The Grammys are almost upon us, with the most prestigious night in the American music calendar (sorry MTV, it had to be said) coming around this Sunday.
So in predictable fashion, we at FemaleFirst have given a look over the biggest award categories and are ruled on who we think will be picking up that iconic little award come the weekend, as well as who we really think deserves the prize.
While we’re going to look at the genre specific categories tomorrow, we’re going to start with the biggest awards of the night.
Record Of The Year
Nominees
Frank Ocean – Thinkin Bout You
Taylor Swift – We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together
Kelly Clarkson – Stonger (What Doesn’t Kill You)
fun. – We Are Young
The Black Keys – Lonely Boy
Gotye – Somebody That I Used To Know
The most significant and high-status award of the evening, this is the one that all the artist really want.
While we will be crossing everything and wishing on stars that Frank walks off with the prize, ‘Thinkin Bout You’ just doesn’t feel mainstream enough to clinch the Grammy. That both it and The Black Key’s ‘Lonely Boy’ didn’t crack the top 20 in the states may just be the kicker here, regardless of what the awards panel say.
Taylor Swift’s song, while incredibly catchy, is also far too light and fluffy for real awards success and while Kelly Clarkson’s effort is a real return to form for our favourite country-pop singer, if it wins it will be a massive shocker.
With that in mind, we’re going to put our bet on Gotye’s massive breakout hit ‘Somebody That I Used To Know’. It’s got enough universal recognition that it can grab the headlines and not make people go ‘Which song was that’, but isn’t so frivolous a choice to make the music buffs out there dismiss the award as being ‘populist’. While we wouldn’t be surprised at all if ‘We Are Young’ beats it to the prize, we think that will already have the win the Grammys obviously want to give it under its belt.
Song Of The Year
Nominees
Ed Sheeran – The A Team
Miguel Pimental – Adon
Carly Rae Jepsen – Call Me Maybe
fun. – We Are Young
Kelly Clarkson – Stronger (What Doesn’t Kill You)
This is a category that rewards song writing above all others, where ingenuity in creating an ear catching and memorable hook is prized above all.
For sheer catchiness, the award really should be going back to Canada with Carly Rae Jepsen, as she created what might be one of the most incredibly catchy pop songs of the last few years in the form of Call Me Maybe.
However, it won’t win the prize, as that will go to the nearly as catchy, but far more intriguing and era grasping ‘We Are Young’ from fun. With the track also nominated for Record Of The Year (a fact it shares with Grammy favourite Kelly Clarkson this year) and fun. Being nominated in all four of the big general categories, we think this will be the start of a big night for the New Yorkers.
Album Of The Year
Nominees:
The Black Keys – El Camino
Franck Ocean – Channel Orange
fun. – Some Nights
Mumford & Sons - Babel
Jack White – Blunderbuss
Channel Orange should win; let’s get that point out of the way right now. Yet again, we think that Ocean will be snubbed though in favour of one of the more guitar based albums on the list. We still think that not only is it the best on this list, but that it’s the best album of 2012.
This, for us is a straight fight between The Black Keys and Mumford & Sons, with the cloth capped folksters taking it. The Londoners have really hit a chord in the US, with both Babel and their debut Sigh No More both selling far more copies in America than in the UK. Despite us actually thinking that Babel’s not only one of the weaker albums out of the five, but in actual fact worse than their debut effort, we think it will walk of the prize.
Best New Artist
Nominees:
Frank Ocean
fun.
The Lumineers
Hunter Hayes
Alabama Shakes
Despite this being a strong collection of artists, there are two here that are going to be fighting for supremacy, as Frank Ocean and fun decide to go toe to toe. Frank has the backing of the critics and fun. have the backing from the charts.
Frank Ocean has over the last year made a whole new group of fans fall in love with an entire genre, opening up the world of RnB to an entire segment that might not have ever given this segment of music a second glance. Despite this, we think that this will be a year where perhaps the most talented artist of the year gets completely snubbed.
fun. have had an incredible year, having gone from obscurity to worldwide fame nearly in the blink of an eye, with their own brand of off-kilter indie pop having both created massive sales and garnered them a large amount of fans throughout the press. That they have the majority appeal too might just be the factor that pushes them through to awards glory.
Who do you think is going to win come Sunday? Let us know in the comments section and let us know your thoughts on our picks.