Akon, Taylor Swift, Linkin Park in line for Grammy nods?

The first major clue as to who will be receiving some Grammy nominations was announced today by the Recording Academy. Akon, Taylor Swift (pictured) and Linkin Park will attend the Dec. 6 unveiling of nominations for the 50th annual Grammy Awards, to be held Feb. 10 in Los Angeles.

It's a safe bet that the artists reading the nominations are usually good for a nomination or two.

Rapper Akon released his debut album, "Konvicted," at the end of 2007, missing Grammy eligibility last year. He should do well in the rap fields this year.

Word is he was lobbied heavily to the Recording Academy for consideration in the Best New Artist field this year. But since he received a nomination for the single "Smack That" (featuring Eminem) for the 49th annual awards, it will be a surprise to see him as Best New Artist this year.

Teenage country star Swift did well at this month's Country Music Assn. Awards, winning the Horizon Award, which is given to up-and-coming artists. After the awards, her self-titled debut jumped back into the Top 10 on the U.S. pop charts and has sold more than 1.4 million copies in the U.S. to date, according to Nielsen SoundScan. Her album came out during last year's eligibility period, but she could snare a Best New Artist nod, as it truly took off in 2007.

Veteran rockers Linkin Park released one of the bestselling rock albums of 2007 with "Minutes to Midnight." It was produced by Grammy favorite Rick Rubin, and it's a lock to generate multiple nods in the rock fields. It received mixed-to-positive reviews, but saw the band bringing in some more topical songwriting.

Though "Minutes to Midnight" wouldn't make this writer's Top 100 (yes, hundred) albums of 2007, there were few rock releases this year with the same combination of commercial and critical success, meaning it could be in line for an Album of the Year nod. Also, don't discount the Rubin factor, as the man had a hand in three of five Album of the Year nominations last year.

Those who announced the Grammy nominations in 2006 were all treated nicely once nominations were unveiled. Mary J. Blige, KT Tunstall, James Blunt, Justin Timberlake and Rascal Flatts attended last year's press conference, and none left without a Grammy nod.

Quincy Jones will also be attending this year and is recognized by the Recording Academy as the 50th Celebration Ambassador. More artists will likely be announced for the Dec. 6 event.

Photo: Associated Press

Comments

[loki1967]

The Grammy's need to start advertising properly. Most Grammy winners are the acts that bring in the most money or most unit sales. This is often inverse to the quality and depth of the material. 90% of all Grammy winners will never be remembered in 10-20 years. The litter box is awash in them. Yet acts of substance will stay around forever. I have 700CD's and 40 days of music on my computer from all genres yet not one song by anyone mentioned in this article. In fact I will never own any songs or albums from the artists listed on this page. Yet I have music from almost all the genres except for Pop.

[Rob]

Akon? Seriously? Does he even count as rap?

Let's just be done with it and give Springsteen his overdue Album of the Year trophy, and Winehouse her much- deserved New Artist and Record of the Year awards. Though I have a horrible feeling Swift or (ugh) Daughtry could upset, because Amy has attitude, personal demons and, uh, an actual soul. Nothing scares the Grammy voters off more than that.

[Tom]

"Minutes to Midnight" wouldn't make your top 100? If this is true then you truly are musically challenged.

[Julian]

Amy Winehouse is as overrated as they come. Her album was not all that!

The real question is: will the Academy make up for snubbing Deborah Cox years ago by extending her her first nomination?

[afrkanmusic]

i hope "vieux farka toure" gets nominated for best world music album...

[Scotty]

Best Album Predictions:

Kanye West - Graduation
Bruce Springsteen - Magic
Linkin Park - Minutes to Midnight
Amy Whinehouse - Back To Black
Last slot IDK! I thought Alicia Keys until the mixed reviews. So IDK. What do you think?

[-TM]

I think you're dead on with West and Springsteen. I'd like to see West win the award, although he should have won it for "College Dropout."

As it is, Linkin Park will probably be in there, and the fact that the band is appearing on Dec. 6 has made me feel stronger about that. I still think Winehouse isn’t a given here, as voters may just be content to leave her as a Best New Artist.

Keys wouldn’t be eligible, as her album was released too late, but -- for what it’s worth --this is Keys’ best album. Don’t worry about reviews, the Grammys aren’t a reflection of critical tastes, sadly. She deserves to be nominated for a vocal performance for “No One.”

I think you might see McCartney in there, and perhaps the Eagles, although “The Long Road Out of Eden” is the worst album I’ve heard this year. That would give us five.

But as I do every year, I’m going to hold out hope that voters are paying attention to what the music community is actually excited about, as opposed to just what people are buying, or what heritage artists haven’t been properly recognized yet.

To that end, I’d love to see MIA in there for “Kala,” or Lily Allen in there for “Alright, Still,” and 2007 efforts from Modest Mouse, Mavis Staples, Spoon, Common and the White Stripes are all worthy of consideration, among many others that won’t get nominated for Album of the Year.

[tristan]

....alicia keys can't be considered this year because her album came out too late...

and also, WHERE are you getting mixed reviews from? according to metacritic, her last album had a 71 and garnered an album of the year nod...her new one has a 70. so how is that "mixed?"

[Frankie R.]

I see the following nominations in store for the Grammys:

Album:
Graduation - K. West
Magic - B. Springsteen
Back to Black - A. Winehouse
Memory Almost Full - Paul McCartney
Good Girl Gone Bad - Rihanna

Possibles: Shine - J. Mitchell, or The White Stripes - Icky Thump

Best New Artist: A. Winehouse, Daughtry, Taylor Swift, Lily Allen, Sean Kingston (because that annoying "Beautiful Girl" song got so much airplay I could just puke).

Overall: Bruce will rule in the Album of the year category--and deservedly so...West (sorry) is too much of a sore loser and needs to stop being so whiney...but a possible McCartney upset can creep in...love ol' Paul but his past two recordings are not his truly best works.

[Scotty]

I put into consideriation MIA as well. I do like Lilly Allen but Idon't really see anything happening with the exception of a possible (but not likely) Best New Artist Nod, Best Female Pop Performace for smile and best Rap / Sung Collab for that song with Common. White Stripes I like too but will probably just get an alternative album nod and Rock Song Nod. I like Common too but I don't see him getting anything besides a couple of hip hop category nods that won't win anything because of West. I heard some things online that some nomiantions were leaked, like RIOT got 3 nomiations for Rock Album, Rock Song and Song of the Year, and some singer songwriter chic from Long Island named Skye Clair got nominated for Song of The Year, Best Female Pop performance and Pop Album. IDK I would be shocked if any of these were true. Here are my Best New Artist Predictions:
Taylor Swift
Amy Whinehouse
Gym Class Heroes
The Rest is Tough because like last year there was alot of Shoo Ins. Here are potentials.

Mat Kearny, Feist, Lily Allen, Regina Spektor, (for indie) Daughtry, Sean Kingston, Colbie Calait (for major)

[John]

I think it's high time that Rush garner some of its well-deserved and long-overdue credit and rewards. They're 2007 album Snakes & Arrows was outstanding and met with incredible critical appraise...

Rush is made up of 3 "normal" guys who have remained together for over 30 years, selling over 35 million records worldwide, and maintaining a loyal and growing fan base during all that time.

There's a reason for that -- and most would see it if they took the time to listen.