Forget the Grammys and Forget Esperanza Too

I just wanted to also mention a few highlights from the performances on the Grammys and my last post was getting too long and I know you guys have a short attention span. The Aretha Franklin tribute was enjoyable. Christina Aguilera did a great job singing “Aint No Way”. Yolanda Adams singing “Move in the Spirit” was the other highlight. Lady GaGa being born out of the egg was kind of funny. Is it me or did her song “Born This Way” sound just like Madonna’s “Express Yourself”? Come to think of it, she actually looked like Madonna with that fake blonde ponytail. Cee Lo’s outfit was pretty entertaining. The performance with the Muppets was a cute idea. Gwyneth Paltrow singing “Forget You” went over better on the Glee episode she was on, but I guess they had to give it a shot. John Mayer, Norah Jones and Keith Urban singing “Jolene” prior to presenting an award was quite enjoyable. I wish they would’ve let that go on longer. Wow, I can’t believe they got Barbara Streisand to perform. I like that song “Evergreen”, but I must say her voice isn’t what it used to be. I’ve really enjoyed everything Bruno Mars had to offer this year so I was excited to see him perform on the Grammys, but I have to admit I was kind of under whelmed. I know he was trying to be creative, but he should’ve left Grenade ‘just the way it was’. Get it? Just the way you are is his other song. Anyway, this version of Grenade that he tried didn’t work mainly because he couldn’t hit those high notes. He probably has been overworking his voice lately, but he should’ve rested it for the Grammys or drank some hot water with honey and lemon or something. Maybe if he brought it down an octave he wouldn’t have had to struggle so much to hit those notes. Janelle Monae’s dismount from the mosh pit didn’t go so well.

The Verdict Is In

So….turns out I’m only half psychic. Here’s what I got right…

Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group - Lady Antebellum
Best Country Song - Lady Antebellum
Best Rap/Sung Collaboration - Jay Z Empire State of Mind
Best Rap Solo - Eminem Not Afraid
Best Contemporary R&B Album - Usher
Best Urban/Alternative Performance – CeeLo
Best Male R&B Vocal Performance - Usher
Best Pop Vocal Album - Lady GaGa
Best Pop Performance by a duo or group - Train
Best Male Pop Vocal – Bruno Mars
Song of the Year - Lady Antebellum or CeeLo (I get half a point for this. It went to Lady Antebellum)

…and here’s what I got wrong…

Record of the Year – CeeLo(I thought) Lady Antebellum (actual winner)
Album of the Year – GaGa(I thought) Arcade Fire (actual winner)
Best New Artist – Beiber(I thought)Esperanza Spalding (actual winner)
Best Female Pop Vocal Performance - Beyonce(I thought) GaGa(actual winner)
Best Pop Collaboration - B.O.B.(I thought) Herbie Hancock/Pink, etc.(actual winner)
Best Female R&B Vocal Performance – Kelly Price(I hoped) Fantasia (actual winner)
Best Traditional R&B Vocal Performance – R Kelly(I thought)John Legend(actual winner)
Best R&B song - Fantasia(I thought) John Legend (actual winner)
Best R&B Album - Raheem DeVaughn(I thought) John Legend (actual winner)

I knew Lady Antebellum was going to win big this year so I should’ve picked them for everything. I’m extremely pissed about Arcade Fire winning Album of the Year and Esperanza Spalding winning Best New Artist. In these two categories it seems like the academy said hey, let’s give the award to whoever is least likely to win. I’m sorry, but there is no way in hell that Esperanza Spalding is the best new artist. I didn’t like her when she did that Stevie Wonder thing at the White House and I don’t like her now! Oh and if I wasn’t already mad enough, then they don’t even give Raheem the award for Best R&B Album, they give it to John Legend aka the Cowardly Lion from the Wizard of Oz (you know that’s what he sounds like when he sings). There is no way in hell John Legend’s cd is better than Raheem’s! So turns out I was also wrong about the Best Pop Collaboration. I thought it would go to B.O.B and that girl for Airplanes, but it went to Herbie Hancock for Imagine, which I wasn’t even familiar with. Of course I’m familiar with the Beatles song, but didn’t even know Herbie had a version with all these great peeps on it. I can thank the Grammys for bringing this little pearl to my attention. Click here to listen to Imagine by Herbie and his friends.

My Grammy Picks

So…I said I was going to write a bunch of posts this week leading up to the Grammys to prove that I have psychic powers, but after the first post I got busy and I wasn’t sure anyone was reading anyway so I stopped. However, it is important to me to prove I’m psychic so I’m going to cram about four posts into one quickly and put the rest of my picks out there before the awards are given since the show starts in 10 minutes.

Record of the year nominees are:

BOB – Nothing on You
Rihanna/Eminem – Love the way you lie
Lady Antebellum – Need you now
JayZ/Alicia Keys – Empire State of Mind
CeeLo Green – FU

Record of the Year will probably go to…CeeLo

Album of the Year will go to GaGa or Eminem…probably GaGa.

Song of the Year (award goes to the songwriter) between F U and Love the Way you Lie and Need You Now…probably Lady Antebellum or CeeLo will get it.

Best New Artist competition is mostly between Beiber and Drake. I’m thinking Beiber is going to get it.

Best Female Pop Vocal Performance goes to Beyonce for Halo
She’s up against Katy Perry for Teenage Dream and Norah Jones for Chasing Pirates who don’t stand a chance against Beyonce. Though I’m a big Sarah Bareilles she really can’t beat Beyonce in this category either. King of Anything is a cute song, but her vocal performance is way better on some other tracks. The only competition Beyonce has is GaGa for Bad Romance, but I think Beyonce is the clear choice here.


Bruno Mars will win Best Male Pop Vocal for Just the Way you are

Sade is up for Best Pop Performance by a duo or group for Babyfather…which is confusing because I’m not sure how she’s a duo or a group…or if she should be awarded for a song about a baby conceived during a fling. Getting back on track…Maroon 5 for Misery or Train for Hey, Soul Sister or Paramore for The Only Exception should win…but it will probably go to Train.

Best Pop Collaboration is between Airplanes and Telephone, though I think the GaGa Beyonce video was cool, I don’t really think the song itself was all that great. B.O.B and them should win the Grammy.

Beiber, Boyle and GaGa…Oh my! - Best Pop Vocal Album nominees are Beiber, Boyle, GaGa, John Mayer and Katy Perry. Though I do have a touch of Beiber Fever, I think Lady GaGa should get the Grammy.

The nominees for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance are Kem, Usher, Jaheim, Musiq and El DeBarge. Based on the songs that are nominated and not necessarily who has the best voice, I’m going to predict the winner will be Usher for There Goes My Baby.

R.Kelly should win Best Traditional R&B Vocal Performance for When a Woman Loves.

Best Urban/Alternative Performance should go to CeeLo for F You, even though Tightrope by Janelle Monae is also worthy.

Fantasia will probably win Best R&B song for Bittersweet.

I truly believe that Raheem DeVaughn should win Best R&B Album for The Love & War Masterpiece…and I’m not just saying that because the most talented, not to mention cutest percussionist ever is on this album…and also just happens to be my husband.  I really do think this cd is a masterpiece! It is a double disc and every track on this album (except for maybe one) is absolutely wonderful. I’ll have to go into more detail about how much I love this album on another post cuz I could go on and on for days about how great it is. It really should’ve gotten more recognition…and maybe it will after it wins a Grammy.

Best Contemporary R&B Album is a toss up between R Kelly and Usher. I kind of want to go with R Kelly on this one, but you can’t ignore that Usher…even though I try very hard.

Kanye – Power or Eminem – Not Afraid for Best Rap Solo. I’m going to go with Eminem on this one.

Best Rap/Sung Collaboration is a tough one. I think John Legend and his crew don’t have a chance. It’s a toss up between Empire State of Mind, Deuces, Love the Way You Lie and Nothing on You. My psychic powers are telling me it will go to Empire State of Mind.

Lady Antebellum will win Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group and Best Country Song.

I’ll check back tomorrow to see how well I did with my predictions. Rock on!

The Price Is Right

In case you’re not aware, I’ve been known to have psychic powers…so the time has come for me to make my Grammy predictions. This week as the Grammy awards approach, I plan to foretell who will win the award in a few categories of particular interest. After the awards air, I’ll check back with you to confirm my predictions were accurate, therefore proving I am clairvoyant once and for all. The first category I would like to discuss is Best Female R&B Vocal Performance. And the nominees are…. Faith Evans “Gone Already”, Fantasia “Bittersweet”, Monica “Everything to Me”, Kelly Price “Tired” and Jazmine Sullivan “Holding You Down (Going in Circles)”. Ooh, this is a tough one. This is hard because each nominee is a great singer, so it is hard to pick a clear favorite, but if we’re talking about best vocal performance we have to focus on the quality of the nominated song…and for that reason, Faith Evans is ‘gone already’. She’s out of the running and so is Jazmine Sullivan, though I love her voice, “Going in Circles” isn’t her best vocal performance. So that leaves Fantasia, Monica and Kelly Price. I really believe the award should go to Kelly Price. Out of the options, she has the best vocal performance, but that song isn’t as popular as the others so I wonder if it would get the recognition it deserves. My psychic powers are telling me that Monica will receive the Grammy for “Everything to Me”. However, I think Kelly Price deserves to win for singing the mess out of that damn song. Click here to listen to Kelly Price sing “Tired”, if you’re not familiar with it. Also, take a second to vote on the poll to your right and let me know who you think should win so I can see if we’re on the same page.