Idolator
Tomorrow morning—at 11:30 a.m. ET, to be exact—music's biggest stars, including Akon, Fergie, the two lead dudes from Linkin Park, and George Lopez (?), will hold court in Los Angeles and announce the nominees for the 50th Annual Grammy Awards, which take place on Feb. 10, 2008. Anyway, with the announcement of the nomination ceremony comes the speculation over which artist will walk away with the most nods. Will the voters go crazy for Feist's Apple-sanctioned tastefulness, or the Boss' stature? Will Amy Winehouse be forced to make the first trainwreck award-show appearance of 2008 after racking up a slew of nominations? Our take comes after the jump.
Feist: 10-1.
In her favor: She's the Norah Jones of 2007: Dreamy-looking, dinner-party ready, and a big seller (on this year's radically diminished scale, anyway).
Working against her: Like Doug Morris will let his minions bestow hosannas on someone whose sales were the result of Apple's marketing department, and not his own.
Paul McCartney: 6-1.
In his favor: Boomer-age voters will forever try to make the endless Beatles snubs up to him.
Working against him: His decision to go outside the normal record-industry channels for Memory Almost Full—and get a boatload of press attention because he did so—might have ruffled feathers among the few people who are actually still employed at major labels.
Kanye West: 4-1.
In his favor: Woke up the sleepy retail world (at least for a few days) with his Sept. 11 battle royale. His fiery persona means that he may be one of the last true rock stars left. And shit, he sampled Can!
Working against him: Well, he is a hip-hop artist. And he doesn't exactly look like Eminem, if you get my drift.
Amy Winehouse: 3-2.
In her favor: Back To Black has cross-generational appeal and sold pretty well in a year that was very unkind to the industry, and she has the sort of "talent" that can be easily explained by pointing a finger at Greatness Gone By.
Working against her: At this point, nominating her for anything that isn't a long stint in rehab seems like enabling her.
Bruce Springsteen: Even.
In his favor: He is The Boss, after all.
Working against him: Uh, got me. Maybe the "hey, I'm going to release my album on vinyl a week early so I can get nominated now" trick will rankle anyone who's a stickler for deadlines?
Comments
Too bad Avril Levigne won't be there to pronounce Springsteen wrong...
I predict DAUGHTRYMANIA.
@dickdogfood: Ah, good point. It came out 11/21/06. I didn't even think of him, even though I do know of at least one Idolator reader who had the "pleasure" of seeing him last night.
Two words for all you pretender Grammy nominees: Miley. Cyrus.
Ugh, Paul has his Grammys in the bag. When will they stop their snobbery and stop caring about old geezers' music? Make up another category already. Damn.
Anyway, I'm pissed. With all the media Robin Thicke got earlier this year, it looks like this man will have to sign his soul over to the devil, or Jimmy Iovine, before he earns a Grammy.
I called Amy a lock for a nomination -- and the favorite to win -- in the AOTY category 6 months ago. I still think she'll get the nomination -- she was short-listed for the Nationwide Mercury Prize -- but, alas, I'm afraid her increasingly bizarre and saddening behavior has made her somewhat less than the favo[u]rite to win. I still hold out hope -- after all, the consensus in the British press was that the Klaxons win for the NMP was an "upset".
On a related note, depending on how Amy and certain other artists will be categorized, I'd say Amy faces stiff competition in the R&B categories, possibly from "peers" such as Sharon Jones [whose album is terrific] and/or Joss Stone [whose album is both terrific and her best to date, although it got lost in the media love for Back To Black].
Also, it wouldn't surprise me too much if Amy lost the Best New Artist award to Lily Allen [or possibly even Feist -- NARAS has weird definitions for these things].
@DHMBIB: There is no doubt in my mind that Feist will be nominated for Best New Artist.
Wouldn't be surprised to see Spoon or Arcade Fire get picked for a "major" category. (They'll almost certainly get nods in the Alternative ghetto.) Otherwise, it's Bruce's year. Everyone else, stay seated.
It's Bruce's year with the Recording Academy. Why? He's never won Album of the Year.
Let me reiterate that, with emphasis: Bruce Effin' Springsteen, national treasure, has never won the big Grammy.
Born to Run, you say? Not even nominated, and anyway he would've lost to either Stevie (who owned the mid-'70s) or Paul Simon.
Born in the USA? Sure, that would've made sense, but somehow the Grammy people preferred Lionel Richie's Can't Slow Down that year. Again: Lionel Richie.
The Rising? Total Grammy bait, right? Sure, and it was nominated, but you know who's bigger Grammy bait? Norah Jones.
Yes, this is the year NARAS finally pulls a Time Out of Mind (hey, at least that was a good Dylan record) or, more apt, a Two Against Nature and gives Bruce the statue he should've gotten two decades ago.
I know: poor Kanye.
I think Rihanna and "Umbrella" are going to be all over the song/record categories.
haha what Beatles snubs? they won Best New Artist in '64 and Album of the Year for Sgt. Pepper; that's not terrible, considering how old-guard the Grammys were then.
Now the big question is, who gets nominated for Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical? I'll go with Springsteen, McCartney, Mark Ronson, Little Big Town, and the Lindsey Buckingham from last year. Assuming those last two are in the right date range.
Nine are dead in Omaha, Nebraska today after a man opened fire in a shopping mall, and then shot himself. Police do not have a motive so far. Did you have this conversation this morning? "Sorry, boss, I can't come in to work today...a terrible cough, I, uh, flu symptoms, definitely -- what waves?
Did Bonnie Raitt release something they can give her her annual Grammy for this year?
@Matos, I was gonna say, but you beat me to it. Didn't Let It Be get something as well?
@joshlanghoff, I dunno but whoever mastered Wino's album should be shot. That sucker may be a good album, but I can't take more than a song or two as it's painful to hear. Another victim of the loudness wars.
Also, expect lots of Grammy love for the Alison Krauss / Robert Plant collaboration. It's the kind of project Grammy loves -- two big stars come together to do something different -- plus it's Alison Krauss, who is only the all-time winningest female artist in Grammy history...
[en.wikipedia.org]
"And he doesn't exactly look like Eminem, if you get my drift."
You mean he dresses better?
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