Cannes Film Festival 2013

Five awards the Grammy voters got wrong

From best new artist to best solo pop, who deserved to win

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LOS ANGELES - Unlike last year when it was clear that Adele would sweep the Grammys, deservedly so, this year's race was much harder to call. Even so, as the night unfurled, it seems clear that some calls were a little off base. Here are five categories where the Grammy voters picked a worthy candidate, but not the best one. There were no major gaffes this year, but there was certainly room for improvement.

Best new artist: No disrespect for the other nominees in this category, but this was always going to come down to Frank Ocean and fun. While it’s no travesty that fun. won like the year the Starland Vocal Band took the trophy in the ‘70s,  If “Channel Orange” is any indication, Ocean is the artist in the category that will make the most significant contributions to popular music.

Best solo pop performance: I love Adele fiercely, but it always rubs me the wrong way when an artist wins for a live recording. It feels like a cheat. The Grammys should create a “best live album” category and make live recordings ineligible in all other categories. Kelly Clarkson certainly was happy with her best pop vocal album Grammy, but she was robbed here.

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Best pop vocal album: Speaking of, Kelly Clarkson has turned into an artist whom the Grammy voters root for and want to support, but “Stronger” isn’t a consistently strong album. Both Florence + The Machine’s “Ceremonials” and fun.’s “Some Nights” worked better when listened to from start to finish. The award should have gone to one of them. 

Best country song: “Blown Away,” written by Chris Tompkins and Josh Kear,” is one of the best songs on Carrie Underwood’s album of the same name. It’s a story song along the lines of Martina McBride’s “Independence Day,” although not quite as resonant. However, the winner in this category should have been “Even If It Breaks Your Heart,” performed by Eli Young Band, and written by Will Hoge and Eric Paslay. It’s about following your heart because you have no choice. “Blown Away” has the big production and bluster, but “Even If It Breaks Your Heart” has, uh, heart.

Best rap song: Just like with fun.’s best new artist win, it’s a bit hard to argue with the selection of “Ni**as in Paris", performed by Jay-Z and Kanye West, but it felt like Nas’s year and “Daughters” was certainly a worthy entry. Plus, he wrote it for his daughter. How nice would it have been to win a Grammy for such a sweet song? Maybe the words “sweet” and “rap” are just too incongruous. There are so many songs in rap that are misogynistic, would it have killed the Grammys to reward one that uplifts women and sounds great doing it? 

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  • Default-avatar

    raschuette

    I would add Album of the Year to this list. Babel bored me after just a handful of spins. Channel Orange or El Camino would have been far worthier winners.

    February 11, 2013 at 12:53PM EST Reply to Comment
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    Paul

    The only one I disagree with is Carrie only because while I like Eli Young Band and Even If It Breaks Your Heart, Blown Away was feirce in every way and most definitely the best song Carries released since Jesus Takes The Wheel

    February 13, 2013 at 5:33PM EST Reply to Comment
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      Jordan SHUT UP CARRIE DESERED IT OK DROP IT

      February 16, 2013 at 5:09PM EST
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    Regina

    I am just glad Taylor didn't win for that annoying childish song..Never getting back together. The performance at the Grammy's was so weird with the circus clowns and dancers dressed up as animals with faces painted in bizarre face paint. Almost as weird as the original video with Taylor in her Pj's with her dancers dressed up as teddy bears, dogs etc. I guess all the distractions help to distract one away from her flat vocals.

    February 17, 2013 at 6:54PM EST Reply to Comment
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      Rhiannon de Lauro For someone who claims to be a role model to young girls she is such a bitter bitch and likes to date the next big thing... She needs another kanye moment to slap some reality into her lol

      February 21, 2013 at 2:02AM EST
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    eliyoung

    Nah, Carrie's "Blown Away" album is stellar. She deserves it.

    February 17, 2013 at 8:18PM EST Reply to Comment

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