Grammy Awards countdown: Tony Bennett vs. Bob Dylan for trad pop album?

To absolutely no one's surprise, Tony Bennett is once again a contender at next Monday's Grammy Awards, in the category of best traditional pop vocal album. The 89-year-old American songbook champion, who has already collected 12 prizes in the field, was nominated this time for The Silver Lining: The Songs of Jerome Kern, a collaboration with jazz pianist Bill Charlap that reaped wide acclaim last year.

But one of Bennett's fellow nominees may raise a few eyebrows: Bob Dylan, up for Shadows In the Night, a collection that features one of rock's most famously idiosyncratic, and controversial, voices singing standards such as Some Enchanted Evening, Autumn Leaves and What'll I Do. It, too, received positive notices.

Bennett and Dylan will face competition from Seth MacFarlane, whose No One Ever Tells You earned the creator of Family Guy and Ted his second trad-pop nomination. Rounding out the field are Barry Manilow, a nominee here several times previously, recognized this year for My Dream Duets; and the lustrous-voiced pop bari-tenor Josh Groban, for the musical-theater homage Stages.

It's an eclectic list, to a point. "They're all men, and all white," notes interpretive singer and songwriter Karrin Allyson, herself a Grammy nominee in the category of best jazz vocal album for Many A New Day: Karrin Allyson Sings Rodgers & Hammerstein. "But each one is pretty different," and each faced "the challenge of trying to re-imagine songs that have been done over and over again."

Some wore their influences more conspicuously than others. Denise Donatelli, whose Find A Heart is also up for jazz vocal album, calls MacFarlane a "great performer" but politely notes that a certain legend's looming shadow can be "very, very clear" on No One: "I have all the Sinatra recordings of the same material, and once you hear Sinatra do a song a certain way, it's definitive."

The veteran journalist and author Will Friedwald, who wrote liner notes for The Silver Lining, is rather more blunt: "There are songs where (MacFarlane) is imitating Sinatra note for note. But when he makes it a point to be original, it's totally worthwhile."

On Dylan's Shadows, in contrast, Donatelli hears "a total respect for Sinatra" wielded more subtly. "The lyrics (Dylan) selected are very meaningful, which makes sense, since he's a wordsmith."

Rolling Stone contributing editor Anthony DeCurtis sees a particular resonance in Shadows, noting, "Dylan revolutionized singing. He doesn't take a conventional approach to these songs, but he demonstrates their sturdiness, and the variability of his talent. I think he could win."

Lou Simon, program director for SiriusXM's Siriusly Sinatra channel, has praise for each of the recognized albums, though he admits Shadows "took me a few listens." Still, he thinks Dylan has a strong shot at the Grammy: "He took more risks than the other artists, and it would be a chance to honor him in a different way."

If he did win, Dylan would not be the first rock star or troubadour to earn a traditional pop Grammy: Previous winners have included Rod Stewart, Paul McCartney and Joni Mitchell.

Don't count Bennett out, though. "He pretty much owns the award," says DeCurtis, "and certainly, no one would protest if he won."