2010 Grammy Awards for Country Music: Nominations and Predictions

The 2010 Grammy Awards, set to air this evening at 8 Eastern/Pacific, will recognize the efforts of country music artists, writers and producers across seven different categories. Below is a complete listing of Grammy Awards country music nominations, along with a prediction for each category's winner.

Best Female Country Vocal Performance Grammy Nominees:
Dead Flowers / Miranda Lambert
I Just Call You Mine / Martina McBride
White Horse / Taylor Swift
Just a Dream / Carrie Underwood
Solitary Thinkin' / Lee Ann Womack

Projected Grammy Winner: Just a Dream. Carrie Underwood has had a virtual chokehold on this category for the past three years; she took Grammies with previous hits Last Name, Before He Chearts and Jesus Take the Wheel, and is poised to continue her streak with Just a Dream. The American Idol winner's heart-rending song is sung from the perspective of a young woman who loses the love of her life to war. Taylor Swift's White Horse is the only other track that might compete in the category.

Best Male Country Vocal Performance Grammy Nominees:
All I Ask for Anymore / Trace Adkins
People are Crazy / Billy Currington
High Cost of Living / Jamey Johnson
Living for the Night / George Strait
Sweet Thing / Keith Urban

Projected Grammy Winner: People are Crazy. Billy Currington may not be a country superpower, but People are Crazy is a tune that embodies the very spirit of country music: Sitting with a friend, enjoying a beer, and talking about life. Close seconds: Living for the Night because George Strait is The King of country music; Sweet Thing because fans loves Keith Urban's unique country-pop sound.

Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals Grammy Nominees:
Cowgirls Don't Cry / Brooks and Dunn
Chicken Fried / Zac Brown Band
I Run to You / Lady Antebellum
Here Comes Goodbye / Rascal Flatts
It Happens / Sugarland

Projected Grammy Winner: I Run to You. This is a tough category because every one of these performances represents a legitimate Grammy contender. I Run to You will take the prize because Lady Antebellum is the current It-Group of country music. If it were 2009, Sugarland would win. 2008? Rascal Flatts. Next year? Zac Brown Band.

Best Country Collaboration with Vocals Grammy Nominees:
Beautiful World / Dierks Bentley and Patty Griffin
Down the Road / Kenny Chesney and Mac McAnally
Start a Band / Brad Paisley and Keith Urban
I Told You So / Carrie Underwood and Randy Travis
Everything But Quits / Lee Ann Womack and George Strait

Projected Grammy Winner: Start a Band. Brad Paisley and Keith Urban's catchy tune is fueled by enough starpower to shoot it straight to Grammy winner city. I Told You So may appeal more strongly to longtime country music fans, but Start a Band will still take the Grammy.

Best Country Instrumental Performance Grammy Nominees:
Under the (Five) Wire / Alison Brown
The Crystal Merchant / The Greencards
Mansinneedof / Sarah Jarosz
Producer's Medley / Steve Wariner

Projected Grammy Winner: Producer's Medley. Honestly? I've never heard any of these. I'm going with Steve Wariner because actually know who he is.

Best Country Song Grammy Nominees:
All I Ask for Anymore
High Cost of Living
I Run to You
People are Crazy
White Horse

Projected Grammy Winner: I Run to You. It's true that Taylor Swift had a huge 2009, and has been honored with award after award. That said, White Horse just isn't her best song. Lady Antebellum's I Run to You is catchy, popular, and probably IS their best song. It should win.

Best Country Album Grammy Nominees:
The Foundation / Zac Brown Band
Twang / George Strait
Fearless / Taylor Swift
Defying Gravity / Keith Urban
Call Me Crazy / Lee Ann Womack

Projected Grammy Winner: Fearless. With no disrespect intended toward the other nominees, there's really no contest when it comes to this Grammy category. Fearless sold more than three million copies last year, and was a crossover smash hit-around. Is it the best pure-country album? Maybe not; George Strait is a perennial success and has never done anything that wasn't decidedly country; Zac Brown's debut album is country music at its very best. But the numbers don't lie, so Fearless will take the Grammy.

Tune in tonight to see who takes the 2010 Grammy Awards for country music.

Sources

52nd Annual Grammy Awards Nominee List, Official Grammy Awards Website