Grammy Sweep 2013: The Pop Side...

Since this week's "album sweep" was so short, I'd figure it's the best time to trot out this year's nominees for the 55th annual Grammy awards. I'll do the genre awards like my weekly "chart sweeps", then I'll finish it off with the all-around ones...first off - the "pop side"...

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Best Pop Vocal Album:

Kelly Clarkson - Stronger

 
Florence + The Machine - Ceremonials

 
fun. - Some Nights

 
Maroon5 - Overexposed

 
P!nk - The Truth About Love

This year's Pop vocal album spread is a good mix of male and female, rock and dance, though certainly white-bread (are there no black "pop" notables?). There's nothing completely undeserving (though Maroon 5 may be on more on name than material), but no real clunkers.

who should win: Florence & The Machine - the most stunning and creative of the bunch by far.
who probably will win: I'd say a toss-up between a rejuvenated Clarkson & "overexposed" Maroon5.


Best Pop Solo Performance:

Adele - "Set Fire To The Rain (Live)"

Kelly Clarkson - "Stronger (What Doesn't Kill You)"

Carly Rae Jepsen - "Call Me Maybe"

Katy Perry - "Wide Awake"

Rihanna - "Where Have You Been"

If there's one thing I detest recently about the Grammys, its when the voting group as a whole feels the need to nominate "live" versions of songs just to either get around eligibility date rules or satiate the limited artist knowledge they have. It happened last year with Train, and now it's Adele. I get it. You all like Adele. I like Adele. But there are a ton of good "pop" records that deserved recognition beyond picking four other of the biggest names in music (not necessarily sellers, just names). Boring category more like the Peoples choice awards. No wonder Beliebers are pissed. (By the way, BAD move combining men and women on all these, narrowing exposure for everyone.)

Who I think should win (of these): Rihanna's "Where Have You Been". Tough choice, but at least this is one of her best vocal performances.
Who probably will win: the old geezers will vote Adele back in, pissing the rest of them off.


Best Pop Duo/Group Performance:

Florence + The Machine - "Shake It Out"

fun. f/Jonelle Monae - "We Are Young"

Gotye f/Kimbra - "Somebody That I Used To Know"

LMFAO - "Sexy & I Know It"

Maroon 5 f/Wiz Khalifa - "Payphone"

Another ridiculous Grammy trend - deciding who is a group. The one repeated line in "We Are Young" by Jonelle Monae does not make this a "group" record. Gotye's isn't much better. And Florence + The Machine in the context of a group is iffy as it is. And as fun as "Sexy As I Know It" is, making it Grammy-worthy is a huge stretch.

Who I'd like to win (giving what I'm given here) - Gotye. Original and artistic. ("Shake it Out" a close second but not my favorite from the record)
Who probably will win - Gotye. It was everywhere, so most voters will know it already.


Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album:

Michael Buble' - Christmas

Carole King - A Holiday Carole

Paul McCartney - Kisses On The Bottom

Really? This is it? I mean, Michael Buble's album was the biggest thing from last year that wasn't Adele, and Paul McCartney's delve into jazz vocals wasn't bad, but Carole King? Singing Christmas songs? Really? No.

Who I would like to win - Paul McCartney (by default)
Who will probably win - Paul McCartney (by name)


Best Pop Instrumental Album:

Gerald Albright & Norman Brown - 24/7

Chris Botti - Impressions

Larry Carlton - Four Hands And A Heart, Vol. I

Dave Koz - Live At The Blue Note Tokyo

Arun Shenoy - Rumbadoodle

Um, this is not the pop instrumental nominees, these are the Lite-Jazz nominees. Stop pretending. Really. And Shenoy's is probably another beneficiary of voter campaigning, at least it's listenable (see Walser, Al)..

Who I think should win - doesn't matter. Not pop. Shouldn't be a category (make it a jazz one instead) and bring back male and female solo performances.
Who will probably win - Chris Botti (for the amount of guests on the album)


Next up - the Rock field....