Grammy Awards: Who should win, who will win
This year's Grammy Awards (CBS, Monday, 8 p.m. ET / 5 p.m. PT) will feature its share of familiar names and showdowns, along with fresher and less ubiquitous faces and voices. USA TODAY looks at the general field and a few other high-profile categories.
Record of the year
Really Love, D'Angelo and the Vanguard
Uptown Funk, Mark Ronson featuring Bruno Mars
Thinking Out Loud, Ed Sheeran
Blank Space, Taylor Swift
Can't Feel My Face, The Weeknd
Will/should win:
Uptown Funk. Pair two of pop's most reliably groovy artists, Ronson and Mars, on an upbeat, infectious single that made everyone feel good last year, and what do you have? A pretty good bet that Swift won't sweep all three of the Big Four categories in which she's nominated.
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Album of the year
Sound & Color, Alabama Shakes
To Pimp a Butterfly, Kendrick Lamar
Traveller, Chris Stapleton
1989, Taylor Swift
Beauty Behind the Madness, The Weeknd
Will/should win:
1989. The last time mutual admirers Swift and Lamar vied in this category, only two years ago, both lost to Daft Punk. This year, the academy is likely to reward Swift's supremely confident, massively successful pop manifesto over Lamar's ambitious, jazzy, sobering hip-hop opus. But an upset by Lamar — who won't leave without a Grammy or two this time — is hardly out of the question.
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Song of the year
Alright, Kendrick Duckworth, Kawan Prather, Mark Anthony Spears and Pharrell Williams, songwriters (Kendrick Lamar)
Blank Space, Max Martin, Shellback and Taylor Swift, songwriters (Taylor Swift)
Girl Crush, Hillary Lindsey, Lori McKenna and Liz Rose, songwriters (Little Big Town)
See You Again, Andrew Cedar, Justin Franks, Charles Puth & Cameron Thomaz, songwriters (Wiz Khalifa featuring Charlie Puth)
Thinking Out Loud, Ed Sheeran and Amy Wadge, songwriters (Ed Sheeran)
Will/should win: Blank Space. Alright's spoken-word element and mind-blowing arrangement, both harsh and lyrical, would make it a bold choice. But Blank Space has its own, more playful fierceness, the kind that can make a young girl or a jaded adult sing along giddily (still) and offers the most solid pop craftsmanship.
Best new artist
Courtney Barnett
James Bay
Sam Hunt
Tori Kelly
Meghan Trainor
Will/should win: James Bay. Trainor's breakthrough hit, All About That Bass, was released in 2014 (before the debut album that qualified her in this category) and got two nominations for last year's Grammys. That's good news for British singer/songwriter Bay, a genuine talent whose leanings toward preciousness shouldn't hurt him here. (Though don't count out the plucky, endearing Kelly.)
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Best pop duo/group performance
Ship To Wreck, Florence + The Machine
Sugar, Maroon 5
Uptown Funk, Mark Ronson featuring Bruno Mars
Bad Blood, Taylor Swift featuring Kendrick Lamar
See You Again, Wiz Khalifa featuring Charlie Puth
Will/should win:Uptown Funk. Ronson and Mars are again the twosome to beat.
Best dance recording
We're All We Need, Above & Beyond featuring Zoë Johnston
Go, The Chemical Brothers featuring Q-Tip
Never Catch Me, Flying Lotus featuring Kendrick Lamar
Runaway (U & I), Galantis
Where Are Ü Now, Skillrex and Diplo with Justin Bieber
Should win: The driving, dance-tastic Go.
Will win: The moodier Never Catch Me.
Best rock performance
Don't Wanna Fight, Alabama Shakes
What Kind Of Man, Florence + The Machine
Something From Nothing, Foo Fighters
Ex's & Oh's, Elle King
Moaning Lisa Smile, Wolf Alice
Should win: Ex’s & Oh’s. King's whiskeyed soprano is one of the most pleasingly piquant new voices to come along in a while (and the video where she kicks the hunk out of the car is a bonus).
Will win: Don’t Wanna Fight. Best-album nominee Alabama Shakes is almost certain to be compensated with this prize.
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Best R&B song
Coffee, Brook Davis and Miguel Pimentel, songwriters (Miguel)
Earned It (Fifty Shades Of Grey), Ahmad Balshe, Stephan Moccio, Jason Quenneville and Abel Tesfaye, songwriters (The Weeknd)
Let It Burn, Kenny B. Edmonds, Jazmine Sullivan and Dwane M. Weir II, songwriters (Jazmine Sullivan)
Really Love, D'Angelo and Kendra Foster, songwriters (D'Angelo And The Vanguard)
Shame, Warryn Campbell, Tyrese Gibson and DJ Rogers Jr., songwriters (Tyrese)
Should win: Perhaps the best thing that can be said about the whole tired phenomenon that is Fifty Shades of Grey is that the film soundtrack gave us two genuinely seductive tracks by The Weeknd, and Earned It was the catchier one.
Will win:Really Love. D'Angelo's album Black Messiah was one of 2014's nicer and more daring surprises, and it will be recognized for this track.
Best rap/sung collaboration
One Man Can Change The World, Big Sean featuring Kanye West and John Legend.
Glory, Common and John Legend
Classic Man, Jidenna Featuring Roman GianArthur
These Walls, Kendrick Lamar featuring Bilal, Anna Wise and Thundercat
Only, Nicki Minaj featuring Drake, Lil Wayne and Chris Brown
Should/will win: The majestic, inspirational and topical Glory, already an Oscar winner for Common and Legend.
Best country solo performance
Burning House, Cam
Traveller, Chris Stapleton
Little Toy Guns, Carrie Underwood
John Cougar, John Deere, John 3:16, Keith Urban
Chances Are, Lee Ann Womack
Should win: Womack's exquisitely pure, true singing continues to be a marvel, and Chances Are is an ideal showcase for her understated melancholy.
Will win: Traveller. Stapleton's solo breakthrough — after years of high-profile and highly respected work as a guitarist, singer and songwriter — was one of last year's most heartening success stories. What's not to love about a Cinderella in a cowboy hat?