2009 GRAMMY PREVIEW: (Updated with the Winners!)

Music's biggest night happens this Sunday, February 8th ... That's when the golden trophies known as the GRAMMYs are handed out to the best in the industry.

There are a BUNCH of hot performances planned (more on that later) but of course the main foucs is seeing who takes home the awards.

Lil' Wayne is up for the most awards ... SEVEN to be exact (for both solo and collab songs). Ne-Yo's up for FIVE (he's a songwriter too, remember?). Up for THREE nominations: Adele, Jazmine Sullivan, and Kanye West ... and up for TWO each: Boyz II Men, Eric Benet, Chris Brown, Estelle, Flo Rida, Nas, T.I., Andre 3000, Raphael Saadiq, Alicia Keys, Snoop, Keyshia Cole and Al Green.

And several other artists are up for one Sunday night ... But the BIGGEST trophies are listed below ...



AND HERE ARE THE NOMINEES!!! (my personal picks are in blue)

ALBUM OF THE YEAR

"Viva La Vida Or Death And All His Friends"
Coldplay


"Tha Carter III"
Lil Wayne

"Year Of The Gentleman"
Ne-Yo


"Raising Sand"
Robert Plant & Alison Krauss


"In Rainbows"
Radiohead

(I didn't even buy Ne-Yo's album but I liked several of his singles. I know LW will probably win but a sista can dream can't she? lol)

SONG OF THE YEAR

"American Boy"
William Adams, Keith Harris, Josh Lopez, Caleb Speir, John Stephens, Estelle Swaray & Kanye West, songwriters (Estelle Featuring Kanye West)


"Chasing Pavements"
Adele Adkins & Eg White, songwriters (Adele)


"I'm Yours"
Jason Mraz, songwriter (Jason Mraz)


"Love Song"
Sara Bareilles, songwriter (Sara Bareilles)


"Viva La Vida"
Guy Berryman, Jonny Buckland, Will Champion, & Chris Martin, songwriters (Coldplay)

(I also like Adele's song but I'm still groovin' to Estelle's
2008 hit, I hope she wins!)

BEST NEW ARTIST

Adele

Duffy

Jonas Brothers

Lady Antebellum

Jazmine Sullivan


(Honestly, JS is starting to get on my nerves, but when she first came out, she was hot, I want her or Adele to get the trophy)

BEST POP COLLABORATION WITH VOCALS

"Lesson Learned"
Alicia Keys & John Mayer


"4 Minutes"
Madonna, Justin Timberlake & Timbaland


"Rich Woman"
Robert Plant & Alison Krauss


"If I Never See Your Face Again"
Rihanna & Maroon 5


"No Air"
Jordin Sparks & Chris Brown

(It totally TOOK OVER both urban and mainstream radio in '08, so it would only make sense for the Prince of Pop and the A.I. Princess to win this one)

BEST FEMALE R&B VOCAL PERFORMANCE

"Me, Myself And I"
Beyoncé


"Heaven Sent"
Keyshia Cole


"Spotlight"
Jennifer Hudson


"Superwoman"
Alicia Keys


"Need U Bad"
Jazmine Sullivan

(I honestly don't understand why that OLD ASS Beyonce song is even

nominated but if she gets it, I'll be highly pissed. It's really hard to choose

between J-Hud, Keyshia and Jaz but as far as VOCALS, I think Jaz should

get it cuz "Need U Bad" was FIERCE!)

BEST MALE R&B VOCAL PERFORMANCE

"You're The Only One"
Eric Benét


"Take You Down"
Chris Brown


"Miss Independent"
Ne-Yo


"Can't Help But Wait"
Trey Songz


"Here I Stand"
Usher

(I was torn between Chris and Ne-Yo but I'll give this to CB because his performance of "Take You Down" is DEFINITELY memorable :) ... but if Ne-Yo wins, I won't be mad)

BEST R&B PERFORMANCE BY A DUO
OR GROUP WITH VOCALS

"Ribbon In The Sky"
Boyz II Men


"Words"
Anthony David Featuring Indie.Arie


"Stay With Me (By The Sea)"
Al Green Featuring John Legend


"I'm His Only Woman"
Jennifer Hudson Featuring Fantasia


"Never Give You Up"
Raphael Saadiq Featuring Stevie Wonder & CJ Hilton

(If Boyz II Men gets this I'll be pissed, anyone else I'm cool with ... but I REALLY want Anthony and India to get this one. That was my FAVORITE song of the YEAR. I'd also love to hear/see J-Hud and Fanny do their song LIVE :)

BEST R&B SONG

"Bust Your Windows"
Salaam Remi & Jazmine Sullivan, songwriters (Deandre Way, songwriter) (Jazmine Sullivan)

"Customer"
I. Barias, Raheem DeVaughn, C. Haggins,

K. Oliver & J. Smith, songwriters (Raheem DeVaughn)

"Heaven Sent"
Keyshia Cole, Jason Farmer & Alex Francis, songwriters (Keyshia Cole)

"Miss Independent"
M.S. Eriksen, T.E. Hermansen & S. Smith, songwriters (Ne-Yo)

"Spotlight"
Mikkel S. Eriksen, Tor Erik Hermansen & Shaffer Smith, songwriters (Jennifer Hudson)

(This will be a tough one! I loved all of these songs EXCEPT "Bust Your Windows," but as far as the BEST, I think "Customer" was the essential R&B love tribute. I wouldn't be mad if either Jen or Keyshia's songs won though ...)

BEST R&B ALBUM

Love & Life
Eric Benét


Motown: A Journey Through Hitsville USA
Boyz II Men


Lay It Down
Al Green


Jennifer Hudson
Jennifer Hudson


The Way I See It
Raphael Saadiq

(I think Raphael didn't get enough credit for his awesome album, so I hope he gets thrown this bone ... J-Hud's album wasn't all that great to me and the rest I never even heard about)

BEST SOLO RAP PERFORMANCE

"Roc Boys (And The Winner Is)..."
Jay-Z


"A Milli"
Lil Wayne


"Paris, Tokyo"
Lupe Fiasco


"N.i.*.*.e.r. (The Slave And The Master)"
Nas


"Sexual Eruption"
Snoop Dogg

(Honestly I'm torn between Nas and Lupe on this one but I know Lupe doesn't have a REAL chance in any of the other categories, so I'm hoping he'll get this one -- I loved the single).

BEST RAP PERFORMANCE BY A DUO OR GROUP

"Royal Flush"
Big Boi Featuring Raekwon And Andre 3000

"Swagga Like Us"
Jay-Z & T.I. Featuring Kanye West & Lil Wayne

(WINNER!)

"Mr. Carter"
Lil Wayne Featuring Jay-Z


"Wish You Would"
Ludacris Featuring T.I.

"Put On"
Young Jeezy Featuring Kanye West



(Ok so Young Jeezy was the man of the year with that damn song ...

and Lil' Wayne sold millions in the first week ... but none of those can

touch "Swagga Like Us" ...to me .. coldest song of the YEAR!)

BEST RAP SONG

Lollipop
D. Carter, S. Garrett, D.Harrison, J. Scheffer & R. Zamor, songwriters
(Lil Wayne Featuring Static Major)

(WINNER!!!)

Low
T. Dillard, M. Humphrey & T-Pain, songwriters

(Flo Rida Featuring T-Pain)

Sexual Eruption
Calvin Broadus, S. Lovejoy & D. Stewart, songwriters
(Snoop Dogg)

Superstar
Lupe Fiasco & Soundtrakk, songwriter
(Lupe Fiasco Featuring Matthew Santos)

Swagga Like Us
D. Carter, S. Carter, Clifford Harris, & Kanye West, songwriters
(M. Arulpragasam, N. Headon, M. Jones, J. Mellor, T. Pentz, P. Simonon, songwriters)
(Jay-Z & T.I. Featuring Kanye West & Lil Wayne)

(Of course I want "Swagga Like Us" to win every award it's nominated for,

and "Superstar" was the ISH toobut let's be real ..."Lollipop" was

the song of the summer ... it was HOT ... so I'm sure it'll win the award.)

BEST RAP/SUNG COLLABORATION

"American Boy"
Estelle Featuring Kanye West

"Low"
Flo Rida Featuring T-Pain

"Green Light"
John Legend & Andre 3000

"Got Money"
Lil Wayne Featuring T-Pain

"Superstar"

Lupe Fiasco Featuring Matthew Santos

(Another tough category ... Love the Estelle/Kanye song ... and the

T-Pain-featured cuts were highly popular, but again I LOVED Lupe's song ...

and it was true collab of two great artists)

BEST RAP ALBUM

American Gangster
Jay-Z


Tha Carter III
Lil Wayne


The Cool
Lupe Fiasco


Nas
Nas


Paper Trail
T.I.

(Lupe's album -- as a whole -- wasn't exciting ... and though I love Nas,

I want this one to go to T.I. If he's about to go down for that gun charge,

I want him to go down a winner. Besides, the album was HOTNESS!)

BEST URBAN/ALTERNATIVE PERFORMANCE

"Say Goodbye To Love"
Kenna

"Wanna Be"
Maiysha

"Be OK"
Chrisette Michele Featuring will.i.am

(WINNER!!!)

"Many Moons"
Janelle Monae

"Lovin You (Music)"
Wayna Featuring Kokayi

(I GOTTA give this to my girl Chrisette ... but Janelle is hot --

to some people -- right now. We shall see! ...

BEFORE we find out these winners, the GRAMMYs will air a pre-show beginning at 3 pm (CST). The pre-show will feature performances by Wayne Brady and Heavy D (yes, the former overweight lover). Gospel singer Yolanda Adams and actor Blair Underwood are among the presenters. You can catch the pre-show on several network stations or online at http://www.grammy.com/.

AS FOR THE MAIN SHOW:

It airs LIVE on CBS, starting at 7 pm (CST). It will also be on Twitter and Facebook for you webaholics (like me lol).

(Urban) Performers for the evening include: B.B. King, Smokey Robinson, Stevie Wonder, Robin Thicke (1st time nominee this year), Estelle and Kanye West, Chris Brown, Rihanna (you know they BOTH have to perform lol), Lil' Wayne (of course), T.I. and Justin Timberlake (performing one of my favorite songs on Paper Trail -- "Dead and Gone"), Jennifer Hudson, Jamie Foxx and Ne-Yo, plus T.I. and the crew (Jay-Z, Kanye and Lil Wayne) will band together for a LIVE performance of "Swagger Like Us" (also nominated for a GRAMMY).


Other acts of interest hitting the stage that night include: M.I.A. (Paper Planes), Adele (British singer & nominee for best New Artist), and Carrie Underwood (love her!), ... There will also be tributes to Bo Diddley and The Four Tops (Lifetime Achievement Award recipients).


Award presenters include: Diddy, Natalie Cole (nominated this year), Morgan Freeman (Mr. I hate Black History Month lol), The Rock, John Legend (five-time winner), Leona Lewis (current nominee), LL Cool J, will.i.am, Samuel L. Jackson, T-Pain, and Queen Latifah.

POST-SHOW -- I'll give a play by play review of the entire night (like I did last year) ... and the WINNERS will be highlighted on THIS entry in RED.




Til then!!! ... GOOD LUCK TO ALL THE NOMINEES!! :)