LL Cool J will be hosting it for the third consecutive year. Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr are set to perform together. Long-winded acceptance speeches will be given, fashion choices will be judged and some of music’s biggest names will get together for various collaborative performances. It’s the 56th annual Grammy Awards and it looks to be quite a show.
Airing live from the Staples Center in Los Angeles on Sunday at 8 p.m., the so-called biggest night in music is set to air one night before the Grammy salute to the Beatles’ debut on “The Ed Sullivan Show.” McCartney and Starr’s performance will be in recognition of that night as they accept the 2014 Recording Academy Lifetime Achievement Award for their membership in the legendary band.
On the awards side of the night, Jay-Z received the most nominations (nine) but is not considered the favorite to dominate the airwaves Sunday night. Perhaps more surprisingly, Justin Timberlake was honored with seven nominations but none in any of the general field awards (Record of the Year, Album of the Year, Song of the Year and Best New Artist).
Record of the Year is most popularly predicted to go to “Get Lucky” by Daft Punk featuring Pharell Williams and Nile Rodgers. Others nominated in this category are Imagine Dragon’s “Radioactive,” Lorde’s “Royals,” Bruno Mars’ “Locked Out of Heaven” and Robin Thicke featuring T.I. and Pharell’s “Blurred Lines.”
Predictions for Album of the Year vary a bit more. The favorite seems to be Macklemore and Ryan Lewis’ “The Heist” and given the amount of publicity they received in 2013, this prediction doesn’t seem far off. However, Taylor Swift’s “Red” and Kendrick Lamar’s “good kid, m.A.A.d city” may give it a run for its money (even though the Grammys have historically proven averse to give the award to a rap album).
The nominees for Song of the Year are Lorde’s “Royals,” Macklemore and Ryan Lewis featuring Mary Lambert’s “Same Love,” P!nk and Nate Ruess’ “Just Give Me A Reason,” Katy Perry’s “Roar” and Bruno Mars’ “Locked Out of Heaven.” Given the amount of publicity surrounding the issue of same sex marriage, “Same Love” seems to have a particularly good chance of taking this award.
Perhaps the most surprising part about the category of Best New Artist is that Lorde was not nominated. Having received other nominations, it would seem this is award would suit her perfectly (though perhaps all of her controversy hurt her chances). The frontrunners in this category are Ed Sheeran and Macklemore and Ryan Lewis.
The performances for the 2014 Grammys are particularly exciting. Beyonce and Jay-Z are set to perform together, marking Beyonce’s first major TV performance since she dropped her new album in December.
The Grammys are famous for varied collaborations between artists who’ve never worked together before and this year promises to continue the trend with some interesting combinations.
Robin Thicke, whose infamous performance with Miley Cyrus was a hallmark of this year’s MTV Video Music Awards, is set to perform with classic rock band Chicago. This is perhaps one of the biggest jumps of the night and the contrast between the two performances is sure to be striking.
Metallica is set to give a performance with Lang Lang. The raw energy of Metallica mixed with the hypnotic effects of a piano could be magical.
The finale is particularly exciting, featuring Daft Punk, Nile Rodgers, Pharell Williams and Stevie Wonder. This collaboration will be interesting to watch — and as with most things, will either be hugely successful or a complete flop, though only time will tell which.
Whatever the events, this year’s Grammy awards promises to be an interesting night, even if the drunken acceptance speeches at the Golden Globes were almost enough to put you off of award shows for life.
