Alicia Keys and U2 are likely to be the big victors on Grammy night. EW.com
tells you who will win in 10 major categories — and who should win.

We’ve got some bad news for India.Arie: While the guitar-strumming
soulstress earned a surprise seven Grammy nods, she’s unlikely to come away
with many wins. Instead, U2 (eight nominations) and Alicia Keys (six) will
dominate the 2002 Grammys, according to a poll of Entertainment Weekly’s
music writers and editors. Nelly Furtado and Outkast will also be among the
winners, we predict, while Bj?rk and Michael Jackson can expect to be
snubbed.

The Grammys will be broadcast live on Feb. 27 (CBS, 8 p.m.). To help you
prepare for music’s big night, we gathered the opinions of 10 EW staffers,
who picked the artists who will win in 10 major categories — along with
those who should win.

Album of the Year

”Acoustic Soul”
India.Arie

”Love and Theft”
Bob Dylan

”Stankonia”
Outkast

”All That You Can’t Leave Behind”
U2

”O Brother, Where Art Thou?” soundtrack
Various Artists

WILL WIN U2 Bono & Co. have a lock on this category, especially since Alicia
Keys’ ”Songs in A Minor” is not in contention. Grammy voters love nothing
more than a comeback, and ”All That You Can’t Leave Behind” was certainly
that. EW SAYS: ”U2 is right in the middle — they’re not a classic-rock
old-fogey band and they’re not a young band. They haven’t been honored this
way for years, and there’s something very comforting to Grammy voters about
seeing U2 back in that slot.”

SHOULD WIN U2 While both the Dylan and Outkast records received
well-deserved critical acclaim, U2’s release — their best since 1991’s
”Achtung Baby” — has had the greatest impact. EW SAYS: ”The album has
gained a lot of depth and resonance over the last year, which you can’t say
about many albums, especially big pop releases. It’s the official
post-September 11 album.”

Best New Artist

India.Arie

Nelly Furtado

David Gray

Alicia Keys

Linkin Park

WILL WIN ALICIA KEYS There’s little doubt that Keys will take this category.
Furtado hasn’t made as much impact; Gray has several previous albums to his
name and only one hit single; Arie is still relatively unknown; and Linkin
Park’s jejune rap-rock is far more popular among teens than conservative
Grammy voters. EW SAYS: ”It seems like the whole point of the marketing of
Alicia Keys over the last year was to make her the Best New Artist and
instill it into people’s heads that it was a given.”

SHOULD WIN ALICIA KEYS Keys is a genuinely new artist (unlike Gray) whose
debut album brims with promise. She writes and produces her own songs, and
plays the piano. EW SAYS: ”Everything about her screams serious musician –
from the album’s Beethoven and Chopin references to the long hours she
spends in the studio. The message is: Here’s an artist whose career will
endure and deepen.”

Record of the Year

“Video”
India.Arie

”Fallin”’
Alicia Keys

”Ms. Jackson”
Outkast

”Drops of Jupiter”
Train

”Walk On”
U2

WILL WIN ALICIA KEYS U2 won both Song of the Year and Record of the Year
last year for ”Beautiful Day” (the single was released before the album,
making it eligible for the 2001 awards); it’s highly unlikely that they’ll
win again for another single from the same record. Instead, expect Keys to
take this category, especially since voters were unable to consider her for
Album of the Year. EW SAYS: ”It feels like Alicia Keys’ year — she’s had a
lot of attention and a lot of airplay, and most of it is on the basis of
‘Fallin’.’ And it’s a catchy little tune.”

SHOULD WIN OUTKAST Outkast deserve recognition for making a revolutionary
hip-hop record — and it’s about time the Grammys picked a rap song as
Record of the Year. EW SAYS: ”Among its competition in the category, it
just seems like the most innovative and textured and the most interesting
piece of production.”

Best Female Pop Vocal Performance

”I’m Like a Bird”
Nelly Furtado

”There You’ll Be”
Faith Hill

”Someone to Call My Lover”
Janet Jackson

”By Your Side”
Sade

”Essence”
Lucinda Williams

WILL WIN NELLY FURTADO She’s young, she’s commercially successful, and she’s
cute. EW SAYS: ”It’s a fun song and she does a good job singing it. Still,
either Janet Jackson or Sade could wind up winning this one based on pure
name recognition.”

SHOULD WIN SADE If the award is really based on quality of vocal
performance, Sade’s icy-smooth pipes deserve recognition. EW SAYS: ”She’s
on the Enya level — the established industry-favorite easy-listening type.
And she did make a really surprising comeback this year.”

Best Male Pop Vocal Performance

”Fill Me In”
Craig David

”You Rock My World”
Michael Jackson

”I Want Love”
Elton John

”Still”
Brian McKnight

”Don’t Let Me Be Lonely Tonight”
James Taylor

WILL WIN ELTON JOHN Once again, Grammy voters will jump to honor the
perceived comeback of a veteran artist. The memorable Robert Downey
Jr.-starring video won’t hurt — plus, it’s a pretty good song. EW SAYS:
”Elton John could get the Bob Dylan accolades of four years ago, where the
industry is honoring him for still being around and making a record that was
a step above what he’s done lately. He is still in good voice so you can’t
fault him for that.”

SHOULD WIN CRAIG DAVID David brought the U.K.’s two-step movement — and his
purring vocals — to R&B radio. EW SAYS: ”It’d be nice to see him win. He
has a really interesting slippery voice, and he added a few new dimensions
to the current R&B vocalist scene, taking it beyond those Ginuwine
clich?s.”

Best R&B Album

”Aaliyah”
Aaliyah

”Acoustic Soul”
India.Arie

”No More Drama”
Mary J. Blige

”Survivor”
Destiny’s Child

”Songs in A Minor”
Alicia Keys

WILL WIN ALICIA KEYS The sheer momentum behind Keys and her album should
help her prevail. However, Aaliyah’s untimely death last year could make her
album a strong sentimental favorite. EW SAYS: ”It’ll be an interesting
category to watch: Will there be a big nostalgic undercurrent for Aaliyah?”

SHOULD WIN MARY J. BLIGE Although her album didn’t garner the kind of buzz
that Keys’ did, Blige’s ”No More Drama” is a more assured effort. EW SAYS:
”Of all these albums, the Blige record is the strongest. It had a lot more
depth and range to it than these others. Keys is more acceptable to the
mainstream; Blige has more street cred.”

Best Rock Album

”Gold”
Ryan Adams

”Just Push Play”
Aerosmith

”Stories From the City, Stories From the Sea”
PJ Harvey

”Hybrid Theory”
Linkin Park

”All That You Can’t Leave Behind”
U2

WILL WIN U2 There’s absolutely no doubt on this one. EW SAYS: ”It’s
inconceivable that U2 wouldn’t win. Aerosmith don’t have a chance. Linkin
Park don’t line up with Grammy voters’ tastes. PJ Harvey is past her prime
enough that even her champions aren’t talking too loudly at this point. Ryan
Adams is the only one who’s engendering a real following, and even he has a
lot of detractors.”

SHOULD WIN U2 Only the PJ Harvey and Ryan Adams albums come close to U2’s
artistic achievement — but not that close. EW SAYS: ”Adams doesn’t just
wear his influences on his sleeve — they are his sleeve. And why isn’t the
iconoclastic Harvey nominated in the alternative category instead?”

Best Rap Album

”Scorpion”
Eve

”Pain Is Love”
Ja Rule

”The Blueprint”
Jay-Z

”Back for the First Time”
Ludacris

”Stankonia”
Outkast

WILL WIN OUTKAST Not only did Outkast make a great album, they also happened
to make one that’s more accessible to non-hip-hop fans than their
competition. EW SAYS: ”The pop quality of the Outkast album will help it a
lot. It doesn’t seem as street and hardcore as some of the other records,
and it’s more melodic. Voters can hum ‘Ms. Jackson’ a lot easier than they
can anything off the Jay-Z record. And I doubt they’ve even heard the
Ludacris record.”

SHOULD WIN OUTKAST Though the other nominees are strong competitors
(particularly the Eve and Jay-Z albums), it’s the funk-fueled ”Stankonia”
that suggests a new, richly musical direction for hip-hop.

Best Alternative Music Album

”Strange Little Girls”
Tori Amos

”Vespertine”
Bj?rk

”Parachutes”
Coldplay

”’Halfway Between the Gutter and the Stars”
Fatboy Slim

”Amnesiac”
Radiohead

WILL WIN RADIOHEAD For many voters, Radiohead are an automatic choice in
this category. EW SAYS: ”Radiohead are sort of a brand name now; they
embody the whole category. It wasn’t a particularly strong record, but
they’ve been so trumpeted in the alternative scene that I can see voters
automatically checking that off.” Nonetheless, watch out for Coldplay,
whose smash single ”Yellow” could push their ”Parachutes” over the top.

SHOULD WIN BJ?RK ”Vespertine,” with its combination of electronic sounds
and choirs and harpsichords, is a truly alternative album. And truth be
told, Radiohead’s ”Amnesiac” just isn’t as good as its predecessor, ”Kid
A.” EW SAYS: ”Bj?rk made the better, more interesting album.”

Best Pop Vocal Album

”Whoa, Nelly!”
Nelly Furtado

”All for You”
Janet Jackson

”Songs From the West Coast”
Elton John

”Celebrity”
‘N Sync

”Lovers Rock”
Sade

WILL WIN NELLY FURTADO We can’t rule out the possibility that voters might
finally make a small concession to the teen-pop phenomenon they’ve long
ignored, and give the award to ‘N Sync. EW SAYS: ”The Nelly Furtado album
has several advantages: It’s commercially successful, she has a unique
approach in her singing, and most Grammy voters have probably heard the
album’s singles by now.”

SHOULD WIN NELLY FURTADO EW SAYS: ”Nelly Furtado is a fresh face with an
interesting mix of styles and genres, and she has that youthful
exuberance.”

by Brian Hiatt

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