The best awards show in a music lover’s lifetime is his first Grammy Awards.
Mine was in 2004, when OutKast won the Grammy for Album of the Year for its double album opus, “Speakerboxxx/The Love Below.” I became a fan of Western music from that day on and have enjoyed every second since.
To all the haters who say the Grammys aren’t relevant anymore, please go sit in a corner and think about what you are blaspheming. Think of the countless memorable performances, the legacies of winners, the one-hit wonders that amounted to being one-time Grammy winners and, of course, the cursed Best New Artist Grammy that inevitably dooms its recipient’s career.
The Grammys convey a sense of achievement most other music award shows only dare to replicate but fail miserably to do every time.
On that note, Sunday’s Grammy Awards, at 7 p.m. on CBS, are packed with so many dynamite acts that it is hard to predict which ones will pull through to win the coveted gramophone statue.
The nominees this year truly represent both critical successes and chart toppers, a feat the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences usually does not achieve.
So, here are my predictions for Sunday.
Recording of the Year, one of the “big three” awards of the night, is really tough this year. With nominees like two of rap’s biggest songs of last year — Eminem’s “Love the Way You Lie” and Jay-Z’s “Empire State of Mind” — it seems this category could go to anyone.
However, Cee Lo Green’s “F**k You” will own everyone. He does not release music often, and it’s always a spectacle when he does.
“F**k You” was the best sing-along song produced last year. I give full permission to Kanye West to storm the stage and snatch away the Grammy from anyone else and rant about Cee Lo having “the best song of all time.”
As for Album of the Year, only two nominees stick out to me: Arcade Fire’s “The Suburbs,” the indie album, and Eminem’s “Recovery,” one of the best-selling albums of last year.
Other than that, Lady GaGa could pull off the heist of the century by winning this award with her hit album, “The Fame Monster,” though it is highly unlikely.
In the Best New Artist category, I want Florence + the Machine to win because they “seem” to be the newest and the most popular. Drake is the only other legitimate contender. Here’s one for wheelchair, Jimmy.
Among the other categories, I look forward to Best Male Pop Vocal Performance. Nominees for the category form a strong group.
Michael Buble, Michael Jackson and John Mayer have already won in the pop vocal arena, while Bruno Mars and Adam Lambert are both strong vocal performers. It will be interesting to see how it plays out, but I hope Mars wins his first Grammy for his ode to women, “Just the Way You Are.”
Besides these awards, the show will feature live performances by Lady GaGa, Cee Lo Green, Katy Perry, Eminem, Drake and Rihanna, Dr. Dre, Bob Dylan with Mumford and Sons and even more. The biggest names in music will be there performing live.
And it will be so awesome.
 
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