Grammy Awards 2011: Who Will Win Record Of The Year?

Robbie Daw | February 9, 2011 3:20 pm

Earlier this week we gave our two cents on who will win and who should win Grammys for Best new Artist and all the Pop categories. That brings us to one of the biggies—Record Of The Year. This award is for whatever tune NARAS deems the most anthem-like for the year prior (no easy feat!), and the artists and producers are the recipients. Alright—let’s get on with it! RECORD OF THE YEAR GRAMMY NOMINEES “Nothin’ On You”B.o.B feat. Bruno Mars “Love The Way You Lie”Eminem feat. Rihanna “Forget You” (aka “Fuck You”)Cee Lo Green “Empire State Of Mind” – Jay-Z feat. Alicia Keys “Need You Now” – Lady Antebellum

THOUGHTS ON THE NOMINEES: Let’s just rule out “Empire State Of Mind.” Because like the rest of the world, we, too, think Jay and Alicia’s 2009 jam looks silly even appearing on the list of nominees for the 2011 Grammys. Yes, it was great. Yes, we all sang along. Yes, it topped the Hot 100 and was zeitgeist-y. But we’ve kind of moved on.

And while Eminem and Rihanna’s “Love The Way You Lie” dominated the charts and radio last summer, we’re betting the Detroit rapper will get more love in some of the other nine categories where he’s nominated rather than here (including, possibly, Song Of The Year).

As for B.o.B and Bruno’s “Nothin’ On You,” the Academy might just think the cheery song’s inevitable long shelf life across various radio formats will be reward enough.

That brings us to…

WHO WILL WIN: We’re going with Lady Antebellum’s “Need You Now.” It’s catchy and lush. It crosses genres. And it doesn’t have the word “fuck” in the title—it just implies the deed is going to happen. (You didn’t really think they needed someone to come over at quarter after one to help get the lid off the jar of artichokes did you?) In a year when LP sales were at their lowest ever, Lady Antebellum scored one of the few hit albums thanks to both their title track and the Midas touch of producer Paul Worley.

WHO SHOULD WIN: Like a lot of other people, we were all about Cee Lo’s “Fuck You” last fall. The song proved to be a surprise viral hit, and when it crossed over bigtime thanks to pseudo-family-friendly TV series Glee, America was smitten. (And so, apparently, was the rest of the world—”Fuck You” topped the UK chart, was a Top 10 single in nearly a dozen other countries in 2010 and opened the floodgates for other F-word-riddled pop ditties.) Hell, even Captain Kirk caught the F-bomb bug! We give you a big middle-finger salute, Cee Lo, even if Grammy won’t.

Give us your thoughts below!

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