Thursday, December 1, 2011

2012 Grammy Nominations

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Yesterday I took a stab at predicting the 2012 Grammy nominations in the big four categories (Album of the Year, Record of the Year, Song of the Year, Best New Artist). You can see all my picks on yesterday’s blog entry (Predictions for 2012 Grammy Nominations), but here’s a run down of the actual nominations and how I fared.



ALBUM OF THE YEAR:
  • Adele 21
  • Foo Fighters Wasting Light
  • Lady Gaga Born This Way
  • Bruno Mars Doo-Wops & Hooligans
  • Rihanna Loud

So, how did I do on my picks? I only got 1 of the 5 (Adele), but picked all 4 of the others as possibilities. Frankly, this is the most disappointing of the big four awards. When Foo Fighters are the closest thing to an edgy pick, the category is WAY too mainstream. I’m most surprised that Bon Iver didn’t get a nod here, especially since he was shown love in all three of the other categories. I’m also surprised that Tony Bennett or some other old-timer got no love here. I’ll give credit to the Grammys in recent years for trying to show more diversity in their picks (Arcade Fire’s win for The Suburbs last year is an excellent example), but they failed big on this category this year.

RECORD OF THE YEAR: (goes to the performers)

  • Adele “Rolling in the Deep”
  • Bruno Mars “Grenade”
  • Bon Iver “Holocene”
  • Mumford & Sons “The Cave”
  • Katy Perry “Firework”

I picked 3 of the 5 (“Rolling in the Deep”, “Grenade”, “Firework”) and gave “The Cave” a nod as a Song of the Year nominee. Bon Iver’s “Holocene” is the big surprise – maybe of all the nominations period.

SONG OF THE YEAR: (goes to the songwriters)

  • ”All of the Lights” Kanye West, Rihanna, Kid Cudi and Fergie
  • “The Cave” – Mark Mumford (performed by Mumford & Sons)
  • ”Holocene “ Bon Iver
  • “Grenade” – Bruno Mars, Philip Lawrence, Ari Levine, Brody Brown, Claude Kelly, Andrew Wyatt (performed by Bruno Mars)
  • “Rolling in the Deep” – Adele and Paul Epworth

Again, I got 3 of the 5 (“The Cave”, “Grenade”, “Rolling in the Deep”) and was surprised by “Holocene”. Nobody picked it in all the predictions I’d read. I had picked “All of the Lights” as a possibility.

BEST NEW ARTIST:

  • The Band Perry
  • Bon Iver
  • J. Cole
  • Nicki Minaj
  • Skrillex

Again, I got 3 of the 5 right. I hadn’t even listed J. Cole or Skrillex as possibilities.

The big four nominations were revealed during a primetime CBS television special which also featured performances by Lady Gaga, Rihanna, The Band Perry, Jason Aldean, Ludacris, and Sugarland. Also included were tributes to Grandmaster Flash’s “The Message” and a heartfelt performance from Usher in memory of two giants of songwriting who died this year, Nickolas Ashford and Jerry Lieber. Performing with Usher were Valerie Simpson and Mike Stoller, the respective other halves of the celebrated songwriting teams.

Beyond the telecast, Kanye West led the pack with 7 nominations including Song of the Year, Best Rap Album (for both My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy and Watch the Throne, his collaboration with Jay-Z), Best Rap Song (again, for one of his own performances as well as one with Jay-Z), Best Rap Performance, and Best Rap/Sung Collaboration. Adele, Bruno Mars, and Foo Fighters all nabbed six nods. Lil Wayne and Skrillex got five each. Drake, Nicki Minaj, Radiohead, Rihanna, and Bon Iver each received four.

The Grammys will be awarded on Sunday, February 12 on CBS at 8pm ET, 7pm CT.

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