2006 Grammy Awards: Predictions

Fresh off my impressive prediction of the 2006 Oscar nominations, here are my predictions for the Grammys. The 2006 (48th Annual) Grammy Awards are going to be given out in Los Angeles on Wednesday February 8. Last year, Mad Professah predicted two of the four wins in the four "big" categories. This year, the artists with the most nominations are Mariah Carey, Kanye West and John Legend (tied with 8 each). Mariah Carey has only won 2 Grammy's previously, in 1990, so this year's slew of nomination is an amazing career turn around for the soulful diva. This is the second year in a row that Kanye West has led the Grammy nominations race. John Legend has been unheralded in the background for years (he played piano and sang on Lauryn Hill's "Everything is Everything" at the age of 16!) but his debut album has generally been received with rave reviews (though the Mad Professah is not impressed). Anyway....here are the nominees (and my predictions)!

ALBUM OF THE YEAR: Mariah Carey: "The Emancipation of Mimi"; Paul McCartney: "Chaos and Creation in the Backyard"; Gwen Stefani: "Love. Angel. Music. Baby."; U2: "How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb"; Kanye West: "Late Registration" ;
Should Win: "The Emancipation of Mimi” by Mariah Carey.
Will Win: “Late Registration” by Kanye West.
This is a very tough category to predict. The best selling album of the year is Mariah Carey's Mimi. However, artistically Kanye West's Late Registration is the most respected of the bunch. But then again this is clearly the last time Grammy voters will be able to honor a former Beatle, so nostalgia may siphon off a significant fraction of votes in favor of Sir Paul. It's very possible that U2's How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb may sneak in and win the trophy. I'm just hoping that enough people will vote their conscience, though if I was voting I would recognize Mariah Carey's comeback.

RECORD OF THE YEAR: Mariah Carey: "We Belong Together"; Gorillaz featuring De La Soul: "Feel Good Inc."; Green Day: "Boulevard of Broken Dreams"; Gwen Stefani: "Hollaback Girl"; Kanye West: "Gold Digger";
Should Win: “We Belong Together" by Mariah Carey.
Will Win: “We Belong Together" by Mariah Carey.
This is the most important category. Again, Mariah Carey has the most commercially successful entry. However, Kanye's "Gold Digger" is a truly brilliant record--I can still remember where I was the first time I heard it. The Gorillaz' track is even more impressive--it was indelible and ubiquitous in 2005. Either one of these three would be deserving of the Grammy for Record of the Year, but I believe that the most popular track will win: "We Belong Together."

SONG OF THE YEAR: "Bless The Broken Road" by Bobby Boyd, Jeff Hanna & Marcus Hummon, songwriters (Rascal Flatts); "Devils & Dust" by Bruce Springsteen, songwriter (Bruce Springsteen)"; Ordinary People" by W. Adams & J. Stephens, songwriters (John Legend); "Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own" by U2, songwriters (U2); "We Belong Together"by J. Austin, M. Carey, J. Dupri & M. Seal, songwriters and (D. Bristol, K. Edmonds, S. Johnson, P. Moten, S. Sully & B. Womack, songwriters) (Mariah Carey);
Should Win: “We Belong Together" by Mariah Carey.
Will Win: Ordinary People" by John Legend.
The best song of the year is "We Belong Together" but I think the voting members will not want to reward a song which contains (credited) important songwriting elements from another song, Babyface's "Two Occasions." Lots of people love the John Legend song(MadProfessah is not one of them). U2 has one this category before (2000's "Beautiful Day") and with 16 Grammys at home can never really be counted out of any category. I suspect that U2 will pull out a surprise win here, especially if John Legend does not win Best New Artist.

BEST NEW ARTIST: Ciara, Fall Out Boy, Keane, John Legend, SugarLand.
Should Win: John Legend.
Will Win: John Legend.
Last year, Kanye West lost this award to "Mediocre 5" (more popularly known as Maroon 5). In that case, one would expect Ciara to win, but hopefully Grammy voters will be smarter this year than they were last year or the year before (Evanescence over 50 Cent?).

Anyway, tune in to CBS on Wednesday at 8pm to see what happens...The Grammy telecast can be a crapshoot, but this year it starts with a pairing of Madonna and Gorillaz. It will also be interesting to see if Mariah has the audacity to lip sync a "live" performance in front of the entire recording industry.