Chris' Grammy Preview

Record of the Year:  Rolling In The Deep, Adele
It's a quality song, and how can anyone go against a song that allowed Haley Reinhart to do this cover?

Album of the Year:  21, Adele
Too much fire-power on this album.  Takes you on an emotional roller-coaster starting with Rolling in the Deep and ending with Someone Like You.  Few artists have the ability to hit home the way Adele does, and certainly none of them are in this field.

Best New Artist:  Nicki Minaj
This sucks.  Possibly worse than my predicament with the Super Bowl being a Jets fan.  I hate Nicki Minaj with an absurd passion, but she's going to win.  It pains me, but it's the truth.  I've got to play for the win.

Best Dance Recording:  Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites, Skrillex
I cannot tolerate this music, but Skrillex is the favorite here, and if I'm not going to listen to the music I should at least pick something with a realistic chance to win.

Best Rock Performance:  The Cave, Mumford & Sons
Marcus performed All Along the Watchtower with Dave Matthews and Tim Reynolds at the Bridge School Charity Event over the fall.  It was a pretty good performance.  Listened to The Cave, decent song.  Not my favorite band, but I don't mind them.

Best Rap/Sung Collaboration:  All of The Lights, Kanye & Co.
I tried so hard to not give this to them.  Why, you ask?  I don't like Kanye, not a Rihanna fan, whoever's idea it was to put Fergie on a song was an idiot, and I love both Eminem and Andre 3000.  I think I Need A Doctor has a chance, but it's most likely going to be Kanye & Co. taking home the prize.

Best Rap Song:  I Need A Doctor, Dr. Dre
I couldn't give Kanye both of these, so I had to give it to Dr. Dre simply because Eminem's on it.

Best Rap Album:  Watch The Throne, Kanye West & Jay-Z
I love Jay-Z so he definitely makes Kanye more bearable.

Best Country Solo Performance:  Dirt Road Anthem, Jason Aldean
As much as I love Taylor Swift, I really don't like Mean.  It's just a really childish song and I put it in the same light as Dear John, where she just comes off immature.  People say negative things Taylor, it happens.  You have the last laugh.  No need to make a song about it.

Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media:  Black Swan
I'm an avid fan of Harry Potter, but there's one category Black Swan beats Harry Potter in: Mila Kunis.

Best Remixed Recording:  Cinema, Skrillex
Skrillex is going to take home a lot of awards tonight for someone who doesn't make traditional music.  Good for him pushing boundaries.  I would never vote for him, but his effort is commendable.

Jay's Grammy Preview

So Toph and I are going to do another round of awards show predictions, and this time he's going to abide by my rule and leave out every category that is irrelevant. And there are a lot of them: out of 78 categories, we whittled our competition down to 11. I need some redemption for my miserable showing in Fantasy Pick 'Em on Friday. Here goes:

Record of the Year: Katy Perry - Firework
If you don't love this song, you have no soul. If you don't love Katy Perry, you have no balls. I'd rather listen to this than Adele or Bruno Mars any day of the week. I know that's not what the category is about, but Firework was my favorite record of the year.

Album of the Year: Adele - 21
As much as I hate her sadness, there's no denying that an album with Rolling In The Deep, Someone Like You, and That Other Song That Adele Sings is probably going to win.

Best New Artist: 
This one was tough for me. J. Cole is awesome. Skrillex is awesome. The Band Perry isn't bad. And folks I swear to God that if Nicki Minaj wins in a category she shouldn't even be nominated for (Weezy signed her to Young Money like four years ago) I will drown a cat. This is where I would like to throw in an "Anyone Except Nicki" but I can't so I'm going to go with Skrillex edging J. Cole by a hair. He's created his own style of music and made a creepy/annoying sound more mainstream than anyone thought it could go. And if they don't give it to him because he isn't a traditional musician, then I feel bad that whoever votes for the Grammy winners is stuck in the past with a flip phone and a non-automatic soap dispenser.

Best Dance Recording: Swedish House Mafia - Save The World
Two things. I'd love to see SHM win a Grammy. But REALLY, YOU DIDN'T INCLUDE LEVELS, WE FOUND LOVE, OR GIVE ME EVERYTHING?!??!!?!?!??!?!?!??!?!

Best Rock Song: Mumford & Sons - The Cave
It's a weird song, for sure. But they do their own thing, and none of the nominees really stick out in my mind as frontrunners.

Best Rap/Sung Collaboration: Kanye West, Rihanna, Kid Cudi, and Fergie - All of the Lights
This song epitomizes why I love Kanye - he has the ability to tell a story in his raps instead of just bragging about money/cars/clothes/hoes. He expresses his emotions in his music, and I love that about him.

Best Rap Song: Kanye West - All of the Lights
See above. This song is phenomenal.

Best Rap Album: Kanye West - My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy
I picked this in the 2011 recap, and I'm picking it again. All of the Lights, Monster, Power, and the coolest/most creative music video I've ever seen to tie it all together. No way this doesn't win.

Best Country Solo Performance: Jason Aldean - Dirt Road Anthem
This song is also known as "the reason I listen to country music." I love it.

Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2
The theme song alone is worthy of the Grammy win. Not to say that the best part of the Harry Potter movies is the music, but it definitely helps set the mood.

Best Remixed Recording: Cinema (Skrillex Remix)
To close it out, I think Skrillex will grab his second (possibly even third) award of the night and mothers, fathers, and grandparents everywhere will say, "Who is that? What's wrong with his hair? Why does his music sound like a firetruck running over a microwave with Siri installed in it?"

Bonus: More Katy Perry

Performance of the Day: KC & The Sunshine Band, Get Down Tonight

If this doesn't make you want to go back to the 70's, or go there for the first time, I truly don't know what would.  Between the dance moves, the wardrobes, and the hair, I don't know where anyone could come up with a single negative thing  to say about this.  The band clearly know how to have a damn good time.

Performance of the Day: Jimi Hendrix, Voodoo Child

If anyone can make that shirt, pant, head piece work, it's Jimi Hendrix.  Guy can flat out shred.

I can dig it.

Music Video of the Day: Eminem - The Real Slim Shady

A few months ago, Billboard posted their poll results for the ten best music videos from each of the past three decades. Today, your MVotD comes from The 10 Best of the '00s (link here). I will never understand how this song was only #7. Especially when you consider that the following artists had higher-ranked music videos: Lady Gaga, Britney Spears, Panic! At The Disco, and Michael Jackson (who was surprisingly not retired yet). Enjoy:

Performance of the Day: Billy Joel, Piano Man

This is a classic.  Brilliant song that I never really understood until a short while ago, which is relatively embarrassing.

Music Video of the Day: Creed - Higher

I love Creed. Remember the last video I said was the best (drunk) singalong song ever? Well I lied. It's Creed. Anything by Creed. The #creedvoice is one of my favorites. I chose Higher because I want to ask my Bullet fans a question:

Fill in the blanks:

"Come on, let's go there

Let's make our escape

Come on, let's go there

___________________"

Because I have absolutely no idea what Scott Stapp is saying. Wesjuscanyeseah? That's the best I can do. 

PS: one of the guys in Creed has a nipple piercing?

The "there's a hunger, longing to escape" line might be my favorite line to sing in the history of song.