Here Adele, there Adele...

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British singer-songwriter Adele is nominated for multiple Grammys -- but how many will she take home?

NUMBERS have played an important part in Adele’s career.

Take the number 19, the name of her debut and the age she was when she recorded it. The album earned her two Grammy Awards.

Add those numbers together and you get 21, the name of her sophomore album, which racked up some huge digits: it was the top-selling album in North America in 2011 with sales of 5.8 million copies and is currently sitting at No. 1 on the Billboard charts for the 19th nonconsecutive week. Her single Rolling in the Deep sold the same amount as her album.

The CD 21 achieved such dominance that it made Adele a global superstar thanks to a genre-smashing mix of R&B, soul, pop, blues, folk and balladry that found a home on multiple radio formats. Its two smash singles Rolling in the Deep and Someone Like You were ubiquitous as background music in malls, bookstores, socials, grocery stores and even provided fodder for sketch comedy shows (check out the Saturday Night Live skit about Someone Like You for a good laugh/cry). It was an album teenagers and their moms could both sing along to..

And finally, there is the number six, i.e. the number of Grammys the 23-year-old British singer-songwriter born Adele Laurie Blue Adkins is up for on Sunday at the Staples Center in Los Angeles when she will make her first live performance since surgery on her vocal cords in November.

If she is up to singing regularly again, expect a North American tour announcement following the show to take advantage of the triumphant night she is sure to have.

Not that the competition is easy, since she is up against the likes of Lady Gaga and Rihanna in the album of the year category; Mumford & Sons and Katy Perry for record of the year; and a collaboration of heavy hitters led by Kanye West in the song of the year category.

West leads all nominees with seven, but he probably won’t have the top numbers when the show is over (although his reaction to losing could be newsworthy if past awards shows are anything to go by).

A total of 78 awards will be handed out on Sunday, down from 109 last year. In total, 52 awards were eliminated and 21 were created, including consolidating some existing categories such as hard rock and metal into one category and combining contemporary and traditional genre categories for blues, world music and folk.

Last year there were 14 different awards for pop, this year there are four.

The changes made by the U.S. Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences have angered some musicians whose categories have been eliminated. A protest of Sunday’s award show is planned.

Still, 78 awards is a lot to hand out in one day and there isn’t enough time to listen to that many thankyou speeches on the performance-heavy television broadcast, so only 10 are handed out during the ceremony (7 p.m. on CBS/Global) with the remaining awards presented during a pre-broadcast gala being streamed online at the official Grammy website.

There are always surprises at the awards — who would have though Arcade Fire would have won album of the year last year (they were on my "should win" list) or that jazz bassist Esperanza Spalding would beat out a field of Justin Bieber, Drake, Florence & the Machine and Mumford & Sons to win best new artist? — but that hasn’t ever stopped me from making some predictions about the music industry’s big self-congratulating party. Here they are.

ALBUM OF THE YEAR

Adele, 21

Foo Fighters, Wasting Light

Lady Gaga, Born This Way

Bruno Mars, Doo-Wops & Hooligans

Rihanna, Loud

Who should win: The Foo Fighters album was the best mainstream modern rock record released last year and Lady Gaga, Bruno Mars and Rihanna all released some good singles, but in terms of overall consistency and a sound sure to appeal to a wide cross-section of Grammy voters, this one is all Adele.

Who will win: Adele.

RECORD OF THE YEAR

Adele, Rolling in the Deep

Bon Iver, Holocene

Bruno Mars, Grenade

Mumford & Sons, The Cave

Katy Perry, Firework

Who should win: Firework and Grenade seemed to be everywhere last year and The Cave is a great song (Holocene is the snoozer of this bunch), but they are no match for the gospel-blues powerhouse smash Rolling in the Deep (Note: This award is given to everyone involved in the creation of the song, from the performer to the producer).

Who will win: Adele

BEST NEW ARTIST

The Band Perry

Bon Iver

J. Cole

Nicki Minaj

Skrillex

Who should win: This is always a toss-up since every act here made some sort of impact on the music scene to varying degrees (Skrillex in the electronic scene, the Band Perry in country, etc.), but let’s give this to hip-hop fashionista Nicki Minaj whose debut Pink Friday was flawed, but with a never ending stream of appearances on other artists’ songs and a non-stop parade of wild looks and outfits, Minaj made sure she would be noticed no matter what. And let’s face it, Super Bass is pretty damn catchy.

Who will win: Nicki Minaj (unless voters play it middle-of-the-road safe, then it’s the Band Perry).

SONG OF THE YEAR

Kanye West, Rihanna, Kid Cudi and Fergie, All of the Lights

Mumford & Sons, The Cave

Bruno Mars, Grenade

Bon Iver, Holocene

Adele, Rolling in the Deep

Who should win: This song goes to the songwriter of the best song, and the best songs on this list are The Cave and Rolling in the Deep.

Who will win: Adele

BEST POP DUO/GROUP PERFORMANCE

Tony Bennett and Amy Winehouse, Body and Soul

The Black Keys, Dearest

Coldplay, Paradise

Foster the People, Pumped Up Kicks

Maroon 5 and Christina Aguilera, Moves Like Jagger

Who should win: Moves Like Jagger was one of those guilty pleasures that you couldn’t get out of your head even if you wanted to (it can get seriously annoying after awhile), while Pumped Up Kicks was played so often I started appreciating it after the 500th time (some would call that brainwashing).

Who will win: Tony Bennett and Amy Winehouse are sentimental favourites who will probably appeal to the voters.

BEST POP SOLO PERFORMANCE

Adele, Someone Like You

Lady Gaga, You and I

Bruno Mars, Grenade

Katy Perry, Firework

Pink, F—n’ Perfec

Who should win: Adele

Who will win: Adele

BEST HARD ROCK/METAL PERFORMANCE

Dream Theater, On the Backs of Angels

Foo Fighters, White Limo

Mastodon, Curl of the Burl

Megadeth, Public Enemy No. 1

Sum 41, Blood in My Eyes

Who should win: White Limo was the heaviest song on the best Foo Fighters album in years, Curl of the Burl was one of the weaker tracks on Mastodon’s otherwise excellent The Hunter (it appeared to be a safe track for radio) and Public Enemy No. 1 continued a recent winning streak for Dave Mustaine and Megadeth. It comes down to a coin flip for me: heads Megadeth, tails Foo Fighters.

Who will win: Tails, Foo Fighters.

BEST ROCK ALBUM

Jeff Beck, Rock ’N’ Roll Party Honoring Les Paul

Foo Fighters, Wasting Light

Kings of Leon, Come Around Sundown

Red Hot Chili Peppers, I’m With You

Wilco, The Whole Love

Who should win: Wasting Light is the best album of this bunch, but Wilco’s The Whole Love is also a strong contender.

Who will win: Foo Fighters

BEST RAP ALBUM

Jay-Z & Kanye West, Watch the Throne

Lil Wayne, Tha Carter IV

Lupe Fiasco, Lasers

Nicki Minaj, Pink Friday

Kanye West, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy

Who should win: It’s Kanye West versus himself in this category, with a little bit of Minaj as the long shot.

Who will win: West for his innovative, complicated and acclaimed My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, which should have replaced Loud in the album of the year category.

BEST ALTERNATIVE MUSIC ALBUM

Bon Iver, Bon Iver

Death Cab for Cutie, Codes and Keys

Foster the People, Torches

My Morning Jacket, Circuital

Radiohead, The King of Limbs

Who should win: With the exception of Foster the People, whose album Torches is its debut, all of these bands have released better work in the past. My Morning Jacket’s Circuital is my favourite on this list. Has anyone even listened to The King of Limbs since two weeks after it came out?

Will win: Bon Iver

BEST COUNTRY ALBUM

Jason Aldean, My Kinda Party

Eric Church, Chief

Lady Antebellum, Own the Night

Blake Shelton, Red River Blue

George Straight, Here for a Good Time

Taylor Swift, Speak Now

Who should win: My Kinda Party was named album of the year by the Country Music Association, but Jason Aldean is up against crossover star Taylor Swift’s Speak Now, another album that somehow didn’t make it to the album of the year category. Swift gets added respect for writing all the songs on Speak Now. Aldean didn’t earn a single songwriting credit on his album.

Will win: Taylor Swift

rob.williams@freepress.mb.ca