Music Awards
SZA and Swift: Women dominate the Grammy Awards
With nine nominations, SZA is the big Grammy favorite. photo
© Amy Harris/Invision/AP/dpa
It should be the hour of young female pop stars at the 66th Grammy Awards. Taylor Swift is heading out without her boyfriend – but with hopes of a historic night.
Men are likely to come away empty-handed at the gramophone awards in Los Angeles, at least in the most prestigious categories. Even a woman who doesn’t even play music could win.
Taylor Swift breaks the record
The probably biggest music star of today has already won a Grammy in the “Best Album” category three times – now Taylor Swift could follow up with her fourth coup after “Fearless”, “1989” and “Folklore”: With her album “Midnights” she is hot candidate. Swift would then join Paul Simon, Frank Sinatra and Stevie Wonder, who also won four awards in the category.
The 34-year-old, who attracts millions of fans with her “Eras Tour” and earns record amounts, has to do without the company of her new boyfriend Travis Kelce for the evening. The Kansas City Chiefs football player is preparing for the Super Bowl with his team.
And the competition is fierce
Swift’s victory is anything but a foregone conclusion, because the competition is huge: The American singer-songwriter SZA, whose real name is Solána Rowe, is competing with her album “SOS” and, with a total of nine nominations, is the most promising artist on Sunday.
The singers Olivia Rodrigo (“Guts”), Lana Del Rey (“Did You Know That There’s a Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd”), Miley Cyrus (“Endless Summer Vacation”) and Boygenius (“Did You Know That There’s a Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd”) also have a chance of winning the award for best album? The Record”). Things are similarly high-caliber in the other two main categories, “Recording of the Year” and “Song of the Year,” where a man competes alone against the female stars.
Eclectic artist Jon Batiste (“World Music Radio”) is nominated for the songs “Worship” and “Butterfly.” R&B singer Victoria Monét can now hope for seven disciplines – Swift, Rodrigo, Eilish, Cyrus and Boygenius have six. The famous producer Jack Antonoff also has several chances for the coveted statue.
The Grammys are being presented for the 66th time this year. Around 13,000 members of the Recording Academy decide on the winners of the Golden Gramophones, which are one of the most coveted music prizes in the world and are awarded in 94 categories.
Barbie…Barbie?
And yes, Barbie should also play a role. Even at the Grammys, the plastic doll, which in the eyes of some has become a feminist cinema icon in 2023, is a trophy aspirant. Because the album for the “Barbie Movie” is competing in several categories for a gramophone: First and foremost with Billie Eilish’s “What Was I Made For?”, nominated for recording and song of the year.
Rodrigo’s “Vampire”, SZA’s “Kill Bill” or Swift’s “Anti-Hero” could thwart this. The three superstars will also perform on the evening – alongside artists such as Joni Mitchell and Billy Joel as well as the Irish band U2. Comedian Trevor Noah will host the Grammys for the fourth year in a row.