A review and commentary of predictions for ‘The Big Four’ Grammy categories.

Record Of The Year (Category 1)
Daft Punk (feat. Pharrell Williams) – “Get Lucky”
Imagine Dragons – “Radioactive”
Lorde – “Royals”
Bruno Mars – “Locked Out Of Heaven”
Robin Thicke (feat. T.I. and Pharrell) – “Blurred Lines”

Who Should Win: Lorde’s “Royals”

Who Will Win: Robin Thicke’s “Blurred Lines”

The Winner Is: Daft Punk’s “Get Lucky”

As much as we all want anyone else besides Robin Thicke to win, the most important Grammy of them all will likely become his this year. “Royals” and “Radioactive” both had massive, long term impact on radio and digital formats, but Robin’s “Lines” dominated pretty much everything and the Grammys will be no exception. Daft Punk’s win was a pleasant surprise, but left the world questioning if a pair of robots really defined 2013-2014 music.

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Album Of The Year (Category 2)
Sara Bareilles – ‘The Blessed Unrest’
Daft Punk – ‘Random Access Memories’
Kendrick Lamar – ‘Good Kid, M.A.A.D City’
Macklemore & Ryan Lewis – ‘The Heist’
Taylor Swift – ‘Red’

Who Should Win: Kendrick Lamar’s ‘Good Kid, M.A.A.D City’

Who Will Win: Taylor Swift’s ‘Red’

The Winner Is: Daft Punk’s ‘Random Access Memories’

Kendrick’s ‘Good Kid, M.A.A.D City’ album is undoubtedly the best of the five nominated, but politics and external factors tend to affect the actual winner in this category more. In terms of sales, Taylor’s ‘Red’ became a groundbreaking success, which is usually enough to secure a win in this category. I don’t think that Daft Punk’s ‘Random Access Memories’ should’ve won, because the album trots downhill significantly after lead single “Get Lucky”.

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Song Of The Year – Songwriters Award (Category 3)
Pink (feat. Nate Ruess) – “Just Give Me A Reason”
Songwriters: Jeff Bhasker, Pink, and Nate Ruess
Bruno Mars – “Locked Out Of Heaven”
Songwriters: Philip Lawrence, Ari Levine, and Bruno Mars
Katy Perry – “Roar”
Songwriters: Lukasz Gottwald, Max Martin, Bonnie McKee, Katy Perry, and Henry Walter
Lorde – “Royals”
Songwriters: Joel Little and Ella Yelich O’Connor
Macklemore & Ryan Lewis (feat. Mary Lambert) – “Same Love”
Songwriters: Ben Haggerty, Mary Lambert, and Ryan Lewis

Who Should Win: Katy Perry’s “Roar”

Who Will Win: Lorde’s “Royals”

The Winner Is: Lorde’s “Royals”

Out of all of Katy’s Grammy nominations to date, the 2014 SOTY win would be the biggest for the Queen of Pop. It took Madonna seven years for her first Grammy win, so I’m hoping it’s finally Katy’s time over any of the other artists listed. But Lorde’s “Royals” became a huge crossover hit, dominating radio and the Hot 100 coronation spot for almost half of 2013.

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Best New Artist (Category 4)
James Blake
Kendrick Lamar
Macklemore & Ryan Lewis
Kacey Musgraves
Ed Sheeran

Who Should Win: Kacey Musgraves

Who Will Win: Ed Sheeran

The Winner Is: Macklemore & Ryan Lewis

There’s an undeniable charm with Kacey Musgraves’ country debut that I’m in love with. Her voice is smooth but strong and her lyrics (especially “Follow Your Arrow”) are extremely relatable. She may as well be the country equivalent of Katy Perry with much nicer shoes. Although Kacey’s rise has been fairly quiet, Ed Sheeran’s ‘+’ debut is the better project and should win by default. But as expected, Macklemore and Ryan Lewis had a #cleansweep at this year’s ceremony, taking home the biggest Kendrick-snub (of seven) from the night.