Okay, buddies, it’s that time of year again. The GRAMMY Awards telecast is this Sunday, January 31st at 8pm ET/PT on CBS.
With that, it’s time for my predictions. These were REALLY tough and I changed ‘em numerous times over the course of the past two weeks. I’m finally at peace about them (for today), so I’m posting them before I change my mind again. LOL
Before I give ‘em, I wanna make two disclaimers–
(1) My predictions do NOT necessarily reflect my preferences, nor do they reflect who I ACTUALLY voted for on the GRAMMY ballot this year. They’re predictions… and nothing more.
(2) The winner is often based on popularity. Plain and simple. Now, NARAS (the voting body) has gotten much better about this, even making all of the nominated music available for online listening so that we can make educated votes, but it’s still an uphill climb. My predictions are based on how I believe the majority voted and that requires consideration of who’s most popular within the entire music biz.
Without further delay, here goes…
Best Gospel Performance
“Free To Be Me” by Francesca Battistelli
Track from: Free To Be Me
“Jesus Is Love” by Heather Headley feat. Smokie Norful
Track from: Audience Of One
“I Believe” by Jonny Lang w/ Fisk Jubilee Singers
Track from: Oh Happy Day
“Wait On The Lord” by Donnie McClurkin feat. Karen Clark Sheard
Track from: We All Are One
“Born Again” by Third Day
Track from: Revelation
This is a tough one, fresh out of the gate. I’m thinking it’s gonna go to Heather Headley and Smokie Norful for a couple of reasons– folks adore “Jesus Is Love” and the song has carried mainstream significance for decades. Similarly, Heather Headley carries mainstream voting power with her, despite the fact that it was a gospel project. And, all that aside, their duet was quite good.
Best Gospel Song
“Born Again” - Tai Anderson, David Carr, Mark Lee & Mac Powell, songwriters (Third Day)
“City On Our Knees” – Cary Barlowe, Toby McKeehan & Jaime Moore, songwriters (TobyMac)
“Every Prayer” – Dayna Caddell, Israel Houghton, Aaron Lindsey & Ricardo Sanchez, songwriters (Israel Houghton & Mary Mary)
“God In Me” – Erica Campbell, Tina Campbell & Warryn Campbell, songwriters (Mary Mary)
“The Motions” – Jason Houser, Sam Mizell & Matthew West, songwriters (Matthew West)
I’m betting on The Marys for this one. The success and popularity of “God In Me” was like a runaway train– it was played everywhere, performed everywhere, talked about everywhere… and with good reason. I expect this GRAMMY to be the culmination of over a year’s worth of rather deserved acclaim.
Best Rock Or Rap Gospel Album
The Big Picture - Da’ T.R.U.T.H.
Crash - Decyfer Down
Innocence & Instinct - Red
Live Revelations - Third Day
The Dash – John Wells-The Tonic
As much as I enjoy Da’ T.R.U.T.H.’s project, I don’t think he’ll nab this one. I’m actually torn on this, between Third Day and Decyfer Down… ultimately, I chose Third Day cuz they’re more of a household name.
Best Pop/Contemporary Gospel Album
Speaking Louder Than Before - Jeremy Camp
The Power Of One - Israel Houghton
The Long Fall Back To Earth - Jars Of Clay
Love Is On The Move - Leeland
Freedom - Mandisa
Another REALLY hard one for me… Jars Of Clay, Jeremy Camp and Israel are established artists with great music and big followings. Mandisa and Leeland are newer, but just as popular in many circles, and also making some great music. I have NO PEACE about this, but I’m predicting Mandisa. She has a good project and her widespread exposure (added to her lingering American Idol popularity) may tip the scales in her favor here.
Best Southern, Country, Or Bluegrass Gospel Album
Jason Crabb - Jason Crabb
Dream On - Ernie Haase & Signature Sound
The Rock - Tracy Lawrence
In God’s Time - Barry Scott & Second Wind
Everyday - Triumphant Quest
I never have ANY clue when it comes to this category, cuz it’s just not my thing. That said, I do know that Jason Crabb is one to watch right now, and I believe it’s because of this project. That said, my money’s on Jason Crabb.
Best Traditional Gospel Album
God Don’t Never Change - Ashley Cleveland
The Law Of Confession, Pt. 1 - Donald Lawrence & Co.
Oh Happy Day - Various Artists
The Journey Continues - The Williams Brothers
How I Got Over - Vickie Winans
This is another tough call. Donald Lawrence is simply incredible and he definitely deserves an award, in my opinion, but I fear that voters may not have agreed with his placement in the “traditional gospel” category… on that grounds, is it the best traditional project? Maybe not… I predict the Oh Happy Day compilation. It successfully brought together heavyweights in gospel and mainstream music to commemorate one of the most popular gospel songs in history. It’s hard to ignore that.
Best Contemporary R&B Gospel Album
Audience Of One - Heather Headley
Renewed - Sheri Jones-Moffett
Just James - J Moss
Smokie Norful LIVE - Smokie Norful
Bold Right Life - Kierra Sheard
First of all, shout-out to EMI Gospel for having 4 of 5 the artists in this category. That said, I’m QUITE unsettled about this one. Ultimately, I predict that Heather Headley will grab it– she has a nice voice, an album that lots of folks enjoyed, and popularity in the mainstream. In my opinion, her album was not the best out of this group and I didn’t know that so many people would vote for it. But I’m inclined to believe that if she got enough votes to get a nomination, she just may have gotten enough to get the win.
Gospel Artists Nominated In Non-Gospel Categories:
Tonex was nominated for Best Urban/Alternative Performance for his single “Blend” (Unspoken), and he might win that, but I also see an India.Arie nod in the same category and she will probably nab the award.
Ann Nesby’s “Sow Love” (The Lula Lee Project) is nominated in Best Traditional R&B Vocal Performance (dunno why), but I’m fairly certain that Beyonce’s rendition of “At Last” will win in that category.
Robert Randolph & The Clark Sisters are nominated in the Best R&B Performance By Group/Duo with Vocals category for their performance of “Higher Ground” (Oh Happy Day), as is Ann Nesby for a Bobby Womack collabo, but I kinda expect the win to go to Jamie Foxx and T-Pain for “Blame It”.
OKAY. Those are my predictions for the 2010 GRAMMY Awards. For the full list of nominees in all categories, visit the GRAMMY website here.
What do you think???
I mostly agree with you except on 2 places. For Best Pop/Contemporary Gospel Album, Israel & New Breed pulled an upset, beating out tobyMac, Michael W. Smith, Mandisa and Casting Crowns, and took this category 2 years ago for A Deeper Level. It wouldn't surprise me one bit for a repeat here because hook took this before and his profile has increased considerably since then (including a performance on the actual show 2 years ago). Grammy voters tend to remember that kind of stuff. For Best Traditional Gospel Album, I see that going to Ashley Cleveland. Though unfamiliar to most core Gospel fans, Ashley is an incredible vocalist, a highly regarded artist and no stranger to Grammy voters. She is the ONLY artist to be nominated three times for Best Rock Gospel Album, as recently as 2008, and win ALL THREE TIMES. In other words, Grammy hearts Ashley. The Traditional Gospel Album category may be new for her, but leaving with a shiny golden gramophone isn't. Lastly, and certainly least, I think Jonny Lang & The Fisk Jubilee Singers stand a chance to nabbing the Best Gospel performance. GRAMMY folks know and love Jonny. Couple that with the involvement of the Fisk Jubilee Singers (who are widely recognized and celebrated, though largely looked over in contemporary Gospel circles) and the breadth of exposure the "Oh Happy Day" project got because of the artist lineup and unique duet pairings... yeah, I can see that happening. That's all. :)
I'm with Grant on the Best Pop/ Contemporary Gospel album....tho I didnt really like israels power of one cd ( thats the only Iz album I have not purchased - think he's better with the live worship stuff and with New Breed) I do think that his profile has risen over the past few years and he may just nab the Grammy - tho I MUCH prefer Mandisas album
I think you have hit it dead on but in the "Best Contemporary R&B Gospel Album" I am rooting for Sheri Jones-Moffett. I really hope she wins.
EJ ..I am going with Donnie & Karen for best Gospel Performance. That is just my gut feeling and I truly love that CD.
I pretty much agree with this. Not to discredit any artist but I honestly feel the Grammys are biased.
I agree 116. I always thought the Grammys were biased as well. Here you'll have lots of career gospel artists with very solid albums, but they'll throw a secular artist in the mix who just decided to make a gospel cd just because, and they'll take home the prize.
I want Israel Houghton to get the Grammy!!! In the Best Song category most likely God In Me will win and if it wasn't for that song I would go with City On Our Knees. I don't see how Donald Lawrence is placed in the Traditional category but hey lol.
I really hope Heather Headley doesn't take that Best Gospel Performance. It wouldn't be the most surprising thing but I hope she doesn't. She's not popular in the mainstream world and the gospel community was not the most receptive. I didn't hear any good reviews for her project from true gospel buyers. I'm hoping that the respect & favorability of Donnie and Karen amongst the gospel-oriented voting block works in their favor. Also Donnie is one of the most recognizable crossover names & faces in gospel. Plus Karen & her Sisters sweeped a couple yrs ago and she won her own solo award that year. Plus "Wait On the Lord" is the ONLY nominee that's currently charting as of now after an entire year of airplay. I checked both the gospel AND christian airplay charts for the other nominees. So I hope all of that helps this Sunday.
As you say, tough choices in all categories. For you who don't know about Ashley Cleveland just go and buy her cd......the real Jesus pours out of her.
Sigh.... I feel bad because all I want to do is give a BIG YAWN to the Grammys. It's already been said here: this show slants toward the popular and established artists. Sure, an established artist can put out a cutting edge album and it be popular (ISRAEL HOUGHTON!). But will the Grammys acknowledge this? I just want to like music again but it seems that most music out there today is just CRAP! Cross-over gospel crap (Heather Headley (yawn). Cross-back gospel crap (Oh Happy Day - Various Artists; God In Me). Same old big anthems too (Wait on the Lord). I guess Byron Cage's album with the other big anthem (w/Karen and Marvin) was released too late for this year's Grammy nominations. Please, please help restore my appreciation for gospel music again! Aaauuugghhhhh!!!!
Anyways....EJ, I do think you've done a great job with your picks but I hope you're wrong with regard to "Wait on the Lord" and Donald Lawrence!
For Best Contemporary R&B Gospel album, I'm kinda conflicted on this one. Objectively, I feel like Heather Headley and Smokie Norful albums have the best chances at winning. Subjectively, J.Moss and Kierra have the best cds IN MY OPINION. Part of me would like to see Kierra get something because I feel like she's been flying under the radar. All 3 of her projects have been excellent and I would like to see her be awarded for a change. But her cousin, J.Moss, truly poured his whole heart into making the "Just James"a top quality project. I think out of all his cds, this one would be the most deserving of becoming a Grammy winner.
i agree with Tam Tam. ALL of these categories get a big YAWN from me. i'm not excited about anything. that is all...
I know it has not been said but I thought Kierra had a great cd. "Praise Him Now", "Invisible", and "Oh Lord" are awesome songs. "Jesus" will bless you if you pay attention. I am biased toward my Clarks though. So I would like Kierra to get a grammy and of course Donnie and Karen. Wait on the Lord is wonderful, and I believe one of the best duets I've heard especially live.
Excuse me, Kiesha thought Kierra had a good cd as well.