Exclusive:The 2011 Grammy Nominees Revealed

Eminem leads the pack with 10 nominations at the 53rd Annual Grammy Awards, it was announced today in Los Angeles. Bruno Mars follows with seven; Jay-Z, Lady Gaga, and Lady Antebellum each earn six; John Legend and B.o.B score five; Drake, Rihanna, Cee Lo Green, Katy Perry, and Alex Da Kid get four apiece.

Music’s biggest night will air live from L.A.’s Staples Center on Sunday, Feb. 13, at 8 p.m. on CBS.

See who will be vying for Grammy gold below!

Album of the Year   

Recovery – Eminem
Need You Now – Lady Antebellum
The Fame Monster – Lady Gaga
Teenage Dream – Katy Perry
The Suburbs – Arcade Fire

Record of the Year
“Love the Way You Lie” – Eminem & Rihanna
“Nothin’ on You” – B.o.B & Bruno Mars
“Empire State of Mind” – Jay-Z & Alicia Keys
“Need You Now” – Lady Antebellum
“F**k You” – Cee Lo Green

Song of the Year
“Love the Way You Lie” – Eminem & Rihanna
“F**k You”- Cee Lo Green
“The House That Built Me” – Miranda Lambert
“Beg, Steal, or Borrow” – Ray LaMontagne
“Need You Now” – Lady Antebellum

Best New Artist
Drake
Esperanza Spalding
Justin Bieber
Florence + the Machine
Mumford & Sons

Best Pop Vocal Album
My World 2.0 – Justin Bieber
I Dreamed a Dream – Susan Boyle
The Fame Monster – Lady Gaga
Battle Studies – John Mayer
Teenage Dream – Katy Perry

Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group With Vocals
“Don’t Stop Believin’ (Regionals Version)” – “Glee”
Cast “Misery” – Maroon 5
“The Only Exception” – Paramore
“Babyfather” – Sade
“Hey, Soul Sister (Live)” – Train

Best Female Pop Vocal Performance
Sara Bareilles – “King of Anything”
Beyoncé – “Halo (Live)”
Norah Jones – “Chasing Pirates”
Lady Gaga – “Bad Romance”
Katy Perry – “Teenage Dream”

Best Male Pop Vocal Performance
Michael Bublé – “Haven’t Met You Yet”
Michael Jackson – “This Is It”
Adam Lambert – “Whataya Want From Me”
Bruno Mars – “Just the Way You Are”
John Mayer – “Half of My Heart”

Best Pop Collaboration With Vocals
“Airplanes II” — B.o.B, Eminem & Hayley Williams
“Imagine” — Herbie Hancock, Pink, India.Arie, Seal, Konono No. 1, Jeff Beck & Oumou Sangare
“If It Wasn’t For Bad” — Elton John & Leon Russell
“Telephone” — Lady Gaga & Beyoncé
“California Gurls” — Katy Perry & Snoop Dogg

Best Dance Recording
“Rocket” – Goldfrapp
“In For The Kill” – La Roux
“Dance in the Dark” – Lady Gaga
“Only Girl (In The World)” – Rihanna
“Dancing on My Own” – Robyn

Best Female R&B Vocal Performance
“Gone Already” – Faith Evans
“Bittersweet” – Fantasia
“Everything to Me” – Monica
“Tired” – Kelly Price
“Holding You Down (Goin’ in Circles)” – Jazmine Sullivan

Best Male R&B Vocal Performance
“Second Chance” – El DeBarge
“Finding My Way Back” – Jaheim
“Why Would You Stay” – Kem
“We’re Still Friends” – Musiq Soulchild
“There Goes My Baby” – Usher

Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group With Vocals
“Love” – Chuck Brown, Jill Scott, and Marcus Miller
“Take My Time” – Chris Brown & Tank
“You’ve Got a Friend” – Ronald Isley & Aretha Franklin
“Shine” – John Legend & The Roots
“Soldier of Love” – Sade

Best Traditional R&B Vocal Performance
“When a Woman Loves” – R. Kelly
“Hang On in There” – John Legend & The Roots
“You’re So Amazing” – Calvin Richardson
“In Between” – Ryan Shaw
“Go (Live)” – Betty Wright

Best Urban/Alternative Performance
“Little One” – Bilal
“F**k You” – Cee Lo Green
“Orion” – Carolyn Malachi
“Tightrope” – Janelle Monáe & Big Boi
“Still” – Eric Roberson

Best R&B Song
“Bittersweet” – Fantasia
“Find My Way Back” – Jaheim
“Second Chance” – El DeBarge
“Shine” – John Legend & The Roots
“Why Would You Stay” – Kem

Best R&B Album
The Love & War Masterpeace – Raheem DeVaughn
Back to Me – Fantasia
Another Round – Jaheim
Wake Up! – John Legend & The Roots
Still Standing – Monica

Best Contemporary R&B Album
Graffiti – Chris Brown
Untitled – R. Kelly
Transition – Ryan Leslie
The ArchAndroid – Janelle Monáe
Raymond v. Raymond – Usher

Best Rap Solo Performance
“Over” – Drake
“Not Afraid” – Eminem
“How Low” – Ludacris
“I’m Back” – T.I.
“POWER” – Kanye West

Best Rap Performance By A Duo Or Group
“Shutterbugg” – Big Boi & Cutty
“Fancy” – Drake, T.I. & Swizz Beatz
“On to the Next One” – Jay-Z & Swizz Beatz
“My Chick Bad” – Ludacris & Nicki Minaj
“Lose My Mind” – Young Jeezy & Plies

Best Rap/Sung Collaboration
“Nothin’ on You” – B.o.B Featuring Bruno Mars
“Deuces” – Chris Brown, Tyga & Kevin McCall
“Love the Way You Lie” – Eminem & Rihanna
“Empire State of Mind” – Jay-Z & Alicia Keys
“Wake Up! Everybody” – John Legend, The Roots, Melanie Fiona & Common

Best Rap Song
“Empire State Of Mind” – Jay-Z & Alicia Keys
“Love the Way You Lie” – Eminem & Rihanna
“Not Afraid” – Eminem
“Nothin’ on You” – B.o.B & Bruno Mars
“On to the Next One” — Jay-Z & Swizz Beatz

Best Rap Album
The Adventures of Bobby Ray – B.o.B
Thank Me Later – Drake
Recovery – Eminem
The Blueprint 3 – Jay-Z
How I Got Over – The Roots

Best Short Form Music Video
“Ain’t No Grave/The Johnny Cash Project” – Johnny Cash
“Love the Way You Lie” – Eminem & Rihanna
“Stylo” – Gorillaz, Mos Def, and Bobby Womack
“Cee Lo Green” – “F**k You”
Lady Gaga – “Bad Romance”

I've decided to tackle only the so-called Big Four categories: Record, Album and Song of the Year, plus Best New Artist. So here, for your wagering pleasure (and mine) are my predictions for the 2011 Grammy nominations.  

Record of the Year
 

This is the Grammy for song of the year (in olde-tyme speak — and hip-hop — songs are referred to as "records"), though they might as well call it the Group of Death, since over the past 13 months, so many massive artists released so many massive songs. Last year, Academy voters gave the award to the Kings of Leon's "Use Somebody," though this year, I have a feeling it could be a rapper taking home the hardware. My picks:

» Eminem (featuring Rihanna), "Love The Way You Lie"
» Florence and the Machine, "Dog Days Are Over"
» Jay-Z (featuring Alicia Keys), "Empire State of Mind"
» Train, "Hey Soul Sister"
» Usher, "OMG"

I'm pretty confident that Em, Jay and Train are mortal locks here, since their respective songs were so huge. Usher had himself a mega-year too, and since I see him getting shut out pretty much everywhere else, I penciled "OMG" in for a nom. I have a creeping suspicion that Florence and the Machine's "Dog Days" could be the dark-horse darling of this year's Grammys, since it's done nothing but gain momentum (and radio play) over the past six months or so. Of course, Grammy voters may just decide to go big, and if that's the case, forget Florence and pencil in Katy Perry's "California Gurls" (or Taylor Swift's "Mine") for the fifth slot.

Album of the Year
 

The award for the year's best album — according to the Recording Academy, at least — infamously went to Taylor Swift's Fearless at last year's show, a move that had Grammy naysayers howling that the category had more to do with album sales than album quality. Which sort of begs the question: Had any of those people ever watched the Grammys before? My predictions:

» Eminem, Recovery
» Carole King/ James Taylor, Live at the Troubadour
» Jay-Z, The Blueprint 3
» Lady Antebellum, Need You Now
» Sade, Soldier of Love

Recovery is the year's best-selling album, so it's a given that it will land a nod here. Same goes for Lady Antebellum's massive Need You Now. Jay-Z actually won two Grammys last year, but BP 3 missed the nomination deadline, and it will be honored here. Sade's Soldier of Love was her first album in nearly a decade, a return made even more triumphant when it topped the Billboard charts for three straight weeks. And that Carole King/ James Taylor album? Dude, it's the Grammys. If one of those five stumbles, look for Usher's Raymond v. Raymond to pick up the nom or even (pleasepleaseplease) the Arcade Fire's The Suburbs.

Song of the Year
 

This one is given to the composer, not the performer. At last year's Grammys, Beyoncé's fantabulous "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)" shook its way to victory in this category, ending a two-year run of wins by British acts (Coldplay and Adele, just in case you were keeping score). Let's just say no one with a funny accent is gonna be winning this year, unless you count Lady Antebellum. Here's who I've got:

» Eminem (featuring Rihanna), "Love the Way You Lie"
» Jay-Z (featuring Alicia Keys), "Empire State of Mind"
» Lady Antebellum, "Need You Now"
» Lady Gaga, "Bad Romance"
» Train, "Hey Soul Sister"

Much like Record of the Year, Em, Jay and Train all seem like sure bets. Lady Antebellum's "Need You Now" will get a nom here (shoot, it may get one in Record of the Year too). I think the wild card is Lady Gaga, who has to snag a Big Four nomination somewhere. Katy Perry and Taylor Swift could easily replace her, though. And don't count out Florence and the Machine, either.

Best New Artist
 

Last year's winner? The Zac Brown Band. I don't even see a country act getting a nom this year, though. Instead, this looks like a two-horse race between Drake and Justin Bieber, neither of whom — rather inexplicably — have been nominated in this category yet. Sure, Drizzy got a pair of nods last year, but thanks to the so-called "Lady Gaga rule change," he's eligible for BNA this year. You gotta love the Grammys. My picks:

» B.o.B
» Drake
» Florence and the Machine
» Justin Bieber
» Mumford & Sons

I almost put Eminem and Jay-Z in this category out of habit. Like I said, there are definitely two front-runners here, though B.o.B had enough hits to at least warrant consideration too. Mumford & Sons and Florence both enjoyed rather modest success here in the States, though it's entirely possible they'll split votes between Academy members, meaning one of them might not get in here. If that's the case, write in Ke$ha or even the Black Keys, who are not only the kind of band Grammy voters love, but have actually been around for nearly a decade now, which sort of makes them the perfect act to win the Best New Artist Grammy.

Did we get it right? Share your Grammy predictions in the comments!

#WishWorld