The Grammys: The Winners

UPDATE: The Grammys have been and gone, and proved an excellent night for some. The biggest winner of the night was Beyoncé, who won six categories. Here are the actual winners of each category predicted.

This Sunday sees the USA kick-start the music award ceremony calendar with the Grammys. The event will be the 52nd awards ceremony and, as ever, there is some fierce competition, with umpteen categories to be won. Here’s a rundown of some of the primary categories and our predictions for Sunday night:

1. Record Of The Year

   365 days worth of every musicians work condensed into five tracks which sum up 2009. It is going to be a close call as four out of the five feature in nearly every club all over the world. Lady Gaga’s “Poker Face” took the year by storm, again played in clubs and on radio stations across the globe. Sadly, it looks as though Kings Of Leon will lose out with “Use Somebody”. As good as the song is, it’s not had as much of an impact as the Black Eyed Peas’ “I Gotta Feeling” or “Poker Face”. Beyoncé’s “Halo” and Taylor Swift’s “You Belong With Me” are again worthy of a mention, but just aren’t as popular as Black Eyed Peas or Lady Gaga.

2. Album Of The Year

   A trend already seems to be emerging. Black Eyed Peas, Beyoncé, Lady Gaga, and Taylor Swift are again nominated for this category as well. Kings Of Leon have been replaced by Dave Matthews Band. Predictions for this one again lean toward Lady Gaga but also Beyoncé as her album “I Am… Sasha Fierce” has provided three huge singles with “Halo”, “If I Were A Boy”, and “Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It)”. Taylor Swift’s and Dave Matthews Band’s albums would be surprise winners, when compared to “The Fame” by Lady Gaga and “The E.N.D” by Black Eyed Peas respectively. All eyes will be firmly on Beyoncé for this award.

3. Best Female Pop Vocal Performance

   Taylor Swift has again poked her head in for this one, this time for “You Belong With Me”. However, she’s up against some strong contenders with Pink, Katy Perry, Beyoncé, and Adele. Katy Perry’s “Hot N Cold” could take this one, despite being released in 2008. However Pink’s “Sober” and Beyoncé’s “Halo” both had an impact on the pop world last year. Beyoncé did have more popular songs, but the category is about the performance, not the popularity. This one could be anyone’s, but the money is on Katy Perry or Pink.

4. Best Pop Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocals

   The first of the long category titles sees the nominees for basically the best pop group performance which includes vocals. “I Gotta Feeling” is again mentioned here, after effectively taking the USA and the world by storm. However MGMT’s “Kids” is also in contention which is a much better song. Bon Jovi, Hall & Oates, and The Fray are in the running but ideally “Kids” will win. Black Eyed Peas look set to win countless awards tomorrow night, so hopefully MGMT will bag this one just to stop it being a Fergie-fest.

5. Best Rock Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocals

   The clash of the middle-of-the-road giants now. The kings of bland rock Coldplay are up against U2, Eric Clapton (OK he’s not that boring, but as of late not that interesting),and the “punks” turned stadium-rockers Green Day. Kings Of Leon are also in the running with “Use Somebody” which will hopefully win. Neither Coldplay’s “Life In Technicolor II” or Green Day’s “21 Guns” are good songs at all. Similarly, U2’s “I’ll Go Crazy If I Don’t Go Crazy Tonight” doesn’t warrant listening to more than once. However, it is more than likely “21 Guns” will take this one, as Green Day are still huge in America.

6. Best Rock Album

   Green Day and U2 are back again for this award, both looking likely to win. Dave Matthews Band also make a return along with Eric Clapton — however it remains unanswered as to why a live album is better than some other original rock albums who haven’t been included. AC/DC’s comeback album “Black Ice” has also been nominated, which sadly isn’t anything that impressive compared to their earlier material, however it is still better than the other four contenders. Despite its quality, Green Day could be the favourites yet again.

See the full list of awards and nominees.