The 57th Annual Grammy Awards Preview and Commentary

Tomorrow night the 57th Annual Grammy Awards will take place, and as always, I'll be watching, This year is extra special because I'll be checking out this major musical event at my friend Sean's house with a whole slew of fellow Madge fanatics. You see, this year Madonna will be performing her new Living For Love single, and Sean's life is full of Madge fans like he and I, and we'll all be in a festive mood as the show takes place. Before that all happens, though, let's weigh in on the rest of this year's show...

Madonna took part in Macklemore and Lewis' performance of 

Same Love last year in a showy and somewhat bizarre set 

mashable

The Performances

For me, Madonna would be the single reason to watch this year's Grammys, but as always there'll be plenty of other musical performances during the evening. Rihanna, Paul McCartney and Kanye West will be performing their collaborative tune, FourFiveSeconds, in what should be another highlight of the evening. Also on hand to slated to perform are AC/DC, Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga, Ariana Grande, Miranda Lambert, Beck and Chris Martin, Pharrell Williams, Katy Perry, Sia, Usher and lots more. This definitely has the makings of an entertaining evening.

The Awards

Here are the nominees, along with some commentary, in some of the most talked about categories...

Record of the Year

Fancy - Iggy Azalea, featuring Charli XCX

Chandelier - Sia

Stay With Me - Sam Smith

Shake It Off - Taylor Swift

All About That Bass - Meghan Trainor

The biggest award of the night features some pretty stiff competition, as always. All are great tunes, and I'm thinking Taylor Swift's gonna take it.

Album of the Year 

Morning Phase - Beck 

Beyoncé - Beyoncé

X - Ed Sheeran

In the Lonely Hour - Sam Smith

Girl - Pharrell Williams

I am totally rooting for Ed Sheeran here because I happen to think his is the most genuine and the most intense set of tunes put out in 2014.

Song of the Year

All About That Bass - Meghan Trainor 

Chandelier - Sia

Shake It Off - Taylor Swift

Stay With Me - Sam Smith

Take Me to Church - Hozier

The songwriting category for tune of the year is virtually the same as the performance category, except in this one, Iggy Azalea's Fancy is swapped out for Hozier's Take Me to Church, which is my personal favorite here, though I'm betting on Sam Smith. Awesome record!

Best New Artist 

Iggy Azalea

Bastille

Brandy Clark

Haim

Sam Smith

Once again, and only based on the amount of press he gets, I'm betting on Sam Smith to take it in this category. Usually this category is one of the most exciting, but none of the artists, except maybe the largely unknown Haim, ever got my juices flowing. 

Best Pop/Duo/Group Performance

Fancy - Iggy Azalea, featuring Charli XCX

A Sky Full of Stars - Coldplay

Say Something - A Great Big World, with Christina Aguilera

Bang Bang - Jessie J, Ariana Grande, Nicki Minaj

Dark Horse - Katy Perry with Juicy J

huffington post

There are an awful lot of award categories to choose from every year, and I don't usually weigh in on this particular one, but I've been saying ever since the fall of 2013 that Katy Perry's Dark Horse is da bomb, so...

Dance Recording

Never Say Never - Basement Jaxx

Rather Be - Clean Bandit, featuring Jess Glynne

F for You - Disclosure, featuring Mary J Blige

I Got You - Duke Dumont, featuring Jax Jones

Faded - Zhu

This one probably won't be shown on CBS, but since my focus is almost always on dance music, I always include it here. This is a tough one this year, as both Clean Bandit and Disclosure are highlights of the dance music scene in 2014 for me. My pick in this category will go to Rather Be, simply because it is such a pleasant tune. I won't be disappointed, though, if the funky F For You takes it. Check out Rather Be...

So yeah, tomorrow night's Grammy show should be a good one to watch, especially Madonna's performance. So if you're as big a music fan as I, be sure to tune in tomorrow night at 8 on CBS, and stay tuned here for more commentary after the show.