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Grammy nods may favor SpringsteenNominations to be announced Tuesday
(CNN) -- The Grammys, critics and public don't always see eye to eye. But when the nominations for the 45th annual music awards are announced Tuesday morning, there's probably one name that all three can agree on as one of the year's best: Bruce Springsteen. The New Jersey rocker's September 11-inspired album, "The Rising," topped the charts and critics' lists in 2002, and many observers expect it to be prominently featured among the Grammy nominations. " 'The Rising' is a ghost story, but it's more, too -- past and present, celebration and wake -- and few others could have pulled it off," wrote Entertainment Weekly's David Browne in praising the album. Other records expected to receive a boost from the Recording Academy include "The Eminem Show," Eminem's follow-up to his Grammy-nominated "The Marshall Mathers LP"; Sheryl Crow's "C'mon, C'mon," which featured the ubiquitous summer song "Soak Up the Sun"; Norah Jones' big-selling and well-reviewed "Come Away With Me"; and the Dixie Chicks' "Home." Ghosts of Grammys pastOf course, when it comes to nominations, the Grammys are both the most -- and least -- predictable of awards. Honors usually go to best sellers, but sometimes critical favorites can slip through (not that big sales hurt in any case).
In years past, album of the year winners have included modern classics such as Lauryn Hill's "The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill," U2's "The Joshua Tree" and Bob Dylan's "Time Out of Mind" -- but also humdrum best sellers such as "Christopher Cross," "Toto IV" and Phil Collins' "No Jacket Required." Indeed, as recently as 1996, the Recording Academy named Celine Dion's "Falling Into You" album of the year over Beck's "Odelay," the Fugees' "The Score" and Wilco's "Being There." Similarly, in choosing the record of the year, the Grammys often have favored bombastic ballads and heartfelt sentiments -- such as Bette Midler's "Wind Beneath My Wings," Whitney Houston's "I Will Always Love You" and Dion's "My Heart Will Go On" -- over jagged rockers or R&B tunes. But recent records of the year have included Santana's "Smooth" and U2's "Beautiful Day." Both were upbeat and big hits, but they still mark a departure for the awards. Observers credit a rejiggered nominating process in which a Grammy committee oversees the choices of the general membership and an influx of younger Grammy voters. Left-field nominees?Which brings up the question: How far out in left field will the Grammys go?
One of the best stories of the year was Wilco's critically praised "Yankee Hotel Foxtrot," an album rejected by the band's old label, Reprise, before being picked up by Nonesuch and becoming the band's highest-charting album ever. (Reprise and Nonesuch are divisions of AOL Time Warner.) But the record's downbeat tone may turn off Grammy voters. There was also the resurgence of punk, as typified by the Strokes, the Hives, the Vines and the White Stripes; a new trend in young female singer-songwriters, such as Michelle Branch and Avril Lavigne; and a decline in boy-band sales. Finally, there were the mainstream chart-toppers, including Nelly's "Hot in Herre" and Ashanti's "Foolish." Both artists dominated the Billboard Music Awards in December. Any or all of these artists may earn a mention, along with Eminem, who had the best-selling album of the year in "The Eminem Show." But the Grammys like a little social relevance with their sales, which is why Springsteen is most likely to be showered with nominations. Tuesday's nods will be announced by several musicians, including Lavigne, Justin Timberlake and P. Diddy, from New York's Madison Square Garden. The 45th annual Grammy Awards are scheduled to take place February 23 at Madison Square Garden.
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