No one took much notice, but Thursday was Grammy Day. Wanna win a Grammy in 2011? You had to have your record/CD/digital download out by Sept. 30.
Nominations won't be announced until Dec. 1, and 53rd annual awards show doesn't happen until next Feb. 13, but that won't stop TheWrap from getting in on the prediction business.
Here's everything you need to know about who to place your money on for the 53rd Grammy Awards.
EMINEM
Let’s be clear -- two people are definitely getting awards at the 2011 Grammys: Barbra Streisand, who is receiving the MusiCares Person of the Year award, and Eminem.
Detroit’s finest, who has won an Oscar in 2002 for “Lose Yourself” and has 11 Grammys in his career so far, has had a great year with the global chart-topping “Recovery.” While a far cry from 10 million plus sales of 2000’s “The Marshal Mathers LP,” the bestselling artist of the decade has sold 2.67 million copies of “Recovery” domestically since it came out on June 21.
The album, which had the rapper’s hit “Love The Way You Lie” duet with Rihanna, was Eminem’s sixth consecutive U.S. number one and 2010’s bestseller so far – and the NARAS are very conscious of the importance of sales for their troubled industry. Ask last year's winner Taylor Swift.
He might not ever rival conductor Sir Georg Solti, whose 31 wins makes him the all time Grammy record holder, but as one industry insider said, “This year everyone else, even Jay-Z, Sade, Arcade Fire and Lady Antebellum, are just pretenders for Album of the Year next to Eminem.”
GAGA, KANYE & TAYLOR SWIFT CAN’T WIN
It's nothing personal -- it's all about timing. Released on Nov. 18, 2009, “The Fame Monster” by the
spotlight-hogging Lady Gaga was ineligible for a Grammy last time around. More than a year later, despite the huge online success of “Telephone,” which had Beyoncé both on the song and in the elaborate video, Gaga’s latest will seem positively ancient now to Grammy voters.
As for Taylor Swift, who won both Album of the Year and Best Country Album at the 52nd Grammys, and Kanye West -- neither of them made the deadline. While both have had new singles, Swift’s “Speak Now” is coming out on Oct. 25, and Kanye’s new album is anticipated to drop sometime in November.
At least they'll make good for holiday sales.
JUSTIN BIEBER
The
mop-top Canadian isn't just the dream date to millions of American teens, the Grammys want to hang with the Beeb, too.
First, there’s Bieber the Phenomenon. From his YouTube origins to hit singles, crazed fans, SRO tours, "SNL," MTV MVA and "CSI" appearances, late-night punch lines and even an upcoming doll line – Bieber is a megabrand right now -- and the Grammys love those.
Paul Morigi/Getty Images
