Darius Rucker
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2014 ACM Awards: Staff Picks & Predictions
And they’re back: The 2014 ACM Awards air live on Sunday at 7 p.m. CST, hosted by Blake Shelton and Luke Bryan. They’re sure to be enraging or amusing, depending on your bro-country meter. In the meantime, we’ve picked and predicted the awards below – chime in with your thoughts!
Entertainer of the Year
Should Win
- Luke Bryan
- Miranda Lambert
- Blake Shelton
- George Strait – KJC, TS, BF
- Taylor Swift
Will Win
- Luke Bryan – KJC, TS, BF, JK
- Miranda Lambert
- Blake Shelton
- George Strait
- Taylor Swift
2014 Grammy Winners
This year’s Grammy winners will be posted here as they are announced.
Here are the awards, in the order of presentation:
Pre-Telecast Winners:
American Roots Song: Edie Brickell & Steve Martin, “Love Has Come For You”
Americana Album: Emmylou Harris & Rodney Crowell, Old Yellow Moon
Bluegrass Album: The Del McCoury Band, The Streets of Baltimore
Folk Album: Guy Clark, My Favorite Picture of You
Country Solo Performance: Darius Rucker, “Wagon Wheel”
Country Duo/Group Performance: The Civil Wars, “From This Valley”
Country Song: Shane McAnally, Kacey Musgraves, and Josh Osborne, “Merry Go ‘Round”
2014 Grammy Awards: Staff Picks & Predictions
The Country Universe staff has picked and predicted the 2014 Grammy Awards below, strange bunch that they are. Chime in with your thoughts, and catch the show on Sunday at 7 p.m. CST.
Album of the Year
Should Win:
- Sara Bareilles, The Blessed Unrest
- Daft Punk, Random Access Memories – Kevin
- Kendrick Lamar, good kid m.A.A.d. city – Jonathan
- Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, The Heist
- Taylor Swift, Red
Will Win:
- Sara Bareilles, The Blessed Unrest
- Daft Punk, Random Access Memories – Kevin, Jonathan
- Kendrick Lamar, good kid m.A.A.d. city
- Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, The Heist
- Taylor Swift, Red
Kevin: With electronic music so mainstream now, it would be wise and timely for NARAS to acknowledge the excellent comeback of one of its pioneers, especially as the year’s best country albums (Brandy Clark, Kacey Musgraves, Ashley Monroe, etc.) and the year’s best rap album (Kanye West) didn’t score nominations in the top category.
Jonathan: Lamar and Daft Punk would both be worthy winners of an award that rarely seems to go to one. Hip-hop and R&B have notoriously struggled in the general field in recent years, so Daft Punk’s cachet with the rock contingent should give them the edge over Swift, who didn’t score the across-the-board support many were expecting from her this year. If the voters are feeling especially timid, though, watch out for “Brave” yelper Bareilles as a spoiler.
2014 Grammy Nominees
The nominations for the 56th Annual Grammy Awards have been announced. Taylor Swift has the top nomination connected to country music, earning her second nomination for Album of the Year. She took home the award four years ago for Fearless.
Here are the general category nominees, along with all country and country-related categories:
Album of the Year
- Sara Bareilles, The Blessed Unrest
- Daft Punk, Random Access Memories
- Kendrick Lamar, good kid m.A.A.d. city
- Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, The Heist
- Taylor Swift, Red
If Taylor Swift wins, she will be the first country-related artist in history to win the category twice with individual projects. Alison Krauss also has two victories, one for her collaboration with Robert Plant (Raising Sand, 2009), and another for her contributions to the O Brother Where Art Thou soundtrack (2002.) The award has only been won by country artists in two other years: Glen Campbell for By the Time I Get to Phoenix (1968), and the Dixie Chicks for Taking the Long Way (2007).