PREVIEW: Adele set to shine at Grammys

By Andy Goldberg Feb 8, 2012, 10:50 GMT

Los Angeles - It's notoriously hard to predict the outcome of the Grammy Awards - which are decided by the approximately 20,000 members of the National Academy of Recording Arts. After all, musicians and other creative types can be temperemental.

But at the 54th annual Grammy Awards, set to take place Sunday in Los Angeles, it's a good bet that some of the loudest cheers will be heard for British singer Adele. Not only is the so-called Heartbreak Superstar one of the leading nominees on the night, she has dominated album and singles sales this last year with her album 21 and deeply emotional songs such as Rolling in the Deep and Someone Like You.

The musical purists among the Grammy voters may be just as enthusiastic about her attitude as her supreme vocal talent.

'I love seeing Lady Gaga's boobs and bum. I love seeing Katy Perry's boobs and bum. Love it,' the singer, 23, told Rolling Stone recently. 'But that's not what my music is about. I don't make music for eyes. I make music for ears.'

Despite garnering six nominations, including the night's top prize, Album of the Year, Adele is not the top nominee. That goes to Kanye West, who earned seven nominations, but all of these are in the rap category, except his best song salute for All of the Lights. Also earning six nominees was the new prince of pop, Bruno Mars, and the Foo Fighters.

Competing with Adele for Album of the Year are the Foo Fighters for Wasting Light, Lady Gaga for Born This Way, Bruno Mars for Doo-Wops & Hooligans and Rihanna for Loud. Rolling in the Deep will compete for Song of the Year with Bon Iver's Holocene, Bruno Mars' Grenade, Mumford & Sons' The Cave and Katy Perry's Firework.

This year, the Grammy Awards will be bestowed in 78 categories, down from 109 last year as organizers consolidated many relatively minor genres in the name of brevity. The change has not been welcomed by many of the niche artists who now find their paths to Grammy glory blocked.

To protest the cancellation of the Latin Jazz prizes, Latin musicians plan to hold a rally outside the Staples Centre where the music industry's annual Grammy bash will take place.

Almost as important as the awards themselves is the performance part of the evening. Here, too, Adele is destined to make the biggest waves. She was forced to cancel her North American tour last year due to a serious problem with her vocal chords. She's had surgery and marks her return to the stage with what is sure to be an emotional performance on Grammy night.

She will have plenty of competition.

Other performers due to take the stage during the three-hour-plus show include Bruce Springsteen, Paul McCartney, Taylor Swift, Nicki Minaj, Coldplay, Rihanna, Chris Brown and Bruno Mars.