A Few Post-Pre-Show, Pre-Show-Show Grammy Observations

I’ll be live-blogging the show when it starts at eight. I’m hoping it’s heavy on nostalgia, given it’s the fiftieth anniversary. I’m already 1 for 9 from My Wish List, but last year was super sweet so I’m not going to complain.

Here are some thoughts on the pre-show winners.

Amy Winehouse: She picked up both Best Pop Album and Best Pop Female Vocal Performance, and her Producer won Producer of the Year, Non-Classical. She’s looking very strong going into tonight, with her four remaining nods all in major categories.

Bruce Springsteen: Many feel that Springsteen was snubbed this year in the general categories. Voters have already given him three wins in the Rock field tonight, making him a more likely winner for Best Rock Album than the Foo Fighters, I suspect. This is the third time that Bruce has won three Grammys in a night: it also happened in 2003 and 1995. He’s one win away from his best Grammy run ever. Not bad for a year in which you were snubbed!

Kanye West: Again, West won three awards in his genre categories, just like he did in 2005 and 2006. Given that they are saving Best Rap Album for the telecast, he might also have his best Grammy night ever, even if he doesn’t win the big prize at the end of the night. (It’s looking like a race between him and Winehouse at this point.)

Alison Krauss & Brad Paisley: Paisley took home his first Grammy, for Best Country Instrumental Peformance, while Alison Krauss won her twenty-first, meaning that even if Vince Gill wins twice tonight, he still won’t catch her record.

Carrie Underwood: Just call her “Last Idol Standing.” Fellow veterans from the talent competition all lost: Fantasia, Mandisa, and the multi-nominated Daughtry. Underwood, however, won her third Grammy, proving those two wins last year weren’t a fluke. She did also lose a Grammy for the first time, but it was to Willie Nelson & Ray Price, so who can complain about that?

Willie Nelson & Ray Price: Speaking of Nelson & Price, they blew away some superstar pairings with their collaboration on the Hank Williams classic “Lost Highway.” Nelson has now won seven Grammys, his most recent before this being in the same category back in 2002 for his pairing with Lee Ann Womack. This is Ray Price’s second win; he won for “For the Good Times” way back in 1971.

Ricky Skaggs: He won his twelfth Grammy tonight, and I reckon it’s the one he’ll cherish the most, as it was for the first album he did with his wife, a member of The Whites. It was only the second Grammy win for The Whites, but their first was a biggie: Album of the Year for O Brother Where Art Thou, the landmark soundtrack to which they contributed.

Levon Helm: The legendary artist finally won his first Grammy, taking home Best Traditional Folk Album. In a night where many deceased artists won their first trophies posthumously, it’s good to see Helm get acknowledged while he’s still here to enjoy it.