Best New Artist among his 5 Grammy nominations.  He could be a sleeper to watch out for, as his profile became bigger with the nominations.  His work with Korn has given him 2 Top-10 Rock hits this past year, but he is most known for his work with Lady Gaga, Black Eyed Peas, and Bruno Mars creating re-mixes for their hit songs.

The man to beat is David Guetta.  The mega DJ has won the Grammy for Best Dance Recording in 2009 ("When Love Takes Over" featuring Kelly Rowland), has scored his 2 biggest hits of his career this past year with Usher ("Without You") and Nicki Minaj ("Turn Me On"), and his last 2 CDs combining to sell over 10 Million worldwide.  He is the man that SHOULD WIN, but don"t be shocked if Robyn pulls off the upset (I'll go on the ledge and say she WILL WIN).

 

 

 

 

 

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