Who might score big at the Grammy nods

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It’s a year of newbie

L may typically stand for “loser” but artists like Lizzo, Lady Gaga, Lil Nas X and Lewis Capaldi are likely to score big next week when the Grammy nominations are unveiled, with expected nods in key categories, from album of the year to record and song of the year.

The Associated Press breaks down who might score multiple nominations on Wednesday, including performers whose names don’t start with the letter L.

New kids on the block

It’s the year of the newbie. Billie Eilish, Lewis Capaldi, Lil Nas X and Lizzo – though she really doesn’t count here (her debut came out in 2013 people!!!) – should make splashes in big categories, with a 99.9% guarantee for best new artist. Eilish, who has one of the year’s top-selling albums with her debut, is a shoo-in for album of the year, along with song and record of the year for “Bad Guy”. Lizzo should also score bids for the big three with her major-label debut, “Cuz I Love You”, and her super-successful two-year-old song “Truth Hurts” – yes, the Grammys let it qualify for its 2020 show (talk about bending the rules).

Lil Nas X and Billy Ray Cyrus’ “Old Town Road” set a record for most weeks at No. 1, making it a strong possibility that the unlikely duo will score nods for record and song of the year. And Capaldi is a perfect candidate for song and record of the year: Not only did his debut ballad, “Someone You Loved”, top the Billboard Hot 100 chart, he’s a big-voiced British singer, and we know the Grammys have a weak spot for those types (see Adele and Sam Smith).

As far as best new artist goes, those likely to join Lizzo, Lil Nas X, Eilish and Capaldi would be four others from this group: Rosalia, Morgan Wallen, Juice WRLD, Megan Thee Stallion, Lauv, Summer Walker, Jimmie Allen or Ari Lennox.

A star is born again

Though Lady Gaga won two honors for “Shallow” at this year’s Grammys, the soundtrack for “A Star is Born” is in contention for categories like album of the year and best pop vocal album at the 2020 show.

Several songs from the soundtrack were submitted, and could result in nominations in the pop and American Roots fields.

An album of the year win for Gaga – who won an Oscar for “Shallow” – would be her first after competing for the prize three times with 2008’s “The Fame”, 2009’s “The Fame Monster” and 2011’s “Born This Way”.

The Obamas: Grammy family

Michelle Obama is on task to join her hubby as a fellow Grammy winner.

The former first lady is likely to earn a nomination for best spoken word album for her book, “Becoming”. Barack Obama won best spoken word album twice – in 2006 for “Dreams from My Father” and in 2008 for “The Audacity of Hope”.

Taylor Swift: Love her or not?

Taylor Swift made history as the first woman to win album of the year twice with her own albums – but now the question is: Can she even score an album of the year nomination?

Swift’s newest album, “Lover”, was released a week before the Grammys’ cutoff date, so it’s eligible. But some question if that could happen since her 2017 album, “reputation”, didn’t earn a bid for the top prize, and none of its songs earned nominations. Its sole nomination was for best pop vocal album, but lost to Ariana Grande’s “Sweetener”.

Though two songs from “Lover” reached No. 2 on the Hot 100 chart, the songs haven’t made a splash like singles from her first five albums – so nominations for song and record of the year, or even best pop solo performance, go could either way.

Hip-Pop

The Billboard charts may let Lizzo and Lil Nas X call themselves rappers, but the Grammys’ rap committee have said “bye Felicia” to the breakthrough acts. Lizzo and Lil Nas X submitted their major hits – “Truth Hurts” and “Old Town Road” – to the rap categories but they were both pushed to the pop genre. “Truth Hurts” will now compete for best pop solo performance, while Lil Nas X and Billy Cyrus’ song may be nominated for best pop duo/group performance (it didn’t qualify for country either). Lil Nas X’s debut EP, “7”, was also kicked out the rap category and could earn a nomination for best pop vocal album.

R&Beyonce

Beyoncé has two albums gunning for Grammy nominations, “Homecoming: The Live Album” and “The Lion King: The Gift”.

She submitted songs to both the R&B and pop categories, and she’ll likely earn a nomination for best traditional R&B performance for “Before I Let Go” and best song written for visual media for “Spirit”, from the “Lion King” film where she voiced the character Nala.

In other R&B categories, including best R&B song and best R&B performance, it’s hard to say if she’ll be nominated: Sometimes the R&B committee won’t nominate her since she’s won 18 R&B Grammys and they want to make room for others to win.

More likely contenders include Ella Mai, Summer Walker, Ari Lennox and H.E.R.

Pop Players

The best pop duo/group performance category will be stacked this year.

The Jonas Brothers marked a major comeback, and will likely be nominated for the No.1 hit, “Sucker”. Another guarantee is Shawn Mendes and Camila Cabello’s “Senorita”, which could even score nominations like record or song of the year.

Other likely nominees are “Old Town Road”, Swae Lee and Post Malone’s “Sunflower”, Ed Sheeran and Justin Bieber’s “I Don’t Care” and Sam Smith and Normani’s “Dancing With a Stranger”.

Music films

Another loaded category will be best music film, with Aretha Franklin’s “Amazing Grace” as the front-runner.

Other nominees should include Beyoncé’s “Homecoming”, “Springsteen on Broadway”, “Rolling Thunder Revue: A Bob Dylan Story by Martin Scorsese”, the Clarence Avant docu “The Black Godfather” and Ron Howard’s film on opera tenor Luciano Pavarotti.

Dynamic Duo: Maren Morris and Busbee

Maren Morris, who won album of the year for “GIRL” at the CMA Awards this week, is a likely contender for album of the year at the Grammys.

It would be a sentimental win for Morris, a Grammy favorite, since her longtime producer Busbee died in September at age 43 from brain cancer. (AP)

By Mesfin Fekadu

This news has been read 8162 times!