by Joyce V Harrison

Created on: December 20, 2010   Last Updated: December 21, 2010

The 53rd annual Grammy Awards air Sunday, February 13 when stretch limousines line up to deliver the stars of music to the Staples Center in Los Angeles.

Members of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (NARAS) vote in one hundred and nine categories narrowed down in the final ballot to five nominees each. Members access the list on a password-secured Web site that also allows each nominee’s track to be streamed as permitted. The actual ballot is snail mailed.

Top Four Categories

Every Grammy member is eligible to vote in the general categories and can choose eight others on the ballot. The top four: Record of the Year, Album of the Year, Song of the Year and Best New Artist.

There are no big surprises on the list for Record of the Year. Each track was a major hit in 2010: Nothin’ On You by B.o.B. and native of Hawaii, Bruno Mars, Love the Way You Lie by Eminem and Rhianna, F* You by Cee Lo Green ( co-written incidentally by Mars and Philip Lawrence), Empire State of Mind by Jay-Z and Alicia Keys and Need You Now by Lady Antebellum.

For Album of the Year, nominees are Arcade Fire for The Suburbs, Eminem for Recovery, Lady Antebellum for Need You Now, Lady Gaga for The Fame Monster and Katy Pretty for Teenage Dream.

The Song of the Year award goes to the songwriters of Beg, Steal or Borrow, F* You, The House That Built Me, Love the Way You Lie, and Need You Now.

Heading the alphabetical list for Best New Artist is Justin Bieber followed by Drake, Florence and the Machine, Mumford & Sons and Esperanza Spalding.

Crossovers, Comebacks, and Dress

The media is dubbing Eminem’s ten nominations as a comeback for the rapper who was first nominated for a Grammy ten years ago. Bruno Mars garnered seven nominations and Lady Antebellum, whose crossover hit made theirs one of the top selling albums of the year, ended up with six nominations each, the same number as Jay-Z and Lady Gaga. No Ke$ha and no Taylor Swift this year, although Nashville is represented in the mainstream by Lady A and Miranda Lambert who scored a Song of the Year nod.

As for the February telecast, viewers who are interested in the dress-up side of any awards show will be on pins and needles waiting to see how Lady Gaga will follow up on the meat dress she wore to the 2010 Video Music Awards. The Grammy invitation, by the way, does specify that the event is black tie, but it would be surprising if music people actually read that part.  

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