Katy Perry

Credit: AP Photo

As we continue our countdown to the Feb. 13 Grammy Awards, we’re predicting a category a day. Today, we look at Best Pop Vocal Album, which pits Lady Gaga against Susan Boyle and Justin Bieber. On Friday, we'll look the big four: record, album and song of the year, as well as best new artist.

Best Pop Vocal Album

“My World 2.0,” Justin Bieber
“I Dreamed a Dream,” Susan Boyle
“The Fame Monster,” Lady Gaga
“Battle Studies,” John Mayer
“Teenage Dream,” Katy Perry

Bieber and Boyle share little more than unfortunate hairdos, but that’s part of the schizophrenic nature of this category. We vaguely recall a best traditional pop vocal category in years past that would neatly house acts like Tony Bennett, but that seems to have disappeared, leaving Boyle sticking out like a sore thumb in this category...although we’re sure her defenders would claim she actually is the best singer in the bunch.

[More after the jump...]

Lemmy, of Motorhead

We don’t want to say it’s another slow week when it comes to major releases because we’ll sound like a broken record. Plus, just because there’s not a potential blockbuster in the bunch doesn’t mean there aren’t plenty of tasty sets coming out  Feb. 8. But, for the love of God, would a name that most record buyers recognize please put out an album!  Okay, we’ll calm down now, especially since we know that we that the drought temporarily ends Feb. 22 when Adele releases “21.”

In the meantime, here are Feb. 8’s top treats.

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Adele

Adele, whose sophomore album, “21,” comes out Feb. 22, embarks on her first full tour U.S. tour in two years on May 12. The  six-week outing starts at Washington, D.C.’s 9:30 club and concludes June 20 at Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium. The closing date is especially fitting given Adele’s confessed new love of country music. Most country artists consider the Ryman sacred ground.

A pre-sale starts Feb. 9 with tickets on sales to the general public starting Feb. 11.

[More after the jump...]

"Love the Way You Lie"

As we continue our countdown to the Feb. 13 Grammy Awards, we’re predicting a category a day. Today, we look at best rap/sung collaboration, a category that recognizes that so many of current rap songs are a hybrid between singing and rapping and that rare is the rap tune that doesn’t include a featured artist.

Best Rap/Sung Collaboration

“Nothin’ On You,” B.o.B. & Bruno Mars
“Deuces,” Chris Brown, Tyga & Kevin McCall
“Love the Way You Lie,” Eminem & Rihanna
“Empire State of Mind,” Jay-Z & Alicia Keys
“Wake Up! Everybody,” John Legend, The Roots, Melanie Fiona & Common

I know “Deuces” was aces with Brown’s fans, but it’s a snore of a song, so we’re tossing that one out immediately. “Nothin’ on You” is sweet, but can’t compare to the remaining three nominees. The wild card here is “Wake Up! Everybody,” the remake of the Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes tine. The Grammy voters like John Legend and they like rewarding well-intentioned projects, so this one could sneak in and take the trophy, but we think the real race is between “Love the Way You Lie” and “Empire State Of Mind.”  Both are also up for the coveted record of the year in the general categories. Is the fact that “Lie” is also up for song of the year a tip off that Grammy voters see it as more significant a track than “Empire?” “Empire” will have a life long after “Lie”: we’re going to hear it at New York sporting events for decades. In a year where it’s tempting to thing that Eminem may very well sweep, we’re going to go against the grain and give this one to Jay-Z and Keys.

Winner: “Empire State of Mind”

Who is your pick? 

Our Previous Predictions:

Best Contemporary R&B Album

Best Short Form Music Video

Best Female Country Vocal Performance

Best Female Pop Vocal Performance

Best Alternative Music Album

Credit: AP Photo

It's half time at Super Bowl XLV. The Packers have pretty much cleaned the Steelers' clock for the first half, which means there are plenty of disgruntled Steeler fans who could use a little cheering up from the Peas about now.  I gotta feeling it might not be enough. We also hope they can remember the words, which is more than we can say about Christina Aguilera and her otherwise strong version of the National Anthem. Hey, at least we know she was singing live.  We'll be back to live blog as soon as the Peas go on in a few minutes.

5:09 p.m. (PST): It’s space-aged Peas, lowered from the roof of the stadium on a round stage in the middle of the field..  I gotta feeling they're going to bring it.

5:11: They go into  "Boom Boom Pow"  surrounded by dancerson the field in green LED outfits.  It looks fantastic from up above: like  little green martians in lockstep on the field.  We wonder how it looks from outer space? One of the best uses of the field we've seen in a half time.

[More after the jump...]

Red

Record sales are in the dumper, but some acts continue to show impressive strength in the face of otherwise dire circumstance. For example, The Decemberists debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 last week with sales of 94,000 copies for “The King is Dead.” That was an impressive 75,000 more units than the band’s previous best sales week, 2009’s “The Hazards of Love.”

It’s not as significant a leap, but Christian rock band Red will likely land its first  chart topper next week with “Until We Have Faces, with a nice increase in sales over its last set, 2009’s “Innocence and Instinct.” Red’s previous high on the Billboard 200 was No. 15. Billboard predicts “Until We Have Faces” will sell 45,000 copies.

That’s right, the run of incredibly low sales tallies at No. 1 continues in what is clearly the worst musical start to a year since the 1991 bow of Nielsen SoundScan. At least it looks like Red won't set a new record for lowest wekly sales to top the chart: After setting the record this week with 40,000 copies, Amos Lee's "Mission Bell" is safe for at least another week

[More after the jump...]

Chris Martin of Coldplay

Credit: AP

Coldplay will headline Glastonbury, the British multi-artist festival that takes place June 22-26, according to British newspaper, The Sun.

However, the Glastonbury Festival website has not confirmed Coldplay, and, furthermore, states “The Glastonbury 2011 line-up will not be revealed until Spring 2011. The event takes place at Worthy Farm. Coldplay, who allegedly will headline June 25, last played Glastonbury in 2005.

The Sun is also reporting that Glastonbury producer Michael Eavis offered the Rolling Stones a slot, but they turned him down.

Tickets for Glastonbury are already sold out. Last year’s headliners included Gorillaz, Muse and Stevie Wonder, after U2 had to drop out following Bono’s back injury. Eavis told the BBC that he has an offer out to US to headline June 24, but has not heard back.

Glastonbury will take a hiatus next summer when London hosts the Summer Olympics.

Shakira

Credit: Lionel Cironneau/AP

In a semi-surprising move this week, Citigroup took over EMI, home to the Beatles catalog, Katy Perry and Lady Antebellum, in what most observers believe is an ultimately good move for the record company. After a long period of destabilization at Guy Hands' hands, EMI is coalescing under Roger Faxon's direction and Citigroup's takeover gives the company a chance to breathe a little bit before Citigroup puts it back on the block.

1) EMI (not ranked last week):  The record label has more lives as a cat as Citigroup takes over ownership. Remember that Citigroup has been the main creditor to former owner Terra Firma, which faulted on its loan.  Citi has written off a £2.2 billion loss on the deal and will, undoubtedly, flip it as soon as possible. Or as BBC News business editor  Robert Preston said, “The takeover in 2007 of EMI by Guy Hands’ Terra Firma..will go down in British corporate history as one of the worst deals ever.” Ouch. We bet Thom Yorke is laughing his ass off.

2) Nicki Minaj (not ranked): She shows her versatility on "Saturday Night Live," not only as a performer, but in the hilarious digital short, "Do the Creep," causing "Pink Friday" to continue creeping up the charts

3) Shakira (not ranked): She becomes the third artist, following Lady Gaga and Justin Bieber, to log a staggering one billion views on YouTube. And we know that those figures, just like her hips, don’t lie.

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