The 59th annual Grammy awards is coming live on Sunday night (Feb. 12), and here are the 10 categories worth paying attention to, for their highly competitive nature and larger meaning for the possible winners:
Record of the Year
Adele (nominated for “Hello”) versus Beyonce (up for “Formation”).
Rihanna and Drake on “Work” work work work work work work; in a class of its own
Twenty One Pilots’ “Stressed Out” or Lukas Graham’s “7 Years.”
Best New Artist
Nominated Best New Artist are:
Kelsea Ballerini and Maren Morris cancel each other out.
Former BNA winners Carrie Underwood and LeAnn Rimes?
Hot 100 all-stars The Chainsmokers or Anderson.
Paak or someone else.
Pop Duo/Group Performance
The Chainsmokers’ “Closer” (feat. Halsey)
Sia’s “Cheap Thrills” (feat. Sean Paul) and,
Rihanna’s “Work” (feat. Drake).
Also nominated are:
“7 Years” and “Stressed Out,”
Best Pop Vocal Album
Confident by Demi Lovato?
Ariana Grande for Dangerous Woman LP.
More competition to come from Justin Bieber, Adele and Sia.
Best Rock Performance
Simon & Garfunkel’s “The Sound of Silence” up against Beyonce’s Jack White collaboration “Don’t Hurt Yourself,”
Best Urban Contemporary Album
Beyonce and Rihanna will try to fend off a trio of hyper-talented upstarts. Lemonade and Anti, King’s tremendous debut We Are King, Anderson .
Paak’s widely heralded Malibu and Gallant’s deeply unique Ology are all attempting an upset.
Best R&B Song
Rihanna — “Kiss It Better” — or Drake’s “Come and See Me.”
Bryson Tiller’s “ExTiller’sor Tory Lanez’s “Luv”
There’s also Maxwell
Best Rap/Sung Performance
Drake is nominated here for “Hotline Bling” against D.R.A.M.’s “Broccoli” featuring Lil Yachty.
Simpson’s A Sailor’s Guide to Earth vs Maren Morris’ Hero
Also, Loretta Lynn, nominated at 84 years old for her album Full Circle.
Best Musical Theater Album
Sara Bareilles or Waitress
Bright Star, Fiddler On The Roof, The Color Purple and Kinky Boots, the latter from Cyndi Lauper.