Is it just me, or are you already procrastinating on your schoolwork? If you’re anything like me, you’ll gather your friends to watch the 65th Annual Grammy Awards this Sunday, Feb. 5, at 8 p.m EST/5 p.m PST instead of studying. Not only is the competition stacked, but so is the performance line-up, featuring Harry Styles, Bad Bunny, Mary J. Blige, Brandi Carlile, Luke Combs, Lizzo and Sam Smith, and Kim Petras. It is no surprise that Beyoncé is the most nominated artist this year with a whopping nine nominations, including Album of the Year for Renaissance. Beyoncé faces stiff competition against Adele, who earned seven nominations altogether. Similarly, Kendrick Lamar dominated the hip-hop categories with eight nominations. Bad Bunny’s highly acclaimed album Un Verano Sin Ti made history, becoming the first Spanish-language album nominated for Album of the Year.
I asked several of my friends who they think are going to win. First up is Aicha, who hopes Lamar will pick up wins for “The Heart Part 5” in the Best Rap Song and Best Music Video genres and Album of the Year for “Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers.” Two other friends, Gianna and Grace, hope Bad Bunny will win Album of the Year for Un Verano Sin Ti, while my friend Noah predicts Styles will pick up awards for Record of the Year with his lead single “As It Was” and Album of the Year for Harry’s House. They all agreed that alternative R&B singer Omar Apollo should win Best New Artist.
Overall, the debate over who should win is often overshadowed by who will win, specifically for the Big Four awards—Album of the Year, Record of the Year, Song of the Year, and Best New Artist. There is a wide consensus that 28-Grammy-Award-winning Beyoncé will sweep the show, especially for Album of the Year. Adele is also expected to have a successful night as she is the predicted frontrunner for Record of the Year for “Easy on Me.” However, it appears that the winner for Song of the Year is a toss-up between Taylor Swift’s “All Too Well (10 Minute Version) (Taylor’s Version),” Adele’s “Easy on Me,” and Harry Styles’ “As It Was.”
The Best New Artist category also has several strong contenders, including Brazilian singer and songwriter Anitta and Omar Apollo, whose latest album Ivory did exceptionally well on the Billboard Hot 100; however, it is expected that Latto will take home the prize likely due to her smash hit “Big Energy” that dominated the charts and TikTok this past year.
Make sure to tune in this Sunday to see if the Grammys do right by your favorite artists!