The 48th annual Grammy Awards, set to take place Feb. 8, will air on CBS at 8 p.m.
Here’s what you can expect:
Record of the Year/Song of the Year:
While the Song of the Year Grammy goes to the artists and songwriter(s) of the winning song, Record of the Year is awarded to the brains and engineering behind the record.
It goes to the producer(s) and engineer(s)/mixer(s) of the song, according to the Recording Academy’s website, grammy.com.
So if Gwen Stefani wins for “Hollaback Girl,” the Neptunes will be on stage holding gold, not Stefani.
There’s usually a lot of overlap between these categories, but this year only Mariah Carey’s “We Belong Together,” which dominated the top of Billboard’s Hot 100 chart last summer, is nominated in both categories.
Oftentimes, wins for these two awards come as a pair.
Because of this, and according to plenty of online music industry buzz, Mariah Carey seems to have at least one of these awards locked up-even with the remote possibility of an upset courtesy of John Legend’s “Ordinary People” for Song of the Year.
According to an Associated Press report, “Carey is likely to lead the pack.
Her career had been languishing in recent years, and some insiders doubted whether the multi-octave singer could return to her multi-platinum ways.”
In other words, the Grammy voters love a comeback.
Album of the Year:
Kanye West has definitely had something to say about this category.
“If I don’t win Album of the Year, I’m gonna really have a problem with that,” he said to MTV News before the Grammy nominations were even released.
“I worked hard to get here. I put my love, I put my heart, I put my money (into ‘Late Registration’). I’m $600,000 in the hole right now on that album.”
If debt were a criterion, the “College Dropout” would win in a landslide, but it looks like Mariah Carey has this category, and the majority of the ceremony’s awards, sewn up too.
Gwen Stefani’s “Love. Angel. Music. Baby.,” U2’s “How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb” and The Beatles’ Paul McCartney’s “Chaos and Creation in the Backyard” round out the list of nominees.
Kanye doesn’t need to worry too much, though.
He helped produce “The Emancipation of Mimi” and gets a Grammy even if the diva does win.
Best New Artist:
Equally, a gift and a curse for new artists-many artists who have won this Grammy were never heard from again-last year’s Grammy went to Maroon 5 (over Kanye West), with plenty of controversy and objection from many in hip-hop.
This year, it seems like there’s no debate: John Legend has the staggering amount of nominations and raw talent to make him a prime contender for this trophy.
He’s up against highly exposed, big sellers Ciara, Keane, Fall Out Boy and SugarLand.
Performances:
Capping the performance roster at this year’s Grammys is a tribute to funk legends Sly and the Family Stone.
According to Billboard, “Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler and Joe Perry, the Black Eyed Peas’ will.i.am, Joss Stone, John Legend, Maroon 5, Robert Randolph and Devin Lima will all take part in the tribute.”
Mariah Carey, backed up by Hezekiah Walker and the Love Fellowship Choir, will also be performing.
Kanye West will perform a medley of tracks from “Late Registration,” featuring Jamie Foxx and other G.O.O.D. Music personalities. Mary J. Blige is scheduled to perform “One” with U2, a track featured on her new album “The Breakthrough.”
Also slated to perform is Christina Aguilera singing “A Song For You” with legendary jazz pianist Herbie Hancock, for which they are also nominated.
Contact Paul de Revere at famuanlifestyles@hotmail.com