A Grammy for Taylor Swift Would Move Her into Superstar Status

Taylor Swift has the opportunity to cross over into major super-stardom tonight during the 52nd Grammy Awards as her 'Fearless' album is one of the favorites for Album of the Year. Already a major star in the country genre, Swift has been on the precipice of being a household name for a while now. Tonight, as she goes head to head with music heavyweights such as Beyonce, The Dave Matthews Band, Lady Gaga and The Black Eyed Peas for Album of the Year, Swift could quickly cement her status as one of the biggest musical artists in 2010 and beyond. Swift has also been nominated for Record of the Year and Song of the Year for he hit 'You Belong With Me'.

Swift stands out from most of the rest of the nominees as her music is more based on introspective lyrics and narratives then the dance and rhythm driven songs from Beyonce, Lady Gaga, and Black Eyed Peas. On some level, this may play to Swift's favor with respect to winning a major award, as the others may split the vote to some degree, giving Swift the opportunity to take a higher percentage of votes from those inclined to vote more for her style and lyrics.

Ironically, it was Kayne West's disrespectful attitude towards Swift during the 2009 MTV Music Awards that helped raise her profile among the American public. West interrupted Swift's speech for Best Female Video to announce to the world that Beyonce should have won for her video, "Single Ladies (Put a Ring On It) instead of Swift. The classy Beyonce later won an award and promptly handed her microphone over to Swift to complete her speech without the 'genius' West's interference this time. Undoubtedly, the entire episode actually helped raise the general awareness of Swift and her music beyond her already large core fan base.

But an artist as accomplished and talented as Swift will inevitably have bigger moments than one caused by somebody like Kanye West and his cheap stunt. Fearless is a great album that transcends country music and teenage buyers. 'You Belong Too Me', while probably not as catchy or musically exciting as Beyonce's 'Single Ladies' nor The Black Eyed Peas, 'I Gotta Feeling', is an uninhibited song, age appropriate for a teenager dealing with emotions that will simply manifest themselves differently as she gets older. There is no pretense and no pretending here. Swift sings with an odd but effective mixture of pain and resolution that she is who she is and will not change...and that's exactly why the 'cool kid' should turn to her. It's much better than I thought after a first couple of listens, and I would bet better than most people would ever think unless they really listened to understand.

Make no mistake, I am a big fan of Beyonce and Black Eyed Peas. I'd probably listen to a Lady Gaga song before a Taylor Swift one. And yet, Swift likely will win a Grammy tonight and likely should. And in the process, the music world will have a major star coming at if from a distinctly different, yet still popular, angle.
Source: Michael Park, "Taylor Swift 'Freaking Out' Over Grammys", people.com