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 Grammy Awards: Eyes on Beyonce, Swift and Gaga
If you talk about fame, then Lady Gaga’s already got that. Now how about a little respect from her peers?
Gaga and a gang of lady pop stars will find out what it means to rake in a queen’s ransom in golden gramophones, at the 2010 Grammys.
The awards this year heavily favor the young, female hit makers du jour. Beyonce grabbed a leading 10 nominations, Taylor Swift eight and Gaga five.
Other than that, what is more impressive is that, all three damsel divas - clearly 2009’s pop music triumvirate - received nominations in the three top categories: Album, Song and Record of the Year.
The Grammys have been kind to ladies through the decade. The Dixie Chicks, Amy Winehouse and Norah Jones have all won big in recent years, men often crowded the top categories and acted as sweeps spoilers. But this year there are fewer dudes casting shadows across the ladies’ spotlight.
“Big Whiskey and the Groogrux King” from the Dave Matthews Band, got a Album of the Year nod along with releases by Beyonce, Gaga, Swift and a Fergie-fueled Black Eyed Peas. But nobody, including Dave, expects “Big Whiskey” to come away with the trophy.
Maxwell’s “Pretty Wings” nomination in the Record of the Year category seems more like a pity placement than a legit challenger against uber-smashes “Poker Face,” “Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)” and “You Belong With Me.” The only threat to total female supremacy is Kings of Leon’s “Use Somebody,” which is nominated for Record and Song of the year and could actually win.
However, even if this female trifecta doesn’t walk away with all the gold, 2010 could be the begining of a ladies-dominated decade.
 Grammys have swung between pop and rock since the Beatles and Frank Sinatra repeatedly duked it out for Album of the Year in the ’60s. But as the world produces fewer and fewer world’s biggest band contenders, the Grammys care less and less about rock; notice that former-golden boys from U2 and Green Day to Bruce Springsteen to Bob Dylan have been demoted from competing in the big three categories to a few lowly rock-genre specific nods.
The pop-not-old rock bias has trickled all the way down to the Best Song Written for a Motion Picture category, where Springsteen’s “The Wrestler” is up against a trio of songs by hot, hip females: Beyonce, Karen O and the Hayley Williams-fronted Paramore.
With geezers with guitars not moving units the way they once did, the Grammys are looking to the big pop hit makers of today to give the show some sparkle. That’s not to say guys won’t stage some sort of comeback in 2011.
Justin Timberlake, for example, can’t wait forever to release his “FutureSex/LoveSounds” follow-up. But he’ll face an uphill battle against who’s hot today - and seven of the Top 10 spots on this week’s Billboard 200 are occupied by female artists, including 2011-eligible records by Ke$ha, Susan Boyle, Alicia Keys and Mary J. Blige.
Then there are expected 2010 albums from Christina Aguilera, Amy Winehouse, Katy Perry and Britney Spears. Maybe, just maybe, JT has a shot against this Amazonian army. U2, Springsteen and Dylan surely don’t.
The Grammy Awards 2010 will be broadcast from the Staples Center in Los Angeles on Sunday at 8 p.m. on CBS.
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News / Gossips by falconcom
