Grammy, Olivia Rodrigo dominates the nominations

Olivia Rodrigo is the big favorite for next year’s Grammy Awards, with nominations in all four main categories. The 18-year-old is in the running for best album, best emerging artist, best recording of the year and song of the year, for the track ‘Drivers license’. Rodrigo will have to contend with Billie Eilish and Lil Nas X in all of these categories, with the exception of the best emerging artist. The nominations were announced today at the Grammy Museum in Los Angeles and also unveil Abba’s first Grammy nomination in the Best Recording of the Year category for ‘I Still Have Faith In You’. Ed Sheeran’s ‘Bad Habits’ is vying for song of the year. Leading the list of the most nominated is the jazz keyboardist Jon Batiste, with 11 nominations in total, obtained both for his solo album ‘We Are’ and for the soundtrack of the Pixar film ‘Soul’. Followed by Justin Bieber, Doja Cat and HER with eight nominations each. Then Billie Eilish and Olivia Rodrigo who ‘draw’ with seven. Disappointment for the Korean superband BTS who missed the main categories, receiving a single nomination for the duo / pop group performance. Their monstrous hit ‘Butter’, which spent 10 weeks at number one in the US, was named alongside Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga’s ‘I Get a Kick Out of You’, Justin Bieber & Benny Blanco’s ‘Lonely’ , ‘Higher Power’ by Coldplay and ‘Kiss Me More’ by Doja Cat feat. Sza. With nearly 22,000 songs and albums submitted for examination, the shortlists in the main categories have been expanded from eight to 10 nominees. “We live in a time of tremendous growth in music,” said Harvey Mason Jr., CEO of the Recording Academy. “Over 60,000 songs are released a day. With so much more music available, there is so much more excellence to be recognized and celebrated.” The Grammys also made sweeping changes to their rulebook for 2022, following last year’s controversy over The Weeknd’s exclusion from nominations. Voting lists have been revised following protests from the likes of Drake, Frank Ocean and The Weeknd himself, who boycotted recent protest ceremonies. This year, the Grammys actually considered a period 13 months, from September 1, 2020 to September 30, 2021. But even so, this excludes some of pop’s biggest new albums, including Adele’s ’30’, Ed Sheeran’s ‘=’ and Abba’s ‘Voyage’ released later. on September 30th. Also absent is The Weeknd, which refuses to take part in the Grammys after being snubbed last year. Even Ariana Grande and Doja Cat refused to present their duets with the star, in an apparent show of solidarity. But Kanye West must not have gotten the reminder: his single ‘Hurricane’, which includes The Weeknd and Lil Baby, was nominated for best melodic rap songs.