The Complete 2011 Grammys Winners & Losers Breakdown

Posted by Nathan S. on 02/14/11 | Filed under Top Stories, Features, 2011 Grammys

Well it happened again. Even though every year I vow to never watch the Grammys again, I spent my night swearing and cheering every envelope opening in 2011. If this year's awards are remembered for anything, they'll be remembered for Eminem getting shut out of any of the major categories, but there's a lot to dissect besides just his royal Shadiness. Here's a complete breakdown of the night's winners and losers.

Album of the Year - The Nominees

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

The Winner: The Suburbs - Arcade Fire

Notes: Obviously disappointing that Eminem didn't win the major award on behalf of hip-hop, but the Grammy Committee's still primarily made up of rockers who take shit way too seriously. In other words, Arcade Fire was the obvious choice. I can't get too angry there.

Record of the Year - The Nominees

Love the Way You Lie – Eminem f. Rihanna
Nothin’ on You – B.o.B f. Bruno Mars
Empire State of Mind – Jay-Z f. Alicia Keys
Need You Now – Lady Antebellum
Fuck You – Cee-Lo Green

The Winner: Need You Now - Lady Antebellum

Notes: I can't believe fucking Cee-Lo didn't fucking win that fucking shit. Fuck Lady Antebellum (who, for the record, is a group and not just a lady.)

Song of the Year - The Nominess
Love the Way You Lie – Eminem f. Rihanna
Fuck You – Cee-Lo Green
The House That Built Me – Miranda Lambert
Beg, Steal or Borrow – Ray LaMontagne
Need You Now – Lady Antebellum

The Winner: Need You Now - Lady Antebellum

Notes: See above.

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

The Winner: Esperanza Spalding

Notes: Nope, I had no idea who Spalding was either. (She's a jazz singer, not the daughter of the dude who makes basketballs.) What is there to say really? Congrats I guess, better than Bieber. Still kind of ridiculous that B.o.B. didn't make the cut. I would have given him the nod over Drizzy.

Best Female Pop Vocal Performance - The Nominees
Sara Bareilles – King of Anything
Beyonce – Halo
Norah Jones – Chasing Pirates
Lady Gaga – Bad Romance
Katy Perry – Teenage Dream

The Winner: Bad Romance - Lady Gaga

Notes: Where's Kanye when you need him? Someone needed to jump on stage and protest the fact that Beyonce got snubbed again.

Best Male Pop Vocal Performance - The Nominees
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

The Nominees: Just The Way You Are - Bruno Mars

Notes: It's about time someone even remotely urban beat out a bunch of white folks. (Yeah, I said it.) By the way, when did John Mayer decide to start looking exactly like Johnny Depp?

Best Pop Collaboration With Vocals - The Nominees
Airplanes II — B.o.B f. 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 & Beyonce
California Gurls — Katy Perry f. Snoop Dogg

The Winner: Imagine — Herbie Hancock, Pink, India.Arie, Seal, Konono No. 1, Jeff Beck & Oumou Sangare

Notes: Not a great night for Em. At least he's sitting nice on that ice tea money. Swag.

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

The Winner: Soldier of Love - Sade

Notes: My "anyone but Chris Brown" vote comes through. I'm more than happy with Sade.

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

The Winner: Raymond v. Raymond – Usher

Notes: I couldn't possibly be more confused by this category. I don't care if you're a big Chris Brown fan, there's no way that was one of the five best albums of the year. (Same goes for Ryan Leslie.) And I'm not going to be angry about Usher, but that album wasn't that great either. Then again, they need the ratings boost of putting Ursher on stage, so.....

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

Winner: "Not Afraid," Eminem

Notes: Finally Mr. Mathers gets one. And all in all, I'd have to agree. The most sensible award of the night so far.

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

The Winner: On to the Next One – Jay-Z f. Swizz Beatz

Notes: Obviously one of those "the Grammy Committee doesn't know anything about hip-hop" categories. The fact that Plies was even nominated is a disgrace, and while "On to the Next One" isn't completely terrible, there's no way you're telling me that's the best collab of the year. Just wait until I get on the Grammy Committee, some shit's going to change.

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

The Winner: Empire State of Mind – Jay-Z f. Alicia Keys

Notes: Surprise, surprise. There was about a .01% chance Jay wasn't going home with this one.

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

The Winner: Empire State Of Mind – Jay-Z f. Alicia Keys

Notes: See above.

Best Rap Album - The Nominees
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

The Winner: Recovery – Eminem

Notes: Pretty obvious pick here too. At least they got this one right. (And for everyone flipping out right now, Kanye's "MBDTF" came out too late to be nominated for this year - we'll have to wait till 2012 to hear him infuriate America with his acceptance speech.)

And that about sums up music's biggest night. So what do you think? What did the Grammys get right, and what did they get wrong?

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Oh The Madness, The 2011 Grammy Awards Red Carpet Breakdown

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discostu007	Pretty infuriating night, indeed. I would be a shock if it wasn't. Where do I sign the Nathan S. needs to be on the Grammy Selection Committee petition?
	Posted on Feb 15, 2011

douggfreshh	The lack of appropriate hip hop awards and nominees is disheartening, but what did we really expect, watch Ye not win next year, that tirade is what im excited for
	Posted on Feb 15, 2011

joeyicecream12	i really don't think eminem should have won any awards. the i dont really care for the grammys, but eminem is really off his game. i thought relapse and recovery were 2 of the worst rap albums i've heard and i'm perplexed as to how eminem won best rap album of the year over hova, b.o.b, or the roots
	Posted on Feb 15, 2011

T-Rey	@joeyicecream12 I think em was shortchanged actually true there where some songs on recovery that where a pass for me (ex. White trash party) there where defiantly some hits! (ex. space bound, your never over, talking to myself, not afraid) i think that nathan for sure needs to get on this committee to fix this!
	Posted on Feb 15, 2011

iMg

God, this award show is frustrating. I had to ask several people who Esperanza Spalding was, and then when they couldn't tell me who she was I spent a good 10 minutes looking her up on the internet(same goes for Arcade Fire, and all I was told at first was "hipster garbage" about them). Shouldn't we at least know who you are before you get these awards? I mean, I know it's not all about who sells, but geez gimme a break here. Also the fact that B.o.b wasn't nominated is criminal. Also Need You Now is good, but Cee-Lo deserved that award simply put. Also people like Janelle Monae, B.o.b., and Big Boi got screwed. Seriously, the line of the night was "where's Kanye when you need him?"

Posted on Feb 15, 2011

Sonic Flood	This is probably the strangest award show I've watched... the Grammy committee has nothing right in their right brain, and nothing left in their left...
	Posted on Feb 15, 2011

Aussie_Pride	Im a bigger rock fan then i am a hip hop fan, but I just dont get how Arcade Fire won album of the year let alone get nominated. Eminem was probably the logically choice, but i just dont think it was a really strong group of nominees.
	Posted on Feb 15, 2011

Nathan S.

@discostu007 & @T-Rey Damn right man - let's get that petition going. I clearly deserve a vote - I'm kinda like a big deal.

In the end, I think what pisses me off the most about the Grammys is that they're so inconsistent. Sometimes they give folks an award because they're the most popular, and sometimes because they made the most serious, deep music. All I ask for is a little consistency - is that too much?

Posted on Feb 15, 2011

matza	it probably is nathan... and why was beyonce nominated again for halo?! wasn't that song already "best female pop vocal performance" last year?
	Posted on Feb 15, 2011