Sarah Vulpio
It’s almost that time of year again — the time when musical artists of all genres come together with hopes of taking home a miniature golden gramophone. Yep, that’s right: the 2013 Grammy Awards are coming. The Grammys are a place where you can expect lots of surprises, celebrations and the ever-popular Taylor Swift “Oh-my-gosh-I-can’t-believe-I-won-but-really-I-knew-I-would-because-I’m-Taylor-Swift” face. However, with new artists like Frank Ocean and fun. on the rise, Ms. Swift may have to leave that expression at home. Unless she finds herself a new beau within the next seven days to write a chart-topper about, I think it’s safe to say that one of these new artists may just snatch the award right out of her hands, figuratively speaking, of course (we’re not looking for another Kanye incident).
Jay-Z, fun., Mumford & Sons, Frank Ocean and Kanye West top the nomination list with six each; Miguel and The Black Keys each have five. America’ favorite female singers also have a strong showing, with four nominations for Kelly Clarkson, three for Taylor Swift and two nominations for Carly Rae Jepsen.
On Grammy night, Rihanna and Bruno Mars will give a special performance with Sting. Other entertainers singing at the ceremony include The Black Keys, Jack White, Frank Ocean, Alicia Keys, Carrie Underwood, Justin Timberlake and Ed Sheeran with Elton John. Beyonce will be a presenter.
One of the biggest awards of the night will be Best Song of the Year, whose nominees include Ed Sheeran, Miguel, Carly Rae Jepsen, Kelly Clarkson and fun. Now let’s back up for just a second to Ms. Jepsen. Her song, “Call Me Maybe” is nominated for Best Song of the Year. Sure, it’s the song heard round the world, but is it really worthy of such a prestigious award? In my personal opinion, no.
The Canadian star may have hit her peak with this song — with many thanks to Justin Bieber for giving her the boost she needed — but if she wins this award, her career may continue. However, there is no emotional resonance to this song. It carries no true lyrical value. “Hey, I just met you, and this is crazy. But here’s my number, so call me maybe.” Great for trying to pick someone up — a cheesy serenade if you will — but it in no way expresses real emotion or tells a story. On top of that, Carly’s voice is great for mixing in the studio, but the girl really has no jaw-dropping talent. If we take a look at other artists nominated for the same award, such as Ed Sheeran, we see pure talent and lyrics with raw emotion.
To be fair, “Call Me Maybe” was number one on Billboard Hot 100 for nine weeks straight, and sold over 6.474 million in the United States. Despite the song’s success, the Best Song of the Year should go to a track that isn’t just something people will sing as loudly as they can in the car, or enjoy making parodies of, but should be something that evokes an emotional reaction. Returning to Ed Sheeran, “The A Team” is about the hardships one faces as a drug addict and how draining his or her life becomes. It may not be a song you would request at a dance club, but it is something that many people can unfortunately relate to.
Another song that fits this bill is fun.’s “We Are Young,” a swelling anthem for those who live in the moment. It’s a song people relate to as they feel the freedom this song praises — the freedom that is being young.
The Grammy Awards air Sunday, Feb. 10 at 8 p.m. on CBS . It will definitely be interesting to see who takes home which awards, and if all goes well, we will finally be cured of the “Call Me Maybe” pandemic once and for all.