day 3.348

grammys noms

the nominees, my picks for winners and who i think got snubbed:

record of the year

• "rolling in the deep," adele
• "holocede," bon iver
• "grenade," bruno mars
• "the cave," mumford & sons
• "firework," katy perry

i mean, the only person who could beat adele would be adele if "someone like you" were nominated.

album of the year

• 21, adele
• wasting light, foo fighters
• born this way, lady gaga
• doo-wops and hooligans, bruno mars
• loud, rihanna

um adele. again. it's the year of adele, guys. my only question- why not katy perry's teenage dream? unless the album was only up for a nomination last year ... i'm too lazy to check into the grammy rules and regulations. but, that has to be a reason, because there's no way one of the most successful female pop albums of all time doesn't get a nomination.

song of the year

• "all of the lights," kanye featuring everyone
• "the cave," mumford & sons
• "grenade," bruno mars
• "holocene," bon iver
• "rolling in the deep," adele

adele.

best new artist

• the band perry
• bon iver
• j. cole
• nicki minaj
• skrillex

guys, i've actually heard of all the nominees this year! i would choose nicki minaj, but based on the other nominations this year, expect bon iver to grad this award. even though they've been around for at least five years.

best pop solo performance

• "someone like you," adele
• "you and i," lady gaga
• "grenade," bruno mars
• "firework," katy perry
• "f-in perfect," p!nk

this is the one adele-centric award i can see not-adele taking home. and by non-adele, i mean p!nk.

best pop duo/group performance

• "body and soul," tony bennett and amy winehouse
• "dearest," the black keys
• "paradise," coldplay
• "pumped up kicks," foster the people
• "moves like jagger," maroon 5 feat. christina aguilera

this is a tricky category. they could give it to "body and soul" as a way to pay remembrance to amy winehouse, or go with one of the biggest songs of the year- "moves like jagger," which could be squeaked out by "pumped up kicks" for all i know.

best pop vocal album

• 21, adele
• the lady killer, cee-lo green
• born this way, lady gaga
• loud, rihanna
• doo-wops and hooligans, bruno mars

really? vocals = adele.

best rock performance

• "every teardrop is a waterfall," coldplay
• "down by the water," the decemberists
• "walk," foo fighters
• "the cave," mumford & sons
• "lotus flower," radiohead

mr. gwyneth paltrow. hands down.

best rap/sung collaboration

• "party," beyonce featuring andre 3000
• "i'm on one," dj khaled, drake, rick ross and lil wayne
• "i need a doctor," dr. dre, eminem and skylar grey
• "what's my name," rihanna featuring drake
• "motivation," kelly rowland and lil wayne
• "all of the lights," kanye, rihanna, kid cudi and fergie

will they give it to beyonce because she missed out on every other nomination, or rihanna for one of the catchiest songs of the year? i'm thinking riri.

best rap song

• "all of the lights," kanye featuring everyone
• "black and yellow," wiz khalifa
• "i need a doctor," dr. dre, eminem and skylar grey
• "look at me now," chris brown featuring busta rhymes and lil wayne
• "otis," jay-z and kanye
• "the show goes on," lupe fiasco

watch the throne. watch the throne. watch the throne. if that album doesn't win one grammy it'll be a major issue. for me and everyone else.

best rap album

• watch the throne, kanye west and jay-z
• the carter iv, lil wayne
• lasers, lupe fiasco
• pink friday, nicki minaj
• my beautiful dark twisted fantasy, kanye west

while "superbass" was one of the songs of the year, pink friday really isn't that great of an album. know what a great album is? watch the throne.

to see more nominations- like all the country categories- click here. the grammys air february 12 at 8/7c on cbs.

day 3.312

music review: kelly clarkson, coldplay

two of my favorites- kelly clarkson and coldplay, dropped new albums this week. on the same day. so, basically, i'm having an eargasm right now and think you should, too. here are my top picks from their latests-

kelly clarkson, stronger

clarkson's finally finds a balance between the four different sides she has shown on her four previous releases. stronger mixes the r&b of thankful, the pop power of breakway, the rocker edge of my december and energy of all i ever wanted. the title track, "what doesn't kill you (stronger)," is the stand-out- it's got a catchy chorus, builds on the beat and you'll find yourself singing along before your first listen's even done.

"you can't win" is another solid single, the most reminiscent of breakaway. it's the rockier cousin of katy perry's "firework."

and clarkson dabbles in country pop with "einstein," a bitter bye-bye anthem, similar to beyonce's "irreplacable."

stronger may be my second favorite clarkson ep after breakway- let's be honest, nothing's ever topping that.

coldplay, mylo xyoloto

coldplay continues to experiment with its sound on mylo xyoloto. with few radio friendly tracks, this is definitely a record for the fans. it's sound falls somewhere between smash hit viva la vida and launching pad x & y. the best track is the band's collaboration with rihanna, "princess of china." the song's catchy on its own, but adding rihanna makes it that much more commercial.

the album's lead single is also a must-listen. you can't help but feel like you're in a 90s movie montage when you listen to it. and who doesn't want to be in a 90s movie montage?

and the track reminding me the most of colplay's early efforts has to be "charlie brown," a get-up-and-dance-by-yourself jam.

definitely check out both artists' latest- i don't think you'll be disappointed. and don't miss kelly when she performs as part of vh1's divas celebrate soul on december 19.

day 6

all about the ama's

the american music awards aired live from los angeles tonight.  beginning with a preshow, hosted by easily distracted carrie ann inaba, that guy from the bachelor, and nicole scherzinger of the pussycat dolls, the awards was more like a giant concert.  the winners of the night are barely memorable, with alicia keys nominated in almost every category and chris brown taking home three awards.  the show had some of the biggest names in music performing, including the jobros, beyonce, taylor swift, miley cyrus (celebrating her sweet 16 today - closing the age gap between her and uber creep non-boytoy justin gaston), and natasha bedingfield.  the tension backstage had to be high, with jobro exes swift and cyrus being within 100 feet of the brother act at all times.  the biggest disappointment of the night was probably annie lennox's performance.  receiving a lifetime achievement award from justin timberlake, the former eurythmics front woman sang a depressing, one note song rather than a big hit like "broken glass" or "sweet dreams." if you're receiving a lifetime achievement award, play something the audience recognizes and that is a little more upbeat, okay? coldplay's performance should probably have closed the show, with a rain of paper butterflies coming from the ceiling in a constant stream that made a trashtastic mess; a custodial crew kept peeking their heads out from behind the set to see if they could clean up...instead alicia keys closed the show in a black-girl-power number, alongside queen latifah and some rando opera singer. the awards show seemed to focus on keys, even though her latest hasn't even made that much of an impact. oh well, the ama's signals the beginning of the big awards shows, meaning more performances and crazy antics to come. 

teen witch: the musical

it looks like ashley tisdale, aka the tiz, is working on her own starring vehicle in an update of 80s camp classic teen witch.  breaking free (you see the pun there?) of her disney image, ashley will take the role of a teen witch (if that wasn't obvi by the title) in a musical adaptation of the coming of age story.  this news coincides with zac efron's newly announced kenny ortega footloose production. the tiz is also at work on a disney channel pilot based on her lift in retail before hitting it big in the hollyhood.  monique coleman is the only hsm alum to not commit to a new project. click here to take a listen to a song from the original version of the film. 

abc does the grey's shuffle

in hopes to reboot their failing fall season, the alphabet net is retooling their lineup.  with the cancelation of pushing daisies and dirty sexy money, abc is moving the former wednesday staple private practice after its founding show grey's anatomy.  to reinvigorate interest in the franchise, the two shows will have yet another cross over later in the season.  this will move new semi-hit life on mars over to wednesdays to finish out the season with the rest of the current lineup.  the end of dancing with the stars's current season also means the introduction of yet another pointless season of the bachelor.  when will abc learn that none of the relationships are working? the current bachelor is a former contestant from last season's deanna edition of the bachelorette; deanna recently announced her split from her choice for true love. 

that's all for now.

peace, love, and blogs.