Grammy Best New Artist 2004: Who Will Win?

[singingsparrow]

I think it's safe to say this is by far one of the worst, if not THE worst, year for this category. No Jason Mraz in sight, the shameful Fountains of Wayne nomination, etc.

Nevertheless, this is an interesting topic to discuss. Who will take the golden trophy?

Sincerely,
Noah Eaton

[jond7699]

Evanescence

[M]

If they're smart, they won't give it to either 50 Cent or Sean Paul.

[Crushcrushchris]

Who should win: Of course Evanescence (unless they get cursed).

Who will win: Fountains of Wayne *shakes head*

I would have rather they got nominated for Rock Album of the Year or even Album of the Year since it's been regarded as one of the top albums of the year, but the Grammyheads know nothing about new artists, so I'll pick FoW.

I wanna see their acceptance speech: Umm...hello, we're not new but thanks anyway

[FreakyFlyBry]

For some reason, I see Heather Headley pulling this one off.

[jimmy74747]

jond7699 said:

Evanescence

[halo19]

No, if they're smart, neither FOW or Evanescence will win simply because they are NOT new.

[singingsparrow]

halo20 said:

No, if they're smart, neither FOW or Evanescence will win simply because they are NOT new.

I also agree that Evanescence shouldn't be considered new. In fact, neither should 50 Cent.

If Fountains of Wayne got nominated, heck, that's like saying The Ataris might of well should have been nominated.

Sincerely,
Noah Eaton

[Devil Marlena Nylund]

I think Heather will win... she's the only one I don't know of. Is she an R&B singer? Her name sounds like she's a country singer. LOL

[Crushcrushchris]

Evanescence SHOULD be considered new. Why? Origin does NOT count as an album. It was a limited release independent album. I will say it again (because I mentioned this in the Grammy nomination thread): The only reason why Origin got popular was because Fallen got popular. Fallen is their first MAJOR release.

Shoot, if you take Evanescence outta there, might as well take 'em all out of there.

50 counts as new as well. He did release soundtrack tracks and he was even scheduled to release an album in 1999 with Columbia, but he didn't because of heavy bootlegging. Which is why he got signed to Shady/Interscope.

His career has been a bunch of compilations and mixtapes that really amount to nothing because they aren't official. His first OFFICIAL release was this year. His career has lasted about 8 years on mixtapes.

The said:

I think Heather will win... she's the only one I don't know of. Is she an R&B singer? Her name sounds like she's a country singer. LOL

Yes she's an R & B singer. Not extremely popular, but an excellent one nonetheless.

[singingsparrow]

Here are my personal thoughts on this category:

1) Sean Paul doesn't have a chance.

2) Truly, Fountains of Wayne shouldn't have a chance either, but knowing they got nominated, their victory just might well happen.

3) Heather Headley is the wild card here I think. But really how has she impacted the mainstream radar within the past year? I haven't seen her on CHR/Pop, and she hasn't made a big splash on Urban or CHR/Rhythmic either. Urban AC is pretty much her only base right now. I think for a dark horse she is fairly weak to steal this award.

4) This leaves me with two commerical successes this year; Evanescence and 50 Cent. Though neither of these artists are truly "new", one has to win here. And because the Grammys are constantly leaning more commerical, I find myself thinking of the fact that 50 Cent has the #1 selling album of 2003. Evanescence has also sold successfully but not quite as much as 50 Cent.

Next, I think of how they impacted the airwaves, who is more prominent of the two overall? I think of the fact that 50 Cent continues to have unbelievable strong recurrent play for "In Da Club", one of few rare strong recurrent rap tracks. However, "Bring Me To Life" is edging him in total spins for 2003. This is pretty much a draw here. But then when you add the Urban success of "21 Questions" and "P.I.M.P", 50 Cent gets another advantage. Alternative success of "Going Under" offers something to Evanescence, but not enough to gain advantage of 50 here.

Finally, the reviews. Shockingly, though Evanescence got tolerable or favorable reviews at best (ex: 3/5 stars from Rolling Stone), 50 Cent has also gotten rather favorable reviews across the board (ex: 4/5 stars from Rolling Stone). Whether you think the reviews are a bunch of bull and don't mean anything or not, they do matter in matters like this.

In the end, I have to give 50 Cent the prediction in winning.

Sincerely,
Noah Eaton

[Crushcrushchris]

Which leads me to think: What if Jason Mraz were in this category? It is possible to have six choices in the case of a tie. Do you think he would have won?

[singingsparrow]

Cfw828 said:

Which leads me to think: What if Jason Mraz were in this category? It is possible to have six choices in the case of a tie. Do you think he would have won?

Absolutely. He would definitely have had a big chance, with 50 Cent being his only real rival.

He would have made one much stronger dark horse than Heather Headley, and he should have that nomination that Fountains of Wayne stole.

Pretending Fountains of Wayne weren't nominated and he was instead, this is how I imagine it boiling down to:

1) Once again, Sean Paul doesn't stand a chance.

2) Once again, Heather Headley isn't a strong enough dark horse to win.

3) Evanescence gets edged out in the same manner, as the committee, wanting to have a fresh more adult-friendly serious artist, shows love for Jason Mraz.

4) Once again, 50 Cent proves to be a tough opponent with his massive sales and airplay. Though 50 Cent hammers him down in that area (Jason Mraz's album has only went gold) Jason Mraz gives a strident counter-attack in the committee's decisions and favorable reviews. It is pretty much a headlock here, but Jason Mraz being capable of pulling it off.

Sincerely,
Noah Eaton

[chebingeo]

I'm gonna go with (and root for) Heather Headley.

[Deleted]

chebingeo said:

I'm gonna go with (and root for) Heather Headley.

Me too.

Heather Headley is the wild card here I think. But really how has she impacted the mainstream radar within the past year? I haven't seen her on CHR/Pop, and she hasn't made a big splash on Urban or CHR/Rhythmic either. Urban AC is pretty much her only base right now. I think for a dark horse she is fairly weak to steal this award.

It doesn't always have to be mainstream. The country artist who won a few years ago wasn't exactly mainstream.

I think Heather Headley definitely has her Broadway career going for her as well.

[ExActLy99]

This is definetly the WORST year for this category. The only artist I could remotely see winning is Evanescence, Heather Headley may have a shot but I doubt it because she really hasn't been exposed with the exception of mainly Urban AC. Fountains of Wayne are definetly not a new band. 50 Cent and Sean Paul, I think if they win I and many others will be wondering what in the hell the music world is coming to!! They definetly do not deserve to win IMO, they don't even play instruments!

[irice22]

Sadly, Hetaher Headly will steal the award from Evanescence.

[Joe1240]

Evanescence.

[WhySoSerious?]

Go Heather Headley! "I Wish I Wasn't" alone is enough for me to hand her this award.

I don't get all this outrage over Mraz's snub. His album is okay, but really no critics lauded it as amazing upon it's release, it hasn't sold spectacularly considering it's airplay. His buzz is practically zero.

I don't see how Fountains of Wayne stole anything from him. He couldn't even grab a nom in the much weaker Male Pop Vocal Performance category where he was beat by George Harrison, Timberlake, Sting, Michael McDonald and Zevon so I'm not sure that he would have even made the Top 10 votegetters for this category.

[Matt4319]

50 Cent will win.

[Crushcrushchris]

TCorey said:

Go Heather Headley! "I Wish I Wasn't" alone is enough for me to hand her this award.

I don't get all this outrage over Mraz's snub. His album is okay, but really no critics lauded it as amazing upon it's release, it hasn't sold spectacularly considering it's airplay. His buzz is practically zero.

I think Headley has a good shot.

I think the outrage over the snub more has to do with the fact that everybody who was announcing awards got nominated. Except for him. Mraz still seemed happy to be there even though he didn't get his nomination.

[af18c]

jond7699 said:

Evanescence

But the people like Heather Headley...who didnt have much success on Pop Charts often win...

[HER MINAJesty]

I really loved Heather Headley's "I Wish I Wasn't", so I am pulling for her to win this one, even though it will probably go to 50 Cent or Evanescence.

But who knows, if I remember correctly, the Best New Artist category isn't always the case of "The favourite/big name is sure to win".

I would like for Sean Paul to win, but I doubt it.

Why would his win be more shocking than Heather Headley, though?

Sean P. has had hit singles on Pop as well as Urban/Rhythmic formats, his album has sold over 2 million copies in the US

I would rather see Heather win, but Sean has more credentials, does he not?

Also, if Evanescence and 50 Cent can't, then Sean Paul shouldn't really be considered "new" either, he had an album out a few years ago and had some club hits (eg. "Deport Them")

I wouldn't be shocked if Fountains of Wayne won this, as some have said, them being nominated was shocking enough, and even if they win that would not be as shocking as the nomination. The damage has been done, so to speak.

and there is also that New Artist Grammy curse, isn't there? Of course it isnt foolproof, but some pretty far out artists/bands have won this award and then seemingly fell of the face of the earth, which I can totally see happening to Fountains of Wayne.

And if FOW "stole" a spot from Mraz, then I don't see why the argument can't be made that they stole a spot from Stacie Orrico.

I would've loved to see Stacie nominated in this category.

I actually own 3 of the 5 albums in this category (50 Cent, Evanescence and Sean Paul), so I find that kinda interesting.

This is a tough race between 50 Cent and Evanescence, I think. Even though I would love to see an underdog like Heather Headley or Sean Paul win, 50 and Evanescence immediately jump out as the favourites in this category, simply on commercial big-name success alone.

It's hard to predict because these two were huge, but are on two different ends of the spectrum, Urban and Rock, but both acheived crossover success, with In Da Club and Bring Me to Life, respectively.

50 has doubled Amy and Co. in sales, but I don't know how big a role that will play in crowning a winner.

For some reason, I don't see 50 Cent winning this. I dont know why, but I just can't picture it.

I'll say Evanescence is most likely going to win, but I'd love for it to be Heather Headley.

[singingsparrow]

virgoluvsmusic said:

I really loved Heather Headley's "I Wish I Wasn't", so I am pulling for her to win this one, even though it will probably go to 50 Cent or Evanescence.

But who knows, if I remember correctly, the Best New Artist category isn't always the case of "The favourite/big name is sure to win".

I would like for Sean Paul to win, but I doubt it.

Why would his win be more shocking than Heather Headley, though?

Sean P. has had hit singles on Pop as well as Urban/Rhythmic formats, his album has sold over 2 million copies in the US

I would rather see Heather win, but Sean has more credentials, does he not?

Also, if Evanescence and 50 Cent can't, then Sean Paul shouldn't really be considered "new" either, he had an album out a few years ago and had some club hits (eg. "Deport Them")

I wouldn't be shocked if Fountains of Wayne won this, as some have said, them being nominated was shocking enough, and even if they win that would not be as shocking as the nomination. The damage has been done, so to speak.

and there is also that New Artist Grammy curse, isn't there? Of course it isnt foolproof, but some pretty far out artists/bands have won this award and then seemingly fell of the face of the earth, which I can totally see happening to Fountains of Wayne.

And if FOW "stole" a spot from Mraz, then I don't see why the argument can't be made that they stole a spot from Stacie Orrico.

I would've loved to see Stacie nominated in this category.

I actually own 3 of the 5 albums in this category (50 Cent, Evanescence and Sean Paul), so I find that kinda interesting.

This is a tough race between 50 Cent and Evanescence, I think. Even though I would love to see an underdog like Heather Headley or Sean Paul win, 50 and Evanescence immediately jump out as the favourites in this category, simply on commercial big-name success alone.

It's hard to predict because these two were huge, but are on two different ends of the spectrum, Urban and Rock, but both acheived crossover success, with In Da Club and Bring Me to Life, respectively.

50 has doubled Amy and Co. in sales, but I don't know how big a role that will play in crowning a winner.

For some reason, I don't see 50 Cent winning this. I dont know why, but I just can't picture it.

I'll say Evanescence is most likely going to win, but I'd love for it to be Heather Headley.

Stacie Orrico isn't a new artist either though. She had a release before her self-titled major label debut that sold pretty well considering it wasn't major.

Also, I really don't consider Sean Paul an underdog. It's just I don't see him having a speck of a chance to win, simple as that.

Sincerly,
Noah Eaton

[ExActLy99]

Ok, wait a minute! So there is actually only two "brand new" artist nominated, that being Heather Headley?? What kind of an award is this?? In that case I'm going for Heather!! But I don't really care because I don't plan on watching, just maybe the Female Award w/Christina, Dido, Sarah, Avril, & Kelly. I think this year will be the worst Grammy's ever, there is hardly any talent.

[HER MINAJesty]

SingingSparrow said:

Stacie Orrico isn't a new artist either though. She had a release before her self-titled major label debut that sold pretty well considering it wasn't major.

Also, I really don't consider Sean Paul an underdog. It's just I don't see him having a speck of a chance to win, simple as that.


Sincerly,
Noah Eaton

but that's exactly why I[/u] consider him an underdog, because nobody is giving him a chance at winning this thing

[Miguelín]

Evanescence

[jlh527]

Heather Headley has a great shot at winning this catergory. Why? First and foremost she has a HUGE following when it comes to Broadway. Many people are forgetting that she originated the role of AIDA in the play of the same name, so she already has name recognition amongst industry insiders. Futhermore she gave the BEST vocal performance of any female in any genre this past year and that is reason enough for her to win. You go Heather!!

[Evergreen]

This is the only lock in the major four categories.

Heather Headley is too far in front of this race to be caught.