The 68th Annual Golden Globe Awards - Picks & Predictions

I am taking a break from my Grammy picks and predictions coverage to embrace this years offerings from the Hollywood Foreign Press Association. Their little shindig is usually a good precursor to the Oscars and always an awesome Hollywood party. It is also where movie and television stars congregate. Ricky Gervais hosts the awards again (he was quite funny last year) and the telecast is set for Live on Sunday, January 16, 2011 at 8pm on NBC.

Predicting is actually sort of pointless, because nobody hardly knows who the 90+ membership of this sordid group consists of, but I will for the sake of being able to score myself after all is said and done. However, I know one thing for sure, I am not a member of the HFPA, so I will also provide my personal pick (in other words, who my vote would go to IF I were casting a ballot). Historically, I haven't always agreed with their choices. No sense in staring now.

Here goes..

BEST MOTION PICTURE – DRAMA

My Pick: BLACK SWAN

My Prediction: THE SOCIAL NETWORK

I am so sure that GG will go along with just about every other tawdry critic's groups choices and select The Social Network film of the year. *YAWN* I sure hope they surprise us.

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A MOTION PICTURE – DRAMA

My Pick & Prediction: NATALIE PORTMAN, Black Swan

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A MOTION PICTURE – DRAMA

My Pick: MARK WAHLBERG, The Fighter

My Prediction: COLIN FIRTH, The King's Speech

"Trophy roles" seem to win the lead categories in these things anymore. Firth's spot on performance is the dictionary's equivalent to such. I think he will also win the Oscar.

BEST MOTION PICTURE – COMEDY OR MUSICAL

My Pick: THE KIDS ARE ALL RIGHT

My Prediction: ALICE IN WONDERLAND

All I know is that it sure as hell won't be Burlesque. Sure I love Cher and maybe even Christina Aguilera, but the film's nod here is almost laugh worthy.

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A MOTION PICTURE – COMEDY OR MUSICAL

My Pick & Prediction: ANNETTE BENING, The Kids Are All Right

Bening may FINALLY get that Oscar that has been alluding her all these years - but I get the feeling it will be more for her life's work and not this little film. Portman seems more like the Golden girl; if the two were to go head to head, but we'll give Bening this one.

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A MOTION PICTURE – COMEDY OR MUSICAL

My Pick: JOHNNY DEPP, Alice in Wonderland

My Prediction: Johnny Depp, The Tourist

Why, oh Why is Johnny Depp up against himself here? Got to love the HFPA here. They are setting the poor guy up to cancel himself out. However, while that would normally be the case, I think Depp will actually win this one. It is just a matter of which film.

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE FILM

My Pick & Prediction: Toy Story 3

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM

My Pick: I AM LOVE (IO SONO L’AMORE) (Italy)

My Prediction: BIUTIFUL (Mexico/Spain)

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN A MOTION PICTURE

My Pick: Amy Adams, The Fighter

My Prediction: Helena Bonham Carter, The King's Speech

Either Adams or Bonham Carter would make my day, and something tells me to not count out this Jackie Weaver.

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN A MOTION PICTURE

My Pick & Prediction: Christian Bale, The Fighter

Bale totally plunged into the heart of his role and deserves any and every little thing his work in The Fighter brings him. Performances like that make me proud to be an actor.

BEST DIRECTOR

My Pick: David O. Russell, The Fighter

My Prediction: David Fincher, The Social Network

I say Russell because I feel a great director pulls forth great performances and he got four amazing ones out of his cast. Fincher's film makes some sort of statement that is all today, or so they say - so I am thinking the momentum will go his way - and again I HOPE I AM WRONG! Nothing against Fincher, I just don't get what is so fricking fantastic about that film - other than the screenplay.

BEST SCREENPLAY – MOTION PICTURE

My Pick: Christopher Nolan, Inception

My Prediction: Aaron Sorkin, The Social Network

BEST ORIGINAL MUSIC SCORE

My Pick & Prediction: A.R. Rahman, 127 Hours

BEST ORIGINAL SONG – MOTION PICTURE

My Pick: "Bound to You" from Burlesque - Music by: Samuel DixonLyrics by: Christina Aguilera, Sia Furler

My Prediction: "There's a Place for Us" from The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader - Music & Lyrics by: Carrie Underwood, David Hodges, Hillary Lindsey

WOW! The thought that Carrie Underwood, Christina Aguilera and Sia Furler could actually all be in Oscar contention is exciting enough for me. I am really pulling for Sia here. It is about time she got some recognition. I think she is one of today's most fascinating singer-songwriters and any award would be some much deserved recognition.

BEST TELEVISION SERIES – DRAMA

My Pick & Prediction: BOARDWALK EMPIRE --HBO.

Move over, Mad Men, there's a new gang in town.

BEST ACTRESS IN A TELEVISION DRAMA

My Pick: Katey Sagal, Sons of Anarchy

My Prediciton: Kyra Sedgwick, The Closer

I will literally gag if Katey Sagall wins. SHE DESERVES IT! I am glad HFPA recognized her with a nomination. She is a phenomenal actress and the recognition is long overdue.

BEST ACTOR IN A TELEVISION DRAMA

My Pick & Prediction: Steve Buscemi, Boardwalk Empire

BEST TELEVISION SERIES - COMEDY OR MUSICAL

My Pick: MODERN FAMILY--ABC.

My Prediction: GLEE --FOX.

BEST ACTRESS IN A TELEVISION COMEDY OR MUSICAL

My Pick: Edie Falco, Nurse Jackie

My Prediction: Laura Linney, The Big C

BEST ACTOR IN A TELEVISION COMEDY OR MUSICAL

My Pick: Matthew Morrison, Glee

My Prediction: Jim Parsons, The Big Bang Theory

...and I never count out Steve Carell - he is very Hollywood these days with his recent box office successes.

BEST MINISERIES OR MADE FOR TELEVISION MOVIE

My Pick & Prediction: TEMPLE GRANDIN --HBO.

Interesting that the way the eligibility years work out, HFPA has this past years Emmy winners for Best Miniseries (The Pacific) going head to head with the Emmy winner for Best Made for Television Movie (Temple Grandin) - both were riveting television and could have actually done well on the big screen. It will be interesting to see if wither one wins or if the get upset by another film. I am just about solid Temple Grandin has the edge.

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A MINI-SERIES OR MOTION PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION

My Pick & Prediction: Claire Danes, Temple Grandin

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A MINI-SERIES OR MOTION PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION

My Pick: Idris Elba, Luther

My Prediction: Al Pacino, You Don't Know Jack

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN A SERIES, MINI-SERIES OR MOTION PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION

My Pick: Jane Lynch, Glee

My Prediction: Sofia Vergara, Modern Family

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN A SERIES, MINI-SERIES OR MOTION PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION

My Pick: Eric Stonestreet, Modern Family

My Prediction: Scott Caan, Hawaii Five-O

For a complete list of nominees and full coverage, please visit the Golden Globe Awards website. Check out their history - great site.

GRAMMY WATCH - Blues (American Roots) Categories - Picks & Predicitons

Can you say 'ladies night'? For once, the two blues categories could (and should) go to two vibrant divas in song. Blues music (at least as far as Grammy's goes) seems to be nothing more than a Gentleman's club to date. Since the category's inception in 1970, when it was Best Ethnic or Traditional Recording (including Traditional Blues), only four women have won in one or the other (two newer categories are Best Traditional Blues or Best Contemporary Blues Album). Koko Taylor was the first (albeit in a group) in 1984 for Blues Explosion. Bonnie Raitt won (in a duet with John Lee Hooker) in 1989. Etta James was actually the first female solo winner in the category (Contemporary) in 2003 for Let's Roll!. James won her second in 2004 (this time in the Traditional category) for Blues to the Bone. Irma Thomas' After the Rain won in 2006 (Contemporary).

This year the Billboard Blues charts were dominated by two female artists in particular - Cyndi Lauper & Bettye LaVette. Both are nominated and I believe each lady has a strong chance at making a bit of history - even if I am the only one to take notice. Both recordings are solid efforts and both artists have certainly paid their dues and are quite deserving. Both are up against some of the best of the best in Blues music, legends even, many past winners numerous times in their respective categories.

That being said - it just may be time for the gentlemen to step to the side and let the Divas of Blues have their day, if not night.

Kudos to them both!

Best Contemporary Blues Album

My Pick & Prediction:

INTERPRETATIONS: THE BRITISH ROCK SONGBOOK

Bettye LaVette

[ANTI-]

Best Traditional Blues Album

My Pick & Prediction:

MEMPHIS BLUES

Cyndi Lauper

[Mercer Street Records]

The 53rd Annual Grammy Awards will be telecast live on Sunday, February 13, 2011 on CBS at 8pm, EST. To get full coverage and to see the complete list of nominees, please visit the Grammy site.

GRAMMY WATCH - Folk, Hawaiian, Native American, Zydeco & Cajun (American Roots) Music Categories - Picks & Predictions

One of the continuously growing fields of music that has expanded the most with the Grammy Awards is folk music. It used to be just one category, then the Academy split between two (traditional & contemporary), then in the last decade or so came a separate category for Native American music, then Hawaiian music and, most recently, Zydeco or Cajun music. I have included links to a variety of articles and websites (just hover over each genre previously listed) to give an idea of what each one sounds like and why they actually differ from one another. I found my research fascinating and it did assist me in my picks and predictions, which in these specialty categories I have found I either do (or guess) very well, or tank terribly. I am proud to say, this year I have researched my little Grammy project the most than previous years, so it will be interesting to see what my batting average ends up being when all is said and done.

Best Hawaiian Music Album

My Pick & Prediction:

HUANA KE ALOHA

Tia Carrere

[Daniel Ho Creations]

Best Traditional Folk Album

Ricky Skaggs can do no wrong. Musically, his use of instrumentation has made him legendary in Bluegrass, Country and Southern Gospel music - all genres which he has won Grammy Awards for in the past. This, his first solo effort, I am sure Grammy voters will award him in a fourth genre - that being in Folk music. Very well deserved.

My Pick & Prediction:

RICKY SKAGGS SOLO: SONGS MY DAD LOVED

Ricky Skaggs

[Skaggs Family Records]

Best Contemporary Folk Album

My Pick:

LOVE IS STRANGE - EN VIVO CON TINO

Jackson Browne & David Lindley

[Inside Recordings]

My Prediction:

THE AGE OF MIRACLES

Mary Chapin Carpenter

[Zoe Records]

Best Native American Music Album

My Pick & Prediction:

XI

Bear Creek

[Canyon Records]

Best Zydeco Or Cajun Music Album

My Pick:

ZYDECO JUNKIE

Chubby Carrier And The Bayou Swamp Band

[Swampadellic Records]

My Prediction:

CREOLE MOON: LIVE AT THE BLUE MOON SALOON

Cedric Watson et Bijou Créole

[Valcour Records]

or vice versa...lol

The 53rd Annual Grammy Awards will be telecast live on Sunday, February 13, 2010 on CBS at 8pm, EST. For complete coverage and full nominees list, please visit the Grammy site.

GRAMMY WATCH - World Music and Reggae Categories - Picks & Predictions

While my personal growing love for world music, most notably the poetry and rhythms of Reggae, some artists I have come to love went unnoticed this year. Some of these lesser known about Grammy fields have a seemingly separate set of rules, and eligibility ends August 31st now - as opposed to the many years when the awards year ended the end of September. Not sure if that has anything to do with NAS & Damien Jr. Gong Marley's sensational and instantly classic Distant Relatives album or Gyptian's triumphant breakthrough effort with Hold You not being nominated in the reggae category or not, but these two omissions peeved me the morning the Grammy nominations were announced.

PLEASE tell me it is a simple release date issue and they will have a chance next year. Clearly, these two discs were two of the best albums of the year, let alone 'reggae' albums and for them to not be Grammy nominated gives me a headache. LOL. Now, don't get me wrong, the six nominated albums are not chopped liver. The fact that none of them topped the charts on Billboard leads me to also believe that either Billboard needs to expand the cap on their Reggae chart or the musical genre is growing faster than people can track and chart it.

Either way, steps need to be taken to get these Reggae and World Music artists more airplay, sales and recognition. Their booming sounds and percussive passion is like heaven.

Best Reggae Album

The fact that Gregory Isaacs left this earth last year without ever getting a Grammy mention is disturbing to me. I hope the voters feel the same way and give him a posthumous win here. The competition is fierce though, Buju Banton, Lee Perry, Bob Sinclair, Sly & Robbie and Andrew Tosh's heartfelt tribute to legendary Peter Tosh were all finely made albums (again supporting my argument about the broader appeal this genre has obtained in recent years). It just all goes back to Gregory Isaacs for me, and with such a vast amount of his hundreds of recordings and his crossover appeal to Children's music and R&B - he should get the Grammy he should have gotten way before now.

My Pick & Prediction:

ISAACS MEETS ISAAC

Gregory Isaacs & King Isaac

[King Isaac Music]

Best Traditional World Music Album

If the Soweto Gospel Choir doesn't get a Grammy win in the Classical categories they are mentioned in, I think they will definitely win here. Their sounds is about as close to God one can get, musically. Truly, a triumphant and joyous story - and recording.

My Pick & Prediction:

GRACE

Soweto Gospel Choir

[Shanachie Entertainment]

Best Contemporary World Music Album

Bela Fleck is, and will always be hard to beat. Anyone who knows the history, knows this.

...but I liked what I heard from Sergio Mendes a little bit more.

My Pick:

BOM TEMPO

Sergio Mendes

[Concord Records]

My Prediction:

THROW DOWN YOUR HEART , AFRICA SESSIONS

PART 2: UNRELEASED TRACKS

Béla Fleck

[Acoustic Planet Records]

The 53rd Annual Grammy Awards will be telecast live on Sunday, February 13, 2011 on CBS at 8pm, EST. For complete coverage and full nominees list, please visit the Grammy site.

GRAMMY WATCH - Children's, Spoken Word & Comedy Categories - Picks & Predicitions

IF I were a member of the National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences (NARAS), this would be my niche field of expertise. I have to admit, as the years have gone by these categories have gotten much broader and more competitive. They certainly offer up Grammy choices to some of the finest actors and comedians...people who one would not normally consider a Grammy Award contender.

Best Musical Album For Children

The fact that 91 year old Pete Seeger is still effectively making music is worthy of an award in and of itself. I think he will win here, no problem.

My Pick & Prediction:

TOMORROW'S CHILDREN

Pete Seeger With The Rivertown Kids And Friends

[Appleseed]

Best Spoken Word Album For Children

This looks to be a showdown between two British dames. Emma Thompson is nominated for her whimsical reading of Nanny McPhee Returns, but Julie Andrews project pretty much covered her life's work and impressed me more. I think the Academy will reward her for her efforts.

My Pick & Prediction:

JULIE ANDREWS' COLLECTION OF POEMS, SONGS,

AND LULLABIES

Julie Andrews & Emma Walton Hamilton

[Hachette Audio]

Best Spoken Word Album

This is a very competitive category this year, and the material covers such a wide variety one has to think when predicting these categories who in the Academy has selected Spoken Word as one of their niches. If it is the younger voters, Sarah Silverman and Craig Ferguson have an edge. Elder Academy members may vote Carol Burnett or Woody Allen's way. Those in the middle, or with a vast taste for all things young, old and in between may give it to Jon Stewart or Michael J. Fox. Plus, Fox is always, always a sentimental favorite for his fight with Parkinson's. Just about anything he has been nominated for this past decade he has won - and I think he will win here as well. Though, part of me hopes I am wrong, because I am always lead to wonder if he is winning because the work is actually good - or because of his condition.

My Pick:

THIS TIME TOGETHER: LAUGHTER AND REFLECTION

Carol Burnett [Random House Audio]

My Prediction:

A FUNNY THING HAPPENED ON THE WAY TO THE

FUTURE...

Michael J. Fox [Hyperion Audio]

Best Comedy Album

This category has a who's who in today's comedy. All of these albums will have you rolling on the floor in laughter in some spots and most have a companion DVD. Flight of the Conchords has an edge, being the only predominantly musical choice. The other four: Margaret Cho, Kathy Griffin, Lewis Black and Robin Williams spoken word feats showcase some amazing writing - and, most importantly, delivery skills. Kudos to all five, because this category had lost its luster for awhile. It is definitely back!

My Pick:

CHO DEPENDENT

Margaret Cho [Clownery Records]

My Prediction:

5. WEAPONS OF SELF DESTRUCTION

Robin Williams [Columbia Records]

The 53rd Annual Grammy Awards will be telecast live on CBS on Sunday, February 13, 2011 at 8pm, EST. To get complete coverage and see the complete list of nominees, please visit the Grammy website.