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Final Nominations List
45th Annual GRAMMY® Awards
(Eligibility Year October 1, 2001 through September 30, 2002)
(Without looking at any other reviews, here are my picks for the top categories (or atleast the ones I know...))
Record Of The Year
“A Thousand Miles,” Vanessa Carlton; “Without Me,” Eminem; “Don't Know Why,” Norah Jones; “Dilemma,” Nelly Featuring Kelly Rowland; “How You Remind Me,” Nickelback
This is the award that is essentially given to the best song. Thus, it is such a confusing category. My best guess will be “Don’t Know Why.” Eminem’s going to win a lot of awards in the rap categories, but Norah Jones’ song was so much better. She’s soul and jazz combined with a beautiful voice. A good find among all the other crap out there.
Album Of The Year
Home, Dixie Chicks; The Eminem Show, Eminem; Come Away With Me, Norah Jones; Nellyville, Nelly; The Rising, Bruce Springsteen
I would like to give this category to Norah Jones even though I only placed her on my honourable mention list for last year’s top ten albums. However, The Rising was a huge blockbuster for Bruce this year. I haven’t heard it all, but Springsteen’s a well-crafted songwriter and his touching on the emotions of 9/11 combined with his broken hiatus will make him a sure favourite with the Recording Academy.
Song Of The Year
“Complicated,” Avril Lavigne & The Matrix, songwriters (Avril Lavigne); “Don't Know Why,” Jesse Harris, songwriter (Norah Jones); “The Rising,” Bruce Springsteen, songwriter (Bruce Springsteen); “A Thousand Miles,” Vanessa Carlton, songwriter (Vanessa Carlton); “Where Were You (When The World Stopped Turning),” Alan Jackson, songwriter (Alan Jackson)
Same as above, I would like to give the award to Norah Jones. This is the songwriter’s award, meaning you have to ask yourself the question: If someone else played this song as written, would it still sound as good? That’s how I think of when I pick my winner for this award. “The Rising” was an extremely powerful song and again, Bruce is an oldie. The Academy loves oldies (we all remember Steely Dan’s big win two years ago).
Best New Artist
Ashanti, Michelle Branch, Norah Jones, Avril Lavigne, John Mayer
This was such a good year for new music and this is such a tough category to select for. The above artists all went into the eligibility year as complete unknowns and became household names, breaking the boyband cycle of past years. I’m going select Michelle Branch (Don’t shoot!). In my opinion, she’s a good singer and has sex appeal (okay, that last point is irrelevant to the Grammys, I know). Ashanti’s been dubbed the new “Queen of Soul,” but most of her work hasn’t been that impressive to me. Norah Jones is good, but a little less mainstream for the recording academy. She would have to be my runner-up for the award though. Lastly is Avril Lavigne? I wouldn’t put it past them to select Avril Lavigne, but I completely dislike her with a passion. So I go with Michelle.
Field 1 - Pop
Best Female Pop Vocal Performance
“Soak Up The Sun,” Sheryl Crow; “Don't Know Why,” Norah Jones; “Complicated,” Avril Lavigne; “Get The Party Started,” Pink; “Overprotected,” Britney Spears
I feel safe in my judgment that Norah Jones will win this one. She had a really nice voice and her song was one of the better ones nominated in the category. Pink and Britney made two of the years worst songs. It surprised me that the Academy couldn’t come up with any other nominations. I wish Avril Lavigne wasn’t nominated for so many awards. She’s going to win one just to piss me off, but not this one.
Best Male Pop Vocal Performance
“7 Days,” Craig David; “Original Sin,” Elton John; “Your Body Is A Wonderland,” John Mayer; “Fragile,” Sting; “October Road,” James Taylor
As I said, the Academy loves oldies. This presents a conundrum since there are a lot of qualified songs in this category this year. Sting has been a Grammy favourite, but come on, James Taylor? The problem with this group of songs is that none of them received much recognition in the last year. Which is why John Mayer or Elton John might win. I’d put it as a toss-up between someone with John in his name.
Best Pop Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocal
“Everyday,” Bon Jovi; “Girl All The Bad Guys Want,” Bowling For Soup; “Where Are You Going,” Dave Matthews Band; “Hey Baby,” No Doubt; “Girlfriend,” *NSYNC
God help us, why did *NSYNC get a nomination this year? And Bowling for Soup!? I venture to say that 99% of the Academy hasn’t even heard of them. Put this between Bon Jovi and No Doubt. I know, some people will argue that Bon Jovi is rock. To that I say Bon Jovi was rock. Bon Jovi. I, again, am not a Bon Jovi fan, but they made a great song that exemplified what I could call a pop song.
Best Pop Collaboration With Vocals
“Dirrty,” Christina Aguilera Featuring Redman; “Christmas Song,” India.Arie & Stevie Wonder; “What A Wonderful World,” Tony Bennett & kd lang; “Better Than Anything,” Natalie Cole & Diana Krall, “It's So Easy,” Sheryl Crow & Don Henley; “The Game Of Love,” Santana & Michelle Branch
I can eliminate 3 choices off the bat. And I’ll leave myself with Bennett/Lang and Cole/Krall. These are two excellent collaborations that leave me selecting Bennett and Lang doing Louis Armstrong. I heard the song on Conan and it was a really nice cover. Cole and Krall are both really good too, but… Louis Armstrong wrote such beautiful music.
Best Pop Vocal Album
Come Away With Me, Norah Jones; Let Go, Avril Lavigne; Rock Steady, No Doubt; Missundaztood, Pink; Britney, Britney Spears
I wish they would stop nominating Pink and Britney for awards they shouldn’t win. For starters, Pink should have taken out a dictionary when spelling her album’s name. Moving on though, my first instinct was to select Norah Jones for this award. It’s a shame her album is not “pop” enough to win for this category, and not Springsteeny enough to beat out Bruce. The fact of the matter is Avril’s album will probably win this since it’s most likely what the Academy wants.
Field 2 - Dance
Best Dance Recording
“Gotta Get Thru This,” Daniel Bedingfield; “Days Go By,” Dirty Vegas; “Superstylin’,” Groove Armada; “Love At First Sight,” Kylie Minogue; “Hella Good,” No Doubt
I feel bad for No Doubt because I don’t see them winning this award either. Dirty Vegas, Groove Armada, and Kylie are all good options. Kylie’s been around, but that particular song was not one of her most public ones. Dirty Vegas had huge success with their music video and also the song’s usage in Mitsubishi commercials. Good marketing strategy might help in payoffs for them.
Field 4 - Rock
Best Female Rock Vocal Performance
“Steve McQueen,” Sheryl Crow; “The Weakness In Me,” Melissa Etheridge; “Sk8er Boi,“ Avril Lavigne; “ Gnawin' On It,” Bonnie Raitt; “Alone,” Susan Tedeschi
I’ve heard a lot of good things about Susan Tedeschi over the years. How did “Sk8r Boi” get into a category with credible artists?
Best Male Rock Vocal Performance
“Slow Burn,” David Bowie; “45,” Elvis Costello; “The Barry Williams Show,” Peter Gabriel; “Darkness, Darkness,” Robert Plant; “The Rising,” Bruce Springsteen
Toughie. Bruce again though. That song was the most prominent other than Peter Gabriel’s but Peter Gabriel’s was just weird.
Best Rock Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocal
“Girls Of Summer,” Aerosmith; “In My Place,” Coldplay; “My Sacrifice,” Creed; “Hero,” Chad Kroeger Featuring Josey Scott; “When I'm Gone,” 3 Doors Down; “Take Me As I Am,” Tonic; “Walk On,” U2
They can’t give this to U2. I’m surprised there was no other song that could have been nominated because U2 only made it on again this year because the song was on the tribute album. My favourite is Coldplay, but that’s being partial. But it’s a tossup between Creed and Kroger/Scott. My ultimate pick I think will rest with Creed. It’s good ol’ generic arena rock that got boring atleast a little bit slower than “Hero” did.
Best Hard Rock Performance
“All My Life,” Foo Fighters; “I Stand Alone,” Godsmack; “Youth Of The Nation,” P.O.D.; “No One Knows,” Queens Of The Stone Age; “Aerials,” System Of A Down
Wow. What a category. I would like to put this one as a toss between Foo Fighters and Queens of the Stone Age. Both albums received immense critical acclaim upon their releases at the end of the eligibility year. Stick this one to QOTSA. Dave Grohl still makes a good drummer.
Best Metal Performance
“Here To Stay,” Korn; “Portrait,” P.O.D.; “My Plague,” Slipknot; “Get Inside,” Stone Sour; Track from: Stone Sour; “Never Going to Stop (The Red, Red Kroovy),” Rob Zombie
I’m not too keen on this year’s nominees for this category. By the sound of things though, I would venture out a wager on P.O.D. They’d made some refreshing metal rock with a positive message that will hopefully be looked favourably upon by the Academy. Slipknot is a steady metal presence though, so who knows?
Best Rock Instrumental Performance
“Approaching Pavonis Mons By Balloon (Utopia Planitia),” The Flaming Lips; “Sco-Mule,” Gov't Mule; “Apollo,” Tony Levin; “Starry Night,” Joe Satriani; “Love Theme From The Godfather,“ Slash
Hmmm… Don’t know too much of Satriani’s music, but I know he’s a fair guitar legend. Don’t get me wrong, so is Slash (ha!). And Flaming Lips had a hell of an album with Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots. I’m sure the same is for the Gov’t Mule album. But Satriani’s music probably lends best to the instrumental category.
Best Rock Song
“All My Life,” Foo Fighters, songwriters (Foo Fighters); “Hero,” Chad Kroeger, songwriter (Chad Kroeger Featuring Josey Scott); “I Stand Alone,” Sully Erna, songwriter (Godsmack); “The Rising,” Bruce Springsteen, songwriter (Bruce Springsteen); “When I'm Gone,” Brad Arnold, Todd Harrell, Chris Henderson & Matt Roberts, songwriters (3 Doors Down)
This is the songwriter’s category again, only specifically for rock songs this time. Bruce is going to win it again, for the same reasons that he’s going to win the best song overall. Otherwise, “Hero” was a chart topper that was pretty good. I don’t think it’s enough to beat Bruce though.
Best Rock Album
When I Was Cruel, Elvis Costello; C'mon, C'mon, Sheryl Crow; Dreamland, Robert Plant; The Rising, Bruce Springsteen; Head On Straight, Tonic
I’m not trying to play favourites here, but I said from the beginning. Bruce will be the night’s biggest winner. And he’ll end his night’s run here with best rock album. Its been a long time coming for him and he’s not going away empty-handed. I’m not partial to Springsteen, in fact I’m not a fan of his. But he’ll win.
Field 5 - Alternative
Best Alternative Music Album
Sea Change, Beck; Walking With Thee, Clinic; A Rush Of Blood To The Head, Coldplay; Cruel Smile, Elvis Costello & The Imposters; Behind The Music, The Soundtrack Of Our Lives
I’ll admit, this is my favourite category because it’s the only one that presents an alternative to the mainstream pop of the other categories. I’m going to have to go with Coldplay on this one though. Sea Change is an Excellent album, but it’s mainly in his brooding. TSOOL is nice 60s rock but I think that Coldplay’s got the all around. They’ve topped Rolling Stone, Billboard, Spin, and NME’s top 10 albums of 2002 lists… And personally, I love the album.
Field 6 - R&B
Best Female R&B Vocal Performance
“More Than A Woman,” Aaliyah; “Foolish,” Ashanti; “He Think I Don't Know,” Mary J. Blige “I'm Still Standing,” Eartha; “He Loves Me (Lyzel in E Flat) (Movements I, II, III),” Jill Scott
Now I know you’re thinking, what’s Spencer doing writing about R&B and rap? Well, I’m not a fan of the music per se, but I still keep some pulse on it. Here we head into the first performance category… Ashanti’s going to be one of the losers of the night. Hopefully Irv Gotti doesn’t take out the Academy (insert drum cymbals). Mary J. Blige is a huge favourite of mine. The voice and the soul is all there every time she opens her mouth.
Best Male R&B Vocal Performance
“Let's Stay Home Tonight,” Joe; “The World's Greatest,” R. Kelly; “Halfcrazy,” Musiq; “Take A Message,” Remy Shand; “U Don't Have To Call,” Usher
This is a tough call. I would like to toss it up between Musiq and Remy Shand. Remy Shand is full of soul, but Musiq’s got an excellent voice. Both have similar sounding music. So I’ll flip a coin on this and pick Musiq.
Best R&B Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocal
“All The Way,” Kenny G Featuring Brian McKnight; “Don't Mess With My Man,” Nivea Featuring Brian & Brandon Casey of Jagged Edge; “More Than A Woman,” Angie Stone & Joe; “Girl Talk,” TLC; “Love's In Need Of Love Today,” Stevie Wonder & Take Six
Not too sure about any of these nominees. I’ll hedge a guess on this and pick “More Than a Woman” just because it’s Angie Stone and Joe.
Best R&B Song
“Be Here,” Michael Archer, Bobby Ozuna, Raphael Saadiq & Glenn Standridge, songwriters, (Raphael Saadiq Featuring D'Angelo); “Floetic,” Marsha Ambrosius, Darren "Limitless" Henson, Keith "Keshon" Pelzer & Natalie Stewart, songwriters, (Floetry); “Good Man,” Will Baker, Andrew Ramsey, Shannon Sanders & India Simpson, songwriters, (India.Arie); “Love Of My Life (An Ode To Hip Hop),” Erykah Badu, Robert Ozuna, James Poyser, Raphael Saadiq & Glen Standridge, songwriters, (Erykah Badu Featuring Common); “Take A Message,” Remy Shand, songwriter (Remy Shand)
Unfortunately, the Academy is good at rectifying screwing people over in the past and India. Arie was a huge nominee last year that got screwed big time. They’ll give her one this year for this.
Best R&B Album
Voyage To India, India.Arie; Better Days, Joe; Juslisen (Just Listen), Musiq; Instant Vintage, Raphael Saadiq; The Way I Feel, Remy Shand
I’ll say this one will go to Musiq. He’s got a real rich voice, his album was fairly acclaimed this year in the R&B circles, and he’ll probably get this award.
Field 7 - Rap
Best Female Rap Solo Performance
“Diary...” Charli Baltimore; “Scream a.k.a Itchin',” Missy Elliott; “Satisfaction,” Eve; “Na Na Be Like,” Foxy Brown; “Mystery Of Iniquity,” Lauryn Hill
Missy Elliot continues to be an innovator in the field of hip hop/rap. She can’t not win this award. There’s got a good flow in her rhyme, always coming up with different beats…. She deserves this.
Best Male Rap Solo Performance
“Without Me,” Eminem; “Song Cry,” Jay-Z; “Rollout (My Business),” Ludacris; “Bouncin' Back (Bumpin' Me Against The Wall),” Mystikal; “Hot In Herre,” Nelly
I would like to say this could be a toss up with Nelly, but I have a feeling that this is where Eminem will start winning his awards. The Academy loves him, even though that song really doesn’t do anything but talk about him. It’s so narcissistic, but it’s gotten him the award in the past. Oh well, his name is sikka-sikka-slim shady…
Best Rap Performance By A Duo Or Group
“The Essence,” AZ Featuring Nas; “Still Fly,” Big Tymers; “Pass The Courvoisier Part II,” Busta Rhymes Featuring P. Diddy & Pharrell; “Oh Boy,” Cam'Ron Featuring Juelz Santana; “The Whole World,” OutKast Featuring Killer Mike
I would like to see OutKast win this because none of the other songs are that good, quite frankly. I think that anyone who nominates a song about cars is out of their minds. And that’s what “Still Fly” is: a song about cars, rims, and speakers. Sad, sad, sad. I think OutKast is an excellent group with catchy beats and a great flow in their rhymes.
Best Rap/Sung Collaboration
“What's Luv?” Fat Joe Featuring Ashanti; “Always On Time,” Ja Rule Featuring Ashanti; “Po' Folks,” Nappy Roots Featuring Anthony Hamilton; “Dilemma,” Nelly Featuring Kelly Rowland; “Like I Love You,” Justin Timberlake Featuring Clipse
You know, I almost picked Justin Timberlake for this, just because I’m sick of hearing that Ja Rule and Ashanti song that has exactly no substance to it. However, I’ve heard a lot of buzz about Nappy Roots being one of the better rap acts this year. And so I changed my mind, decided to give them the benefit of the doubt. Hey, I’m being honest here.
Best Rap Album
The Eminem Show, Eminem; Word Of Mouf, Ludacris; Tarantula, Mystikal; Nellyville, Nelly; Diary Of A Sinner: 1st Entry, Petey Pablo
I have never heard of that last guy in my life. Nelly might have had a decent album, but come on; he spent one song talking only about shoes? That’s about as bad as a song about cars. Give it up. Thus, I’d have to say Eminem. On this album, he finally decided to drop the whole “I hate you, you hate me” thing so much and started tackling real issues. Does this mean that his next album is not going to be about him?
Field 19 - Spoken Word
Best Spoken Comedy Album
The Bathroom Wall, Jimmy Fallon; Complaints And Grievances, George Carlin; Oh, The Things I Know! Al Franken; The Rant Zone, Dennis Miller; Robin Williams - Live 2002, Robin Williams
To be honest, I haven’t heard any of these albums except for that one song about the boyfriend on Jimmy Fallon’s album. Suffice to say, George Carlin’s humour is one that is favoured by many a person and it’s not only smart, but it deals with the little intricacies of life. Al Franken would get runner-up by me since his humour tends to be all around smart, but perhaps it’s just a little too political-oriented for the Academy
Field 20 - Musical Show
Best Musical Show Album
Elaine Stritch At Liberty, Guys And Dolls, Hairspray, Into The Woods, Thoroughly Modern Millie
Hairspray has been the hit of the season on Broadway. As always, popular opinion counts for something in the Grammys (even though that’s technically what the AMAs are for). And so it would be my conclusion that Hairspray will win this one.
Field 21 - Film/TV/Visual Media
Best Score Soundtrack Album For A Motion Picture, Television Or Other Visual Media
A Beautiful Mind, James Horner, composer (James Horner); , John Williams, composer (John Williams); The Lord Of The Rings - The Fellowship Of The Ring, Howard Shore, composer (Howard Shore); Monsters, Inc., Randy Newman, composer (Randy Newman); Spider-Man, Danny Elfman, composer (Danny Elfman)
I find this category odd, namely because they give this exact same award out at the Oscars. The other thing is that the composers nominated in this category are the same five every year. So in essence, the score they write is dependent on what kind of movie they’re scoring. I mean John Williams wrote an excellent score for Star Wars, but that sticks in my mind more so than Harry Potter. Thus, the year’s epic, LOTR will win for the best score soundtrack. Don’t be surprised if it’s nominated again for The Two Towers next year as well.
Best Song Written For A Motion Picture, Television Or Other Visual Media
“Hero,” Chad Kroeger, songwriter (Chad Kroeger Featuring Josey Scott), Track from: Spider-Man; “If I Didn't Have You,” Randy Newman, songwriter (Randy Newman), Track from: Monsters, Inc.; “Love Of My Life - An Ode To Hip Hop,” Erykah Badu, Madukwu Chinwah, Rashid Lonnie Lynn, Robert Ozuna, James Poyser, Raphael Saadiq & Glen Standridge, songwriters (Erykah Badu Featuring Common), Track from: Brown Sugar; “May It Be,” Enya & Roma Ryan, songwriters (Enya), Track from: The Lord Of The Rings - The Fellowship Of The Ring; “Vanilla Sky,” Paul McCartney, songwriter (Paul McCartney), Track from: Vanilla Sky
This one’s fairly tough. I mean Enya’s song was extremely beautiful, “Hero” was a chart topper, and Randy Newman is always full of mushy we’re-best-friends-forever songs. But Sir Paul’s title track on the Vanilla Sky soundtrack was one that was rather soothing and reminiscent of two of his most famous songs, “Blackbird” and “Yesterday.” He’s old, but he’s still got it where it counts.
Field 28 - Music Video
Best Short Form Music Video
“Days Go By,” Dirty Vegas; “Without Me,” Eminem; “Knoc,” Knoc-Turn'Al Featuring Dr. Dre & Missy Elliott; “One Mic,” Nas; “My Culture,” 1 Giant Leap Featuring Robbie Williams & Maxi Jazz
Again, there’s a challenge posed by Dirty Vegas. The guy doing breakdancing and robotdancing- really cool. But Eminem was able to use a comic book like effect that both illustrated the lyrics in the song along with the superhero Eminem-wants-to-do-good out to save the kid from listening to his record. Take it for what you will, but it was a smartly done video (despite the fact that I think we’re all tired of that narcissistic song already).
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