2014 Grammy Award Predictions

It's that time of year again for one of the biggest nights in music, The Grammy's. This year's Grammys are held a couple of weeks earlier from their usual date in early February due to the Super Bowl, but it gives us ample opportunity to let us figure out who we think will take home the trophies at this year's ceremony. This year's field is very diverse, and honors some newcomers and fresh faces to the music scene that have been transforming the very nature and dynamic of the music world that we live in. Here are my predictions for the winners in some pre-selected categories:

Record of the Year

Daft Punk f/Pharrell Williams- Get Lucky
Imagine Dragons - Radioactive
Lorde- Royals (PREDICTED WINNER)
Bruno Mars - Locked Out of Heaven
Robin Thicke f/T.I. & Pharrell - Blurred Lines

This field is very diverse, and honors a huge crop of newcomers to the scene whose songs have greatly impacted radio and streaming music sites aplenty over the course of the past year. My pick for this category goes with Lorde's "Royals" as the song has that unspoken beauty and sheer creativity not seen before in quite some time. Daft Punk and Robin Thicke both have commercial appeal, and may end up as one of the 2 wildcards in this category, and Imagine Dragons has too much of an alternative sound that may turn off some voters, but Bruno Mars could pull off an upset in this category here.

Album of the Year

Sara Barielles - The Blessed Unrest
Daft Punk - Random Access Memories (PREDICTED WINNER)
Kendrick Lamar - Good Kid, M.A.A.D. City
Macklemore & Ryan Lewis - The Heist
Taylor Swift - Red

This one's a tough one for me, but I'm willing to venture a guess to state that Daft Punk will take home the hardware in this one. Kendrick Lamar and Macklemore & Ryan Lewis both have that hip-hop street cred going for them, and that may alienate some voters who steer clear of rap in general. Sara Barielles is the total surprise here in this category and may be a distant wildcard heading in, but Taylor Swift could pull off an upset here as she won this same exact category 4 years ago for "Fearless".

Song of the Year

Pink f/Nate Ruess - Just Give Me A Reason
Bruno Mars - Locked Out of Heaven (PREDICTED WINNER)
Katy Perry - Roar
Lorde - Royals
Macklemore & Ryan Lewis f/Mary Lambert - Same Love

This category reserved for songwriters has an extensive list of new and regular faces here, and this one is a total crapshoot heading in. My personal pick goes to Bruno Mars as this song was extremely popular in commercial radio last year, and had that crossover appeal that attracted listeners from different genres and age groups as well. Katy Perry's track was released just before the submission deadline and may be too new for some voters, same goes for Lorde as well. Pink and Macklemore & Ryan Lewis each split the wildcard vote and either one has a chance of pulling off an upset here.

Best New Artist

James Blake
Kendrick Lamar
Macklemore & Ryan Lewis (PREDICTED WINNER)
Kasey Musgraves
Ed Sheeran

This category usually has a diverse group of performers here, and it's tough to accurately predict as to who will win the category this year. I'm willing to venture a guess to say that Macklemore & Ryan Lewis takes home this award solely based on name recognition alone and one that is familiar to some voters. Kendrick Lamar has too much hardcore rap cred to it, and Kasey Musgraves is too much of an unknown in the country genre, so that leaves James Blake and Ed Sheeran each splitting the rock vote. I'll guess that Ed Sheeran is the wildcard to pull off the upset here as he was nominated for Song of the Year last year for "The A Team".

Best Alternative Music Album

Neko Case - The Worse Things Get, The Harder I Fight, The Harder I Fight, The More I Love You
The National - Trouble Will Find Me
Nine Inch Nails - Hesitation Marks
Tame Impala - Lonerism
Vampire Weekend - Modern Vampires of the City (PREDICTED WINNER)

This category is a slam dunk here for Vampire Weekend here as this album was far and away the most visible and commercially successful ones that appealed to the voters and has garnered them the most attention as they have been nominated for this award in the past. Neko Case and Tame Impala are newcomers to the scene and are distant upsets at the moment, while The National are familiar to some voters, but not enough to hand them the award. The frontrunner for the wildcard belongs to Nine Inch Nails as they have been nominated and won this category in the past, and has that big name cache that appeals to the voters.

And there you have my predictions for this year's Grammy Awards! Don't forget to check out the ceremony this Sunday January 26th at 8PM on CBS, and 'Like' MusicBoxPete on Facebook here and follow on Twitter here for live wire to wire updates of the ceremony as it begins along with some commentary with regards to the performances and any antics that may unfold on stage!