Countdown to Grammy Night

By DC Cueva

@DC408dxtr

Last month saw the beginning of the countdown to what The Recording Academy fittingly calls it, Music's Biggest Night, the Grammy Awards, which takes place a week from tonight, Sunday, January 26th (two weeks earlier than normal because of the Winter Olympics). As a passionate music fan who's into the entire music scene in addition to just being a Linkin Park fan and listener to CHR radio, this is one of those events I look forward to every year, along with any music awards show for that matter. And it's on that list of events I record as well, having done so annually since Eminem & Elton John took stage in 2001; along with collecting some official programs from the show as well.

For the last few years now, the nominations (albeit some of the key categories) have been revealed on a one-hour live concert special taking place at Nokia Live Club LA, across the street from the Staples Center and within walking distance of the Grammy Museum in downtown Los Angeles' LA Live district. This year's field of nominations is another great one packed with many of the industry's biggest names and, though many might be disappointed that some of their favorites were snubbed by the voters, this most-prestigious of awards in music rewards the year's best recordings by the work of both talent and great music, not by mere album sales or popularity.

Before we look at the nominees and categories, here is DC SocialPulse's sampling of artist tweets upon hearing that they had been nominated back on December 6th.

- @taylorswift13: I LOVE YOU GUYS WE GOT AN ALBUM OF THE YEAR NOMINATION AND I AM TOO EXCITED TO USE PUNCTUATION

- @robinthicke: What an incredible honor, thank you to the Grammy committee for the nomination. This is the icing on the cake for this year. @TheGRAMMYs

- @SaraBareilles: I never in a billion million years thought I'd be nominated for Album of the Year. I'm litterally shaking. Best birthday ever. Woah.

- @Pharrell: Man-nnn...thank you so much! "@TheGRAMMYs: Congrats @pharrell with 7 nominations! #GRAMMYnoms” Congratulations to all the @TheGRAMMYs nominees!!! 👏

- @edsheeran: Got nominated for best new artist at the Grammys. Awesome sauce. Very happy right now. Oh, apparently I got 2 nominations. Super sweet wicked awesome

- @CalvinHarris: 2 Grammy nominations! 😛

- @BrunoMars: @TheGRAMMYs !!!! THANK YOU!!!

- @lordemusic: FOUR! couldn't be more happy for @kendricklamar and @jamesblake, also. incredibly well deserved

- @macklemore: 7 Grammy nominations. I could have never dreamed this. Song of the year, album of the year, best new artist.... I'm completely in shock

- @katyperry: Well, that's a great way to wake up! Thank you @TheGRAMMYs for my TWO nominations! Never imagined a lil old song about 🐯+💪 would have such❤️

- @katyperry: .@SaraBareilles congrats lady! Who woulda thought hotel cafe would produce 2 little Grammy nomers. 🙌 #albumoftheyear

- @ImagineDragons: Wow.  Incredibly grateful.  2 nominations.  Thank you @TheGRAMMYs. xxID

- @Zedd: HOLY S---!!! I'M NOMINATED FOR A GRAMMY w/ CLARITY!!!!!!

- @MiguelUnlimited: Big congrats to all of @TheGRAMMYs nominees and thanks for all the congrats!

- @arminvanbuuren: Kinda freaking out here!! Is it true I'm nominated for a #GRAMMYnoms ?? @TrevorGuthrie @BennoDeGoeij

Now to the nominations, beginning with the genre-specific categories, working our way to the general categories. And we start off with the Pop categories, which is the biggest one of interest to those who listen to, or work in, CHR/Top 40 pop radio:

- Best Pop Solo Performance is, as always, a packed one and four of the five songs in this category received heavy pop radio airplay while the 5th one was much popular at Hot AC stations. They are: "Brave" by Sara Bareilles, Lorde's smash anthem "Royals", "When I Was Your Man" by Bruno Mars, Katy Perry's summertime hit "Roar" and Justin Timberlake's "Mirrors."

- Best Pop Duo/Group Performance will also see great competition among megastars, a dance duo and the song that you just couldn't get out of your head. They are: "Get Lucky" by Daft Punk & Pharrell, "Just Give Me A Reason" by Pink featuring Fun.'s Nate Reuss, "Stay" by Rihanna featuring Mikky Ekko, "Blurred Lines" by Robin Thicke feat. T.I. & Pharrell, and "Suit & Tie" by Justin Timberlake & Jay-Z.

- Best Pop Vocal Album is, like the Solo Performance category, one with the big names being represented, and any of the five can take home the Grammy in this, considering their popularity on radio & sales. They are: Paradise by Lana Del Rey, Pure Heroine by Lorde, Unorthodox Jukebox by Bruno Mars, Blurred Lines by Robin Thicke, and The 20/20 Experience - The Complete Experience by Justin Timberlake.

In the Rap categories, they are the big one of interest to everyone who is into the hip-hop world and the big hitters are represented in each of the field's four categories.

- Beat Rap Performance: When you have five of the industry's biggest names nominated in a category like Best Rap Performance, it literally can be anyone's award to win, and all the fellas in this category can win. They are: "Started From The Bottom" by Drake, "Berzerk" by Eminem, "Tom Ford" by Jay-Z, "Swimming Pools (Drank)" by Kendrick Lamar, and "Thrift Shop" by Macklemore & Ryan Lewis ft. Wanz.

- Best Rap/Sung Collaboration: A relatively-new category in this field, which saw my boys Linkin Park & Jay-Z take this award in 2006, this also features great talent top to bottom and always is. And Hova has a 5/2 chance to pick this one up, with "Part II (On The Run)" by Jay-Z feat. Beyoncé and "Holy Grail" by Jay-Z feat. Justin Timberlake being his two entries. The others are: "Power Trip" by J. Cole feat. Miguel, "Now or Never" by Kendrick Lamar feat. Mary J. Blige, and "Remember You" by Wiz Khalifa feat. The Weeknd.

- Best Rap Song, a songwriters award, honors those who not only had the best track but also the best lyrics too. They are: "Problems" by ASAP Rocky feat. Drake, 2 Chainz & Kendrick Lamar, "Holy Grail" by Jay-Z feat. Justin Timberlake, "New Slaves" by Kanye West, "Started From The Bottom" by Drake, and "Thrift Shop" by Macklemore & Ryan Lewis feat. Wanz.

- And Best Rap Album, equally as competitive as the Best Rap Performance Grammy: any one of these five can take the award, and all of them can make a case that they should be the one: Nothing Was The Same by Drake, Magna Carta...Holy Grail by Jay-Z, Good Kid, M.A.A.D City by Kendrick Lamar, The Heist by Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, and Yeezus by Kanye West.

In the Electronic Dance Music categories, the big names of a genre that has come into its own in the last few years and resurrected dance music to the mainstream will vie for Grammy gold.

- Best Dance Recording sees some good competition for that honor. They are: "Sweet Nothing" by Calvin Harris feat. Florence Welch, "Clarity" by Zedd, "Atmosphere" by Kaskade, "This Is What It Feel Like" by Armin Van Buuren feat. Trevor Guthrie of SoulDecision fame, and "Need U (100%)" by Duke Dumont feat. A*M*E & MNEK.

- The nominees for Best Dance/Electronica Album are: Random Access Memories by Daft Punk, 18 Months by Calvin Harris, Atmosphere by Kaskade, Settle by Disclosure, and A Color Map of the Sun by Pretty Lights.

- And for Best Remixed Recording, the remix of Lana Del Rey's "Summertime Sadness" by Cedric Gervais is among the nominees, along with Ned Shepard & Sultan's mix of Bruno Mars' "Locked Out of Heaven" and Alesso's rework of OneRepublic's "If I Lose Myself."

In other key categories of interest to the young audience, some big names will vie for the biggest honor in the industry...

> In the Rock & Alternative categories, "Radioactive" by Imagine Dragons is up for Best Rock Performance along with David Bowie, Led Zeppelin, Queens of the Stone Age, Jack White and Alabama Shakes. Other Rock nominees include Dave Grohl's collaboration with Paul McCartney, Muse and Black Sabbath among the nominees; while Best Alternative Music Album includes albums by Vampire Weekend and Nine Inch Nails going for gold.

> In R&B, some nominees of interest include, "How Many Drinks?" by Miguel, up for Best R&B Performance; "Pusher Love Girl" from Justin Timberlake nominated for Best R&B Song along with Maroon 5's PJ Morton being nominated for "Only One (w/ Stevie Wonder)"; Unapologetic by Rihanna up for Best Urban Contemporary Album; and Girl On Fire by Alicia Keys nominated for Best R&B Album along with Love In The Future by John Legend. Former American Idol winner Fantasia is also nominated as well, with two nods.

> And in Country, Best Country Solo Performance sees Hunter Hayes ("I Want Crazy"), Miranda Lambert and husband Blake Shelton vying for top honors along with Darius Rucker of Hootie & The Blowfish fame. Collaborations by Kelly Clarkson and Taylor Swift w/ Keith Urban & Tim McGraw highlight Duo/Group Performance, while Taylor, Blake and Kacey Musgraves will look at nabbing Best Country Song and Best Country Album.

Other nominees of note outside these genres include: Adele's "Skyfall", "We Both Know" by Colbie Caillat & Gavin DeGraw and "Young and Beautiful" by Lana Del Rey short listed for Best Song Written for Visual Media. The Grammys' own video categories sees Capital Cities' "Safe and Sound," Jay-Z's "Picasso Baby", "Can't Hold Us" by Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, "Suit & Tie" by Justin Timberlake feat. Jay-Z and Jack White go for Best Music Video, while Coldplay, Green Day, Mumford & Sons, Paul McCartney and Ben Harper go for Best Music Film. And for Producer of the Year, notable hit makers Rob Cavallo, Dr. Luke and Pharrell Williams are among the finalists for the biggest prize for the producers.

Finally, we close with the General categories where all genres go up against one another for the most coveted awards. And most of the artists in this field are well known

- The award that, at any music awards show, is always considered the Kiss of Death award, the Best New Artist honor has been bestowed on Mariah Carey, Lauryn Hill, Christina Aguilera, Alicia Keys, Maroon 5, John Legend, Carrie Underwood, Amy Winehouse, Adele and last year by fun. The 2014 nominees are: James Blake, Kendrick Lamar, Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, Kacey Musgraves and Ed Sheeran.

- For Song Of The Year, which is the biggest award for the songwriters, it might as well be placed in the Pop category as all five nominees garnered strong airplay on pop radio, and all had great lyrics as well. They are: "Just Give Me A Reason" by Pink feat. Nate Reuss, "Locked Out of Heaven" by Bruno Mars, "Roar" by Katy Perry, "Royals" by Lorde, and the equality anthem "Same Love" by Macklemore & Ryan Lewis feat. Mary Lambert.

- For Record of the Year, . They are: "Get Lucky" by Daft Punk & Pharrell Williams, "Radioactive" by Imagine Dragons, "Royals" by Lorde, "Locked Out Of Heaven" by Bruno Mars, and "Blurred Lines" by Robin Thicke feat. T.I. & Pharrell.

- And for the biggest honor of all and always the last award of the night given out, Album of the Year sees pop, country, hip-hop and EDM big names going for the big one. They are: The Blessed Unrest by Sara Bareilles, Random Access Memories by Daft Punk, Good Kid, M.A.A.D City by Kendrick Lamar, The Heist by Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, and Red by Taylor Swift.

By the time all of the nominees were revealed, it was Jay-Z who nabbed the most nominations with 9, followed by four artists with 7 nods each - Kendrick Lamar, Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, Justin Timberlake and Pharrell, and Drake with 5.

For me, my predictions are that it will be a night where hip-hop - which once was ignored on the telecasts in its early years before it broke into the mainstream - will rule the night, including perhaps a good night for Macklemore & Ryan Lewis in taking Song of the Year and Best New Artist, and also perhaps a chance to nab the last award in Album of the Year. To consider that they were the first independent artist to not only top the Billboard Hot 100 but also the Billboard 200 is quite an amazing accomplishment. I also expect Lorde to perhaps do well too, with her being nominated for Record and Song of the Year, Pop Vocal Performance & Album, having already joined fellow New Zealander Kimbra atop the Hot 100 charts. And I wouldn't be surprised if the Vegas boys can cap off their breakthrough year with Imagine Dragons taking all, if not most, of the categories where they are nominated in. And as it is not a mere popularity contest, don't be surprised if the artist you're rooting for doesn't win a Grammy - the voters always look for the best in class according to their merit and quality of their work.

So, I am definitely looking forward to next Sunday night and the 56th Annual Grammy Awards. No wonder why it has come to be known as "Music's Biggest Night." There's always those collaborations between artists from different genres of music, the great performances from the biggest stars and all that makes it one of the year's most-popular annual events on television.

As we did for the AMA's, DC Blog will be taking the SocialPulse of Grammy Night with a twitter diary of artist tweets plus my own review coming a few days after the big show. In addition, stay with us here as we will be covering the busy next few months, along with wall-to-wall coverage of the current Real World season. Until then, thanks for reading and have fun.

- DC