As we patiently wait for the progress on Whitney Houston’s daughter, Bobbi Kristina, we look at the 57th edition of the Grammys, a place where Whitney once made history.
If I were a betting man I would probably put my money on Sam Smith being the highlight at the upcoming Grammy Awards. His is a fresh voice that has given R&B a lifeline. His calm voice and infectious lyrics are the right ingredients for the genre. With six nominations, the highest number this year, Smith shares top spot with Grammy regulars like Beyonce and Pharrell Williams.
However, where Smith outdoes Beyonce and Williams is that at only 22 he is the second-youngest artist to be nominated in all general field categories in one year. These categories are Record of the Year, Album of the Year, Song of the Year and Best New Artist, which are the holy grail of the Grammys. The only other person to achieve this was Mariah Carey and she was 20 at the time. So, there is no way Smith is going home empty-handed on the night.
Also, given that Beyonce did not really release a classic album this year, and Pharrell has only one memorable song, Happy, off his Girl album, Smith has a chance of walking away with a few accolades.
From six mentions apiece comes the group of four nods and this includes Jay-Z, Miranda Lamber, Sia, Usher, Iggy Azalea and Jack White. Like Smith, Azalea is a contender for Best Newcomer so having four nominations for a debut album is not bad at all.
Jay-Z’s Magna Carta did not do as well as any Sean Carter fan would expect. With hit songs like the Frank Ocean-assisted Oceans, the club hit Tom Ford and the radio sensation Holy Grail which featured Justin Timberlake, it was speculated that the rapper would rule the night.
Sia is worth a mention because the recent album 1 000 Forms of Fear was critically acclaimed. It’s the album responsible for the hit track Chandelier.
Other worthy mentions include Ed Sheeran who has three nods for his acoustically-driven album X. While a song like Thinking Out Loud was a hit on radio, and in little girls’ hearts, it was I See Fire which was nominated for Best Song Written for Visual Media. X was also nominated for Best Pop Vocal and Album of the Year.
Another album titled X, which also earned three nods, is Chris Brown’s latest offering. His hit track New Flame is nominated for Best R&B Performance, but to win it has to do better than Usher’s Good Kisser and Beyonce’s Drunk in Love. It also faces the same hits in Best R&B Song so will be tough for Brown.
Still on threes, awards ceremony royalty Taylor Swift did wonders with her song Shake It Off which earned her nods for Record of the Year, Song of the Year and Best Pop Solo Performance. No Kanye in sight so the singer can prepare for an interruption-free acceptance speech because you know she will walking away with something.
• Watch the Grammys live: Monday, 3am Channel O (DStv channel 320); repeats to follow.