The pompous pageantry of Hollywood’s award season is upon us with the Golden Globes concluding last weekend and a dozen or so events coming up within the next month and I’m not going to deny one bit that I’m excited.
I’m one of those people who will slot hours away each weekend in January to watch every red-carpet interview and awards show that there is.
I cannot bear to miss a glam cam shot or acceptance speech for fear of missing out of some big pop culture moment that may trend on Twitter or become the next biggest meme.
That Meryl Strep shouting meme? Yep, I saw it in real time.
The Nicole Kidman clapping like a seal gif? Of course I didn’t miss that.
I pretty much know every painfully irrelevant Hollywood award season detail possible.
My favorite award show of course is the Grammys, because unlike the TV and movie award shows I’m actually familiar with the content that is up for accolades.
With everything going on politically, socially and globally, 2017 turned out to be a monumental year for music with so many artists producing amazing works that reflect the current climate in our world today.
The amount of quality musical content produced last year made the nominations for the Grammys pretty competitive, with a lot of albums that I thought would make the cut for album of the year not even up for awards in their respective genres.
The “Album of the Year” nominations include “Awaken, My Love!” by Childish Gambino, “4:44” by JAY-Z, “DAMN.” by Kendrick Lamar, “Melodrama” by Lorde and “24K Magic” by Bruno Mars.
I’m not surprised a majority of the album of the year nominations are dominated by the rap and R&B category because a majority of what younger people are listening to consists of rap music.
The music played on the radio and the Billboard charts is peppered with rap and hip-hop songs and artists that never would’ve gotten radio play 10 years ago.
Rap is a shifting genre that is finding a way to become more mainstream, but in a positive way, giving songs like “1-800-273-8255” by Logic and “HUMBLE.” by Kendrick Lamar a platform to address things that normal popular music doesn’t.
My prediction for “Album of the Year” would be “DAMN.” From Kendrick Lamar although I would rather see the only female artist in the bunch, Lorde, win for her near-perfect alternative album, “Melodrama.”
One criticism of this year’s Grammy nominations was in the lack of female nominees for many of the categories.
The “Song of the Year” category only contains one female nominee and there are no female nominees in the “Record of the Year” category.
This is really disappointing and surprising considering some of the best albums of the year came from strong female artists in a number of different genres.
Cardi B’s “Bodak Yellow” dominated and shattered Billboard records, Kesha showed new maturity and talent with her latest album “Rainbow” and you couldn’t turn on the radio without hearing one Alessia Cara song.
I’m hoping that although the number of nominated female artists is low, many of the nominated ladies take home awards.
I’m also hoping that Lana Del Rey wins “Best Pop Vocal Album” for her critically acclaimed, highly anticipated, all-around amazing fifth studio album, “Lust for Life,” but that was already a given.

OLIVIA BURGER
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