While music legends will be a big part of the live performances on the e 54th Annual Grammy Awards this Sunday night (on CBS starting @ Eight PM), the burning questions surround whether the most successful artist of the past year will be dynamic with her first live performance since she's had surgery, and will she be the night's biggest winner.

The excitement about the show this year has hit a fever pitch with Jersey's own Bruce Springsteen opening the festivities.  How much respect does "The Boss" have by the Grammy people?  He gets to open the festivities despite not being nominated this past year (can you imagine next year's show if his new CD reaches expectations?)

The show will also have Beatles legend Paul McCartney closing the show with a song from his Grammy nominated re-issued Band On The Run.  Country music legend Glen Campbell may be making one of his last televised performances on Sunday (he's battling Alzheimer's and retiring this year) as he will share the stage with Blake Shelton and The Band Perry.

The Beach Boys may have never won a Grammy in their illustrious career, so it's time to consider them for a Lifetime Achievement Award.  Their moment on Sunday might be the equivalent to this.  Many of their fans have been waiting for this moment this weekend that has Brian Wilson reuniting with his band-mates for the first time in over 20 years.  Maroon 5 and Foster The People will be a part of this this Beach Boys medley.

Despite this star studded line-up, Adele may be the biggest star of this night.  She is making her first live performance since having surgery to have a polyp removed from her vocal cord.  This surgery was necessary as the polyp had hemorrhaged and threatened her career.  If this were not enough, she is expected to be only the 6th artist in Grammy history to win Grammy Triple Crown - Album Of The Year, Record Of The Year, and Song Of The Year.

"I don't know if Adele is a slam dunk", comments Neil Portnow recently.  Portnow, the Recording Academy president and CEO, was quoted by USA Today "The Results aren't always based on sales, popularity and critical acclaim."

We have seen major surprises in past Grammy shows - remember when Steely Dan won in 2000 for Album of The Year ahead of Radiohead, Eminem, and Beck?  Remember how Metallica lost in 1988 for Best Metal Performance to Jethro Tull?  Remember last year's surprise winners Arcade Fire and Esperanza Spalding?

Portnow does have a point that Adele is not a slam dunk, but many people watching will be intrigued to see if she can pull off the rare Triple Crown and win for all 6 nominations she has.

PREDICTIONS: Where Adele may lose on Sunday could be Best Music VideoWeird Al Yankovic has pulled out another great parody with "Perform This Way".  Thankfully Lady Gaga approved this, because she was resistant at first, so Al may have to kiss her Gaga-ness for the win here (I predict - check the video for yourself):

No clean sweep, but still seeing a big night for the worldwide sensation and the most dominating artist of the last year.  5 wins for Adele - Best Pop Vocal Album (21), Best Pop Solo Performance ("Someone Like You"), and history for the wins of the big 3 - Record of The Year, Song of The Year ( both for "Rolling In The Deep"), and Album of The Year.

Should there be a dark horse to potentially throw a monkey wrench in the works would be Bruno Mars.  He is nominated in all of the 5 categories mentioned above.  This rare feat gives Mars I believe a fighting chance, and Grammy voters may remember his show-stopping performance from last year's show, plus he has earned 13 nominations over the last 2 years.  If Adele does not make history, it will be because of Bruno Mars.

There are 79 Grammy categories this year, and believe it or not that's significantly less than last year.  Check out the list of nominees, and you'll find that Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam did receive a Grammy nomination – Best Folk Album for "Ukulele Songs" (and I’ll bet you did not know this album existed, or that Eddie Vedder likes ukuleles), Zooey Deschannel ("New Girl" on FOX)  has a nomination for her song contribution to the Winnie The Pooh movie, all 4 coaches from The Voice have nominations, and you will only see a handful of these categories during the live broadcast.

 

 

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