American Music Award (AMA) Predictions

If I am not mistaken, Katy Perry is opening and Miley Cyrus is closing this lackluster night of music.  The Grammy Awards are the "prestigious"music award, although their nominees rarely match a critical reflection on music, they are in fact the worst with regard to this out of the EGOT (Emmy, Grammy, Tony). The American Music Awards are I would argue even less meaningly the a MTV Video Music Award, but there should be some interesting moments.  The AMA winners are based in sales and popularity, its the musical version of the People's "Choice." So who will win?

Favorite Female Artist, Pop or Rock
Pink
Rihanna
Taylor Swift

Will Win: Taylor Swift; she was the big seller of this past year, and is a fan favorite.

Favorite Male Artist, Soul/R&B
Miguel
Robin Thicke
Justin Timberlake

Will Win: Justin had not one but two albums, and both were popular he has this in a walk

New Artist of the Year
Florida Georgia Line
Ariana Grande
Imagine Dragons
Macklemore & Ryan Lewis
Phillip Phillips

Will Win: Tough call, a lot of these artists have solid single and record sales, I am going to say Macklemore and Ryan take this, but watch out for Imagine Dragons and Phillip Phillips

Single of the Year
"Cruise" by Florida Georgia Line, featuring Nelly
"Thrift Shop" by Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, featuring Wanz
"Blurred Lines" by Robin Thicke, featuring Pharrell and T.I.

Will Win: Blurred Lines, easy!

Artist of the Year  
Macklemore & Ryan Lewis
Bruno Mars
Rihanna
Taylor Swift
Justin Timberlake

Will Win: This is between Swift and Timberlake, I think Justin Timberlake has the edge.

Favorite Male Artist, Pop/Rock
Bruno Mars
Robin Thicke
Justin Timberlake

Will Win:Justing Timberlake 

Favorite Band, Duo or Group, Pop/Rock
Imagine Dragons
Macklemore & Ryan Lewis
One Direction 

Will Win: One Direction 

Favorite Album, Pop/Rock
One Direction/Take Me Home
Taylor Swift/Red
Justin Timberlake/The 20/20 Experience

Will Win: Justin Timberlake

Favorite Male Artist, Country
Luke Bryan
Hunter Hayes
Blake Shelton

Will Win: Blake Shelton

Favorite Female Artist, Country
Miranda Lambert
Taylor Swift
Carrie Underwood

Will Win: Taylor Swift

Favorite Band, Duo or Group, Country
The Band Perry
Florida Georgia Line
Lady Antebellum

Will Win: Lady Antebellum

Favorite Album, Country
Luke Bryan/Crash My Party
Florida Georgia Line/Here’s To The Good Times
Taylor Swift/Red

Will Win: Taylor Swift

Favorite Artist, Rap/Hip-Hop 
Jay Z
Lil Wayne
Macklemore & Ryan Lewis

Will Win: Macklemore and Ryan Lewis

Favorite Album, Rap/Hip-Hop
Jay Z/Magna Carta…Holy Grail
Kendrick Lamar/good kid, m.A.A.d city
Macklemore & Ryan Lewis/The Heist

Will Win: The Heist

Favorite Female Artist, Soul/R&B
Ciara
Alicia Keys
Rihanna

Will Win: Rihanna 

Favorite Album, Soul/R&B
Rihanna/Unapologetic
Robin Thicke/Blurred Lines
Justin Timberlake/The 20/20 Experience

Will Win: Justin Timberlake 

Favorite Artist, Alternative Rock
Imagine Dragons
The Lumineers
Mumford & Sons

Favorite Artist, Adult Contemporary
Maroon 5
Bruno Mars
P!nk

Will Win: Bruno Mars

American Music Awards (AMA) Nominees Announced-Justin Timberlake, and Taylor Swift, Lead the Pack!

Maybe Vanity Fair is right, Timberlake should stick to music.  The American Music Awards (AMAs) announced their nominees today.  These awards are based more on popularity, and are more like the VMAs, but watch out for some of these names to do well at the Grammy Awards this year.

ARTIST OF THE YEAR

Macklemore & Ryan Lewis
Bruno Mars
Rihanna
Taylor Swift
Justin Timberlake

NEW ARTIST OF THE YEAR PRESENTED BY KOHL’S

Florida Georgia Line
Ariana Grande
Imagine Dragons
Macklemore & Ryan Lewis
Phillip Phillps

SINGLE OF THE YEAR

Florida Georgia Line Featuring Nelly/Cruise
Macklemore & Ryan Lewis Featuring Wanz/Thrift Shop
Robin Thicke Featuring Pharrell & T.I./Blurred Lines

FAVORITE MALE ARTIST – POP/ROCK

Bruno Mars
Robin Thicke
Justin Timberlake

FAVORITE FEMALE ARTIST – POP/ROCK

P!nk
Rihanna
Taylor Swift

FAVORITE BAND, DUO OR GROUP – POP/ROCK

Imagine Dragons
Macklemore & Ryan Lewis
One Direction

FAVORITE ALBUM – POP/ROCK

One Direction/Take Me Home
Taylor Swift/Red
Justin Timberlake/The 20/20 Experience

FAVORITE MALE ARTIST – COUNTRY

Luke Bryan
Hunter Hayes
Blake Shelton

FAVORITE FEMALE ARTIST – COUNTRY

Miranda Lambert
Taylor Swift

Carrie Underwood

FAVORITE BAND, DUO or GROUP - COUNTRY

The Band Perry
Florida Georgia Line
Lady Antebellum

FAVORITE ALBUM - COUNTRY

Luke Bryan/Crash My Party
Florida Georgia Line/Here’s To The Good Times
Taylor Swift/Red

FAVORITE ARTIST – RAP/HIP-HOP

Jay Z
Lil Wayne
Macklemore & Ryan Lewis

FAVORITE ALBUM – RAP/HIP-HOP

Jay Z/Magna Carta…Holy Grail
Kendrick Lamar/good kid, m.A.A.d city
Macklemore & Ryan Lewis/The Heist

FAVORITE MALE ARTIST – SOUL/R&B

Miguel
Robin Thicke
Justin Timberlake

FAVORITE FEMALE ARTIST – SOUL/R&B

Ciara
Alicia Keys
Rihanna

FAVORITE ALBUM – SOUL/R&B

Rihanna/Unapologetic

Robin Thicke/Blurred Lines
Justin Timberlake/The 20/20 Experience

FAVORITE ARTIST - ALTERNATIVE ROCK

Imagine Dragons
The Lumineers
Mumford & Sons

FAVORITE ARTIST - ADULT CONTEMPORARY

Maroon 5
Bruno Mars
P!nk

FAVORITE ARTIST - LATIN

Marc Anthony
Prince Royce
Romeo Santos

FAVORITE ARTIST - CONTEMPORARY INSPIRATIONAL

tobyMac
Chris Tomlin
Matthew West

FAVORITE ARTIST - ELECTRONIC DANCE MUSIC (EDM)

Avicii
Daft Punk
Calvin Harris
Zedd

TOP SOUNDTRACK

The Great Gatsby: Music From Baz Luhrmann’s Film
Les Miserables
Pitch Perfect

Justin Timberlake, Macklemore & Ryan Dominate the 2013 VMA Nominations

With Justin Timberlake's return to music, is anyone surprised he dominated the MTV VMA nominations?  Timberlake and his videos have 6 nominations, look for him and his video for "Mirrors" to win Video of the Year. Macklemore & Ryan Lewis and their videos also receieved 6 nominations.  Rounding out the Video of the Year nominees is Bruno Mars. Robin Thicke, and Taylor Swift.

Video of the Year
Justin Timberlake, “Mirrors”
Macklemore & Ryan Lewis feat. Wanz, “Thrift Shop”
Bruno Mars, “Locked Out of Heaven”
Robin Thicke feat. T.I. and Pharrell, “Blurred Lines”
Taylor Swift, “I Knew You Were Trouble”

Best Male Video
Justin Timberlake, “Mirrors”
Robin Thicke feat. T.I. and Pharrell, “Blurred Lines”
Bruno Mars, “Locked Out of Heaven”
Ed Sheeran, “Lego House”
Kendrick Lamar, “Swimming Pools”

Best Female Video
Rihanna feat. Mikky Ekko, “Stay”
Taylor Swift, “I Knew You Were Trouble”
Miley Cyrus, “We Can’t Stop”
Pink feat. Nate Ruess, “Just Give Me A Reason”
Demi Lovato, “Heart Attack”

Best Pop Video
Bruno Mars, “Locked Out of Heaven”
Justin Timberlake, “Mirrors”
Fun., “Carry On”
Miley Cyrus, “We Can’t Stop”
Selena Gomez, “Come and Get It”

Best Hip-Hop Video
Macklemore & Ryan Lewis feat. Ray Dalton, “Can’t Hold Us”
Drake, “Started From The Bottom”
Kendrick Lamar, “Swimming Pools”
A$AP Rocky feat. Drake, 2 Chainz and Kendrick Lamar, “F–kin’ Problems”
J. Cole feat. Miguel, “Power Trip”

Artist To Watch, Presented by Taco Bell
Twenty One Pilots, “Holding On To You”
Zedd feat. Foxes, “Clarity”
Austin Mahone, “What About Love”
The Weeknd, “Wicked Games”
Iggy Azalea, “Work”

Best Collaboration
Justin Timberlake, feat. Jay-Z, “Suit & Tie”
Pitbull feat. Christina Aguilera, “Feel This Moment”
Calvin Harris feat. Ellie Goulding, “I Need Your Love”
Robin Thicke feat. T.I. and Pharrell, “Blurred Lines”
Pink feat. Nate Ruess, “Just Give Me A Reason”

Best Video With A Social Message
Kelly Clarkson, “People Like Us”
Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, “Same Love”
Snoop Lion, “No Guns Allowed”
Miguel, “Candles in the Sun”
Beyoncé, “I Was Here”

Best Rock Video
Imagine Dragons, “Radioactive”
Fall Out Boy, “My Songs Know What You Did in the Dark (Light Em Up)”
Mumford & Sons, “I Will Wait”
Thirty Seconds To Mars, “Up in the Air”
Vampire Weekend, “Diane Young”

Best Art Direction
Capital Cities, “Safe and Sound”
Thirty Seconds To Mars, “Up in the Air”
Janelle Monae feat. Erykah Badu, “Q.U.E.E.N”
Lana Del Rey, “National Anthem”
Alt-J, “Tesselate”

Best Choreography
Chris Brown, “Fine China”
Ciara, “Body Party”
Jennifer Lopez feat. Pitbull, “Live It Up”
will.i.am feat. Justin Bieber, “#thatPOWER”
Bruno Mars, “Treasure”

Best Cinematography
Thirty Seconds To Mars, “Up in the Air”
Lana Del Rey, “Ride”
Yeah Yeah Yeahs, “Sacrilege”
Macklemore & Ryan Lewis feat. Ray Dalton, “Can’t Hold Us”
A-Trak & Tommy Trash, “Tuna Melt”

Best Direction
Justin Timberlake feat. Jay-Z, “Suit & Tie”
Macklemore & Ryan Lewis feat. Ray Dalton, “Can’t Hold Us”
Yeah Yeah Yeahs, “Sacrilege”
Fun., “Carry On”
Drake, “Started From The Bottom”

Best Editing
Pink feat. Nate Ruess, “Just Give Me A Reason”
Calvin Harris feat. Florence Welch, “Sweet Nothing”
Macklemore & Ryan Lewis feat. Ray Dalton, “Can’t Hold Us”
Justin Timberlake, “Mirrors”
Miley Cyrus, “We Can’t Stop”

Grammy Awards Spread the Wealth Between fun., Gotye, Kanye West, The Black Keys, and Mumford and Sons.

The Grammy Awards were a bit mellow this year with regard to there performances, while T-Swift tried to kick things off with an upbeat note her live performance of "We are Never Getting Back Together" just baffled, and was odd.

Of the performances the person who stole show was Justin Timberlake and his instagram like performance for his new song "Suit and Tie" with Jay-Z.  Along with JT many of the performances while mellow kept the spirit of music alive from Mumford and Sons enchanting "I will Wait" to Kelly Clarkson's powerful vocals.

While the performers often steal the show from the actual awards, this may be one of the years where the Grammy's did a great job spreading the wealth.  fun. took home two major Grammy Awards for Song of the Year and Best New Artist.  

While many not realize this but the big winners of the night were Gotye, and The Black Keys, Kanye West with three each.  Gotye won for Record of the Year, Best Performance by a Pop Duo or Group, and Best Alternative Album.  The Black Keys stole rock categories winning Best Rock Album, Best Rock Song, and Best Rock Performance.  Kanye won three awards in the rap categories Best Rap Song, Performance, and Performance by a Duo or Group.  Although Dan Auerbach won 4 trophies (lead vocalist an guitarist for The Black Keys) because he also won Producer of the Year (Non-Classical).  While these artists split most of the wins Mumford and Sons went on to win Album of the Year, after winning only one other award.

My favorite moment of the evening was Kelly Clarkson's genuinely shocked expression/hilarious speech as she won Best Pop Vocal Album, and while her win was a shock, she was hilarious and loved the way she did a shout out to Miguel.  I also loved to hate on Taylor Swift as the camera flashed to her knowing everyone's songs and singing and dancing awkwardly.

GRAMMY AWARDS SHOW WINNERS:

Album of the Year-Mumford and Sons-Babel
 Record of the Year: Gotye featuring Kimbra-Somebody that I used to Know

Best New Artist: fun.
Best Country Album: Uncaged, Zac Brown Band
Best Rap/Sung Collaboration: "No Church in the Wild," Jay-Z and Kanye West feat. Frank Ocean and The-Dream
Best Pop Vocal Album: Stronger, Kelly Clarkson
Best Rock Performance: "Lonely Boy," The Black Keys
Best Urban Contemporary Album: Channel Orange, Frank Ocean
Song of the Year: "We Are Young," fun.
Best Country Solo Performance: "Blown Away," Carrie Underwood
Best Pop Solo Performance: "Set Fire to the Rain [Live]," Adele

PRE-GRAMMY AWARDS SHOW WINNERS:
Producer of the Year: Dan Auerbach
Best Pop Duo/Group Performance: "Somebody That I Used To Know," Goyte feat. Kimbra
Best Alternative Music Album: Making Mirrors, Goyte
Best Rock Album: El Camino, The Black Keys
Best Rock Song: "Lonely Boy," The Black Keys
Best Hard Rock/Metal Performance: "Love Bites (So Do I)," Halestorm
Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album: Kisses on the Bottom, Paul McCartney
Best Country Song: "Blown Away," Carrie Underwood
Best Country Duo/Group Performance: "Poonton," Little Big Town
Best World Album: The Living Room Sessions Part 1, Ravi Shankar
Best R&B Song: "Adorn," Miguel
Best R&B Performance: "Climax," Usher
Best Traditional R&B Performance: "Love On Top," Beyonce
Best Pop Instrumental Album: Impressions, Chris Botti
Best Rap Album: Take Care, Drake
Best Rap Song: "N****s In Paris," Jay-Z and Kanye West
Best Rap Performace: "N****s In Paris," Jay-Z and Kanye West
Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media: The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross
Best Song Written for Visual Media: "Safe and Sound," Taylor Swift for Hunger Games
Best R&B Album: Black Radio, Robert Glasper
Best Dance/Electronica Album: Bangarang, Skrillex
Best Dance Recording: "Bangarang," Skrillex featuring Sirah
Best Regional Roots Album: The Band Courtbouillon, Wayne Toups, Steve Riley & Wilson Savoy
Best Folk Album: The Goat Rodeo Sessions, Yo-Yo Ma, Stuart Duncan, Edgar Meyer & Chris Thile
Best Bluegrass Album: Nobody Knows You, Steep Canyon Rangers
Best Blues Album: Locked Down, Dr. John
Best Americana Album: Slipstream, Bonnie Raitt
Best Musical Theater Album: Once: A Musical, Steve Kazee & Cristin Milioti, principal soloists; Steven Epstein & Martin Lowe, producers (Glen Hansard & Marketa Irglova, composers/lyricists)
Best Compilation Soundtrack Album: Midnight In Paris
Best Jazz Instrumental Album: Unity Band, Pat Metheny Unity Band
Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album: Dear Diz (Every Day I Think Of You), Arturo Sandoval
Best Latin Jazz Album: ¡Ritmo!, The Clare Fischer Latin Jazz Big Band
Best Jazz Vocal Album: Radio Music Society, Esperanza Spaulding
Best Improvised Jazz Solo: "Hot House," Gary Buron & Chick Corea
Best New Age Album: Echoes of Love, Oakram
Best Comedy Album: Blow Your Pants Off, Jimmy Fallon
Best Spoken Word Album: Society's Child: My Autobiography, Janis Ian
Best Children's Album: Can You Canoe?, The Okee Dokee Brothers
Best Reggae Album: Rebirth, Jimmy Cliff
Best Contemporary Classical Composition: "Hartke, Stephen: Meanwhile - Incidental Music To Imaginary Puppet Plays," Stephen Hartke
Best Classical Compendium: "Penderecki: Fonogrammi; Horn Concerto; Partita; The Awakening Of Jacob; Anaklasis," Antoni Wit
Best Choral Performance: "Life & Breath—Choral Works By Rene Clausen," Charles Bruffy, conductor (Matthew Gladden, Lindsey Lang, Rebecca Lloyd, Sarah Tannehill & Pamela Williamson; Kansas City Chorale)
Best Chamber Music/Small Ensemble Performance: "Meanwhile," Eighth Blackbird
Best Classical Instrumental Solo: "Kurtag & Ligeti: Music For Viola," Kim Kashkashian
Best Classical Vocal Performance: "Poemes," Renee Fleming
Best Producer of the Year, Classical: Blanton Alspaugh
Best Orchestral Performance: "Adams Harmonielehre and Short Ride In A Fast Machine," Michael Tilson Thomas
Best Opera Recording: "Wagner: Der Ring Des Nibelungen,"James Levine and Fabio Luisi
Best Engineered Album, Classical: Life & Breath, Tom Caufield and John Newton
Best Tropical Latin Album: Retro, Marlow Rosado Y La Riqueña
Best Regional Mexican Music Album (Including Tejano): Pecados Y Milagros, Lila Downs
Best Latin Rock, Urban or Alternative Album: Imaginaries, Quetzal
Best Latin Pop Album, Rock or Urban Album: MTV Unplugged Deluxe Edition, Juanes
Best Contemporary Christian Music Album: Eye on It, TobyMac
Best Gospel Album: Gravity, Lecrae
Best Contemporary Christian Music Song: "10,000 Reasons (Bless the Lord)," Matt Redman, & "Your Presence is Heaven," Israel and New Breed
Best Gospel Song: "Go Get It," Mary Mary
Best Gospel Contemporary Christian Musical Performance: "10,000 Reason (Bless the Lord)," Matt Redman
Best Surround Sound Album: Modern Cool, Jim Anderson, surround mix engineer; Darcy Proper, surround mastering engineer; Michael Friedman, surround producer (Patricia Barber)
Best Remixed Recording, Non Classical: "Promises (Skrillex & Nero Remix)," Skrillex, remixer (Nero)
Best Engineered Album, Non Classical: The Goat Rodeo Sessions, Richard King, engineer, Richard King, mastering engineer (Yo-Yo Ma, Stuart Duncan, Edgar Meyer & Chris Thile)
Best Historical Album: The Smile Sessions (Deluxe Box Set), Alan Boyd, Mark Linett, Brian Wilson & Dennis Wolfe, compilation producers; Mark Linett, mastering engineer (The Beach Boys)
Best Album Notes: Singular Genius: The Complete ABC Singles, Billy Vera, album notes writer (Ray Charles)
Best Boxed or Special Limited Edition Package: Woody At 100: The Woody Guthrie Centennial Collection, Fritz Klaetke, art director (Woody Guthrie)
Best Recording Package: "Biophilia," Michael Amzalag & Mathias Augustyniak, art directors (Björk)
Best Instrumental Arrangement Accompanying Vocalist: "City of Roses," Thara Memory & Esperanza Spalding, arrangers (Esperanza Spalding)
Best Instrumental Arrangement: "How About You," Gil Evans, arranger (Gil Evans Project)
Best Instrumental Composition: "Mozart Goes Dancing," Chick Corea, composer (Chick Corea & Gary Burton)
Best Long Form Music Video: "Big Easy Express," Mumford & Sons, Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros & Old Crow Medicine Show
Best Short Form Music Video: "We Found Love," Rihanna feat. Calvin Harris