By: Caitlyn Bailey | Editor-in-Chief
The music industry’s biggest night of the year will be taking place this Sunday on February 4th: The 66th GRAMMY Awards. Pop culture fans are excited to see their favorite artists appear on the red carpet in various designer clothing while they give exclusive interviews. Exciting performances by artists such as Olivia Rodrigo and Billy Joel will keep audiences entertained for the show’s 3 1/2 hour span. In anticipation of the Recording Academy’s big night, The Mosaic staff has a few predictions for how this year’s award ceremony is going to unfold.
ALBUM OF THE YEAR
NOMINEES:
World Music Radio by Jon Batiste
the record by boygenius
Endless Summer Vacation by Miley Cyrus
Did You Know That There’s a Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd? by Lana Del Rey
The Age of Pleasure by Janelle Monae
GUTS by Olivia Rodrigo
Midnights by Taylor Swift
SOS by SZA
With 60% of the vote, it will come as no surprise that The Mosaic’s anticipated winner for best album is Midnights by Taylor Swift. Swift’s surprise announcement of the album was shocking to fans, who were expecting the artist to release one of her re-recordings that she is still in the process of reclaiming. Instead, Midnights was a hit for both longtime and new listeners, earning its position as this year’s expected winner for best album this year.
RECORD OF THE YEAR
NOMINEES:
“Worship” by Jon Batiste
“Not Strong Enough” by boygenius
“Flowers” by Miley Cyrus
“What Was I Made For?” by Billie Eilish
“On My Mama” by Victoria Monet
“Vampire” by Olivia Rodrigo
“Anti-Hero” by Taylor Swift
“Kill Bill” by SZA
The Mosaic was split for this year’s top record. Once again, Taylor Swift takes a win with “Anti-Hero,” marking 26.7% of the votes. SZA’s “Kill Bill” was recorded with the same amount of votes. The record of the year award is considered a win for the performing artist, producer, recording engineer, and/or mixer of the song. “Kill Bill” and “Anti-Hero” dominated radio stations after their releases, so their anticipated win is not shocking.
SONG OF THE YEAR
NOMINEES:
“A&W” by Jack Antonoff, Lana Del Rey & Sam Dew
“Anti-Hero” by Jack Antonoff & TaylorSwift
“Butterfly” by Jon Batise & Dan Wilson
“Dance The Night” by Caroline Ailin, Dua Lipa, Mark Ronson & Andrew Wyatt
“Flowers” by Miley Cyrus, Gregory Aldae Hein & Michael Pollack
“Kill Bill” by Rob Bisel, Carter Lang & Solena Rowe
“Vampire” by Daniel Nigro & Olivia Rodrigo
“What Was I Made For?” by Billie Eilish & Finneas O’Connell
With a far-ahead lead of 46.7% of the votes, “What Was I Made For?” is the projected winner for 2023’s song of the year award. Song of the year is awarded to only the writer of the song, so the brother and sister duo of Billie Eilish and Finneas O’Connell is our expected winner this year.
BEST NEW ARTIST
NOMINEES:
Gracie Abrams
Fred Again…
Ice Spice
Jelly Roll
Coco Jones
Noah Kahan
Victoria Monet
The War and Treaty
2023 was a year filled with many new artists that captured the attention of the music industry. Noah Kahan takes 66.7% of The Mosaic’s vote as the breakthrough artist. Ice Spice trailed behind with 26.7%, but Kahan’s lead is clear. He is likely boosted by his surge in popularity thanks to the many trends on TikTok that take place to his music.
BEST POP SOLO PERFORMANCE
NOMINEES:
“Flowers” by Miley Cyrus
“Paint the Town Red” by Doja Cat
“What Was I Made For?” by Billie Eilish
“Vampire” by Olivia Rodrigo
“Anti-Hero” by Taylor Swift
Eilish is the projected winner once again with her song “What Was I Made For?” with 40% of the votes. Trailing behind her with 26.7% and 20% respectively are Taylor Swift’s “Anti-Hero” and “Vampire” by Olivia Rodrigo. The song’s appearance in Greta Gerwig’s Barbie launched it into success across streaming platforms and allows it to be The Mosaic’s pick for best pop solo performance.
BEST POP DUO/GROUP PERFORMANCE
NOMINEES:
“Thousand Miles” by Miley Cyrus featuring Brandi Carlile
“Candy Necklace” by Lana Del Rey featuring Jon Batiste
“Never Felt So Alone” by Labrinth featuring Billie Eilish
“Karma” by Taylor Swift featuring Ice Spice
“Ghost in the Machine” by SZA featuring Phoebe Bridgers
“Karma” by Taylor Swift featuring Ice Spice ran away with 53.3% of the votes for best group performance. The remix is one of many to have been released from the Midnights album, and it seems to have struck a chord with The Mosaic as its anticipated winner for the category.
BEST POP VOCAL ALBUM
NOMINEES:
Chemistry by Kelly Clarkson
Endless Summer Vacation by Miley Cyrus
GUTS by Olivia Rodrigo
– (Subtract) by Ed Sheeran
Midnights by Taylor Swift
For The Mosaic’s final prediction, Taylor Swift takes another win with her album Midnights. With 86.7% of the vote, Swift was selected as the clear winner. The closest follower with 13.3% of the votes was Rodrigo’s GUTS, but still not coming anywhere near Swift’s number of votes.
With many decorated nominees, this year’s GRAMMY awards will be full of surprises and upsets regardless of the winners. Sunday night will create headlines and history with its results, and The Mosaic can only hope that the staff’s predictions come true. The 66th Grammy Awards ceremony will take place on Sunday, Feb. 4, at 8 p.m. ET, streaming live on CBS and Paramount+.
Photos from WikiCommons.
