Now, for my predictions! I'm guessing who *will* win, not who should win (though I sometimes give commentary to that effect.) I also only predict the categories where I have actual knowledge, and have listened to the material! So, no predictions for 44. Best Tropical Latin Album, for instance. There are a number of categories that I *do* usually listen to (like all of the Gospel & Jazz) but, alas, did not have time to do so this year. What do you think of the predictions? Have I missed the mark somewhere? Let me know either here on this blog, or on Facebook. Off we go!
1. Record Of The Year: Sia, Chandelier. This will be the year of Sia, and her video was one of the best works of audio/visual art all last year.
2. Album Of The Year: This is tough! It's gonna be between Ed Sheeran and Beyonce, and both of their albums are FANTASTIC. I'll avoid going into the full commentary of all the non-musical reasons why each might win, and instead predict Ed Sheeran by a nose.
3. Song Of The Year- slightly different from Record of the year, as this is a songwriting category. The Grammy voters often like to use this category to reward someone who might not otherwise win a Grammy, so Meghan Trainor's "All About That Bass" has a strong chance, but Sia should still win.
4. Best New Artist- Bastille hit the charts way too early in the year, I think, so Sam Smith will get the trophy.
5. Best Pop Solo Performance- Sia.
6. Best Pop Duo/Group Performance: "Say Something," Christina Ag/Great Big World.
7. Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album: Tony Bennett/Lady Gaga in a landslide!
8. Best Pop Vocal Album: For anyone that likes modern Pop, all of these albums are quite good! It will come down to Perry and Sheeran, but I think Sheeran will be the 'cool' choice this year.
11. Best Contemporary Instrumental Album- Chris Thile by a landslide!
12. Best Rock Performance: "Fever" by the Black Keys, though Jack White has a strong shot.
14. Best Rock Song: Paramore's "Ain't it Fun" should win, but should it be in this category? Voters turned off by this upbeat number might go for the Black Keys instead.
15. Best Rock Album: Turn Blue, The Black Keys (with Ryan Adams having a shot at the trophy as well.)
17. Best R&B Performance: Beyonce's "Drunk in Love" by a landslide!
18. Best Traditional R&B Performance: Tough category! None of this year's nominees come close to Lalah Hathaway's REDIC Grammy-winning performance from last year! Antonique Smith probably has the best performance, but the song itself isn't the best, so I predict Lalah grabbing back-to-back wins.
19. Best R&B Song: STRANGE nominees in this category. Beyonce by a mile.
20. Best Urban Contemporary Album: Should be Beyonce, especially if the Grammy voters think that Sheeran will take Best Album. Pharrell has a strong shot, though.
21. Best R&B Album: Aloe Blacc will win this on popularity, though I think all of the other albums in this category are stronger.
22. Best Rap Performance: Another strange category this year. Underwhelmed by *all* of these choices! If you go by the title of this award, Lecrae's "All I Need Is You" is the best performance, followed by Eminem's "Rap God," but the Eminem song itself is a throwaway, so I predict Drake takes the trophy with "0 to 100."
23. Best Rap/Sung Collaboration: An interesting category, in a good way! Rihanna & Eminem's "Monster" was the most compelling collab by far in this category, so I think they take the nod.
24. Best Rap Song: Oh man, this could go in any number of directions! I think the Kim K factor will DQ Kanye (same for the category above.) Anaconda *shouldn't* win in this songwriting category, as the whole tune revolves around a 1-measure sample from Sir Mix-a-Lot! I hope Drake wins, but Minaj might win this one.
25. Best Rap Album: This will be either Common or Eminem, and will come down to the level of Eminem fatigue with the Grammy voters. Common, in a coin flip.
26. Best Country Solo Performance: Great category! Hunter Hayes is the hot new ticket these days, so he wins with "Invisible," with Carrie Underwood coming in 2nd.
27. Best Country Duo/Group Performance: The Band Perry, "Gentle on My Mind." (Though Lambert/Underwood's "Somethin' Bad" is fun, and has a shot.)
28. Best Country Song: Glen Campbell will be the sentimental pick with "I'm Not Gonna Miss You."
29. Best Country Album: Tough category, but I think Miranda Lambert wins it.
31. Best Improvised Jazz Solo: This is one of the most fun categories to dig into! Chick Corea will win.
-----BIG skip of categories---
55. Best Spoken Word Album: Grammy voters love politicos like Elizabeth Warren and Jimmy Carter, but they might cancel each other out, leaving room for Joan Rivers to win the posthumous Grammy.
56. Best Comedy Album: Weird Al's delightful surprise album "Mandatory Fun" will garner his second ever Grammy win.
57. Best Musical Theater Album: TOUGH, and diverse category. Neil Patrick Harris's "Hedwig" is the frontrunner, but a lot of this comes down to who gets to vote in this category! If the voter pool is large and not specialized, "Beautiful: The Carole King Musical" has a great chance. I'll predict Hedwig.
58. Best Compilation Soundtrack For Visual Media: Gone are the simple days of "best soundtrack," thus this strange category. The battle will be between a true compilation (American Hustle) and a movie with a bunch of great original songs (Frozen.) This clearly highlights a flaw in this category, but the problem is that there aren't enough movie musicals written each year to make a separate category. So, Frozen either has to compete against what are essentially 'Now That's What I Call Music' albums, or against orchestral underscoring, so I guess this is the better category? Frozen wins (I think.)
59. Best Score Soundtrack For Visual Media: See? Here's the problem. Frozen is also in this category, and should only be measured by the underscoring, but that's not gonna happen. Or maybe the voters are tired of their toddlers singing "Let it Go" non-stop, and will draw a defining line between the categories? In that case, it comes down to Trent Reznor's "Gone Girl" or Steven Price's "Gravity." I pick Gravity.
60. Best Song Written For Visual Media: "Let it Go" in the easiest category to pick this year. (It's a great song, and Idina's performance of it on the album is spectacular.)
61. Best Instrumental Composition: One of the strangest categories, where an odd conglomeration of Jazz, Movie Sountracks, Nouveau Bluegrass, and Modern Classical meet up every year. Edgar Meyer & Chris Thile will win with "Tarnation."
62. Best Arrangement, Instrumental or A Cappella: PENTATONIX with their first Grammy!! And their arrangement of "Daft Punk" (which will win) isn't even their strongest arrangement.
69. Producer Of The Year, Non-Classical: This will be between Greg Kurstin and the famous Max Martin. Max Martin's offerings, while huge hits, are all essentially the same, while Kurstin has Ellie Goulding, Sia, Katy Perry, Lily Allen, and Kelly Clarkson. Kurstin should win the trophy.
72. Best Engineered Album, Classical: Tough category, and the voters are notoriously unpredictable where there isn't a clear frontrunner. I'd lean towards John Luther Adams: Become Ocean, but it's one of *two* albums by that team of engineers. (Also, the 'other' John Adams is nominated on that second album, but the voters in this category won't get them confused!) If the two Seattle recordings cancel each other out, look for Muti & Chicago to win.
73. Producer Of The Year, Classical: *Lots* of buzz about the work of Dmitriy Lipay, the long-time audio man at the Seattle Symphony. I think he takes the nod, otherwise my long-time friend Elaine Martone adds another trophy to her already humongous collection!
74. Best Orchestral Performance: Another highly unpredictable category! I think Robertson & St. Louis take it with John Adams: City Noir.
75. Best Opera Recording: Thielemann/Dresden with Strauss: Elektra
76. Best Choral Performance: Andrew Davis, BBC with Holst: First Choral Symphony.
77. Best Chamber Music/Small Ensemble Performance: A close one between my friends in A Far Cry, and my old friend from IU (Cory Smythe) accompanying Hilary Hahn. Based on Roomful of Teeth's win last year, I will predict that the voters will continue to avoid the safe choice, and go with "Dreams & Prayers" and A Far Cry!
78. Best Classical Instrumental Solo: Leon Fleisher will be the sentimental favorite, but Daniil Trifonov should take the trophy.
79. Best Classical Solo Vocal Album: COME ON, LB! Another old friend from IU, Larry Brownlee, should walk away with his REDIC album of Virtuoso Rossini Arias.
80. Best Classical Compendium: Another weird category, which usually contains strange bedfellows. Britten To America is my prediction.
81. Best Contemporary Classical Composition: A composers award, different from the recording awards above. Normally, John Luther Adams would walk away with this award (it's a fantastic composition, and has received lots of buzz) but, tragically, Stephen Paulus passed away just in October. His composition is also fantastic, though I believe the Adams is a stronger piece. The Grammy voters have a history of voting with their hearts, so I predict Paulus will receive the posthumous Grammy.
82. Best Music Video: OK, maybe *this* is the easiest category to predict this year. Sia in an almost unanimous vote!
83. Best Music Film: Some *great* choices, but 20 Feet From Stardom wins easily- the industry won't miss the chance to give those amazing backup singers their due this Sunday.
