Other / Editor / 06 February 2009 / Leave a comment

The English purveyors of epic indie-pop are nominated in loads of categories but are likely to miss out on the night...

Record of the Year

For both 'Song of the Year' and 'Record of the Year' I assembled a group together, we turned on Youtube and listened to each of the songs nominated and then had a brainstorming session. The people I arranged were of different age groups and liked different types of music. The consensus was clear for ROTY that Paper Planes and Please Read the Letter stunk. The singing was atrocious and the song left little to be desired. That left Bleeding Love by Leona Lewis, Chasing Pavements by Adele and Viva La Vida by Coldplay. Ironically, Viva La Vida is nominated for practically everything this year although almost everyone agrees the song and album aren't that good and certainly don't come close to Coldplay's third CD. In fact, some music critics say it is their worst and is only being recognised due to the popularity of the band. Without doubt it will win something, but there is nothing that makes the listener or bettor say "what a great song". My hunch is it will win some of the lesser awards and lose in the main categories. Chasing Pavements is a good song. All in my group agreed it had great rhythm, was enjoyable to listen to and the singing was great. The only criticism of the song was that the video was "weird." Fortunately, the votes are cast on the music not the video. Bleeding Love is the favourite and could be tough to beat but at [2.0] represents little value. My money and the consensus of the group was that Chasing Pavements was the best all around song and was a value play at [3.5].


Song of the Year
Like ROTY, the group liked Chasing Pavements but also enjoyed I'm Yours. Again, Viva La Vida was seen as a ridiculous play at almost [2.0] while American Boy and Love Song were just not liked very much. I'm Yours has received a lot of radio play indicating it received many requests by listeners. For this category it may be best to take both Chasing Pavements and I'm Yours both available between [4.0] and [5.0] odds.


Album of the Year
Coldplay's Viva La Vida is once again among the nominations, competition comes from Raising Sand by Robert Plant & Allison Krauss, Tha Carter III by Lil Wayne, In Rainbows by Radiohead and Year of the Gentleman by Ne-Yo. Looking at prior trends it seems pretty clear that the winner of this award tends to go to the CD that sells the most copies. With that in mind Lil' Wayne (2.8 sales) should win, although Coldplay sold 2.2 million. The others did well also in sales although none came close to the top two. Lil' Wayne right now is all over the talk show circuits and has a big cult following. For that reason one would have to guess that Tha Carter III is the play which at almost [2.72] odds represents great value for a favourite.

Best New Artist
The nominees here are Jazmine Sullivan, The Jonas Brothers, Adele, Duffy and Lady Antlebellum. Forget the last two as they have no shot. Sullivan and the Jonas Brothers are the two big favourites but for reasons I can't fathom. The Jonas Brothers have a following with eight to 14-year-old girls and their grandmothers. Their songs aren't very good and the appeal is confusing. If they win it will be a shock. Sullivan also has a big following but her rap/r&b style rarely wins awards. That leaves Adele as the huge value play at [5.2]. Not only is the young British artiste the most talented singer of the lot, but she is also nominated in two of the main categories which none of the other singers can boast. By broadcast time her odds will drop but right now she represents great value.