Mariah Carey has visions of love from the Grammys
2006-02-06

Category Grammy Awards People John Mayer Kanye West 50 Cent John Legend Stevie Wonder Gwen Stefani Paul McCartney Eminem Beyonce Knowles Elvis Presley Mariah Carey Albums The Emancipation of Mimi Bands Black Eyed Peas Beatles

The last time Mariah Carey received a batch of Grammy nominations, she endured one of the most humiliating experiences of her career as she was shut out all six times while a worldwide television audience watched her mood darken throughout the ceremony.

Ten years on, and with eight Grammy nominations this year, the comeback queen of 2005 should have a more enjoyable time at the music industry's biggest night of the year on Wednesday, music industry experts say. She has collected only two Grammys to date, winning in 1991 for best new artist and her breakthrough single "Vision of Love."

Carey, 35, shares the lead with rapper Kanye West and soul singer John Legend, and is the only person nominated in all three key categories of record, album and song of the year.

Four acts have six nominations: rapper 50 Cent, R&B singer Beyonce Knowles, funk musician William Adams of the Black Eyed Peas, and Motown icon Stevie Wonder.

The Grammys are voted on by 12,000 people in the music industry. The awards are designed to honor creative excellence, but the voters have often been swayed by commercial success, nostalgia or an artist's back story.

JUST DUE FOR MARIAH

Carey fits many of the bills for Grammy success. Four years ago, the New Yorker was music industry poison. She suffered a breakdown, released a flop album and was dumped by her label with a $28 million payoff. It was a disastrous turn of events for a singer with more No. 1 hits than anyone but Elvis Presley and the Beatles.

Fast-forward to 2005: Carey's eighth studio album, "The Emancipation of Mimi," was the biggest release of the year, with U.S. sales to date of 5.2 million copies. Grammy voters will be hard-pressed to ignore the resurgence.

"In an age of music where there are just so few real singers, people who not only sing well but have this amazing passion and range and raw emotion, I feel they're going to give her just due," said Mimi Valdes, editor in chief at hip-hop magazine Vibe.

West's "Gold Digger" will offer stiff competition for record of the year -- which goes to the artist and producers -- but Carey should have the edge with "We Belong Together," which topped the U.S. singles chart for 14 weeks

"The production is very contemporary and feels right at home for a lot of people in the R&B world now," said Dave Tozer, a producer and songwriter who worked on both West's and Legend's albums. "And then you bring Mariah in. She really nailed that one."

Valdes said pop star Gwen Stefani could be a dark-horse contender with "Hollaback Girl," which she termed "a nice beautiful blend of rock and hip-hop and it didn't sound like anything else on the radio."

ALBUM OF THE YEAR UP FOR GRABS

Carey would appear to be the front-runner for album of the year, but Paul McCartney could score the biggest upset in this category since Steely Dan beat Eminem in 2001. Also nominated are Stefani, U2 and West.

"I sense a frightening surprise in that category," said Joe Levy, deputy managing editor at Rolling Stone magazine. "It's a very tough category. Each of those artists have their constituency with the voters, and none of them are going to be big enough ... to steal the constituency of someone else."

Indeed, the Grammys are rarely predictable, as evidenced by last year's song-of-the-year win for singer John Mayer and best-new-artist win for pop band Maroon5.

Carey's "We Belong Together" should win song of the year, a songwriter's award, unless best-new-artist favorite Legend sneaks up from behind with "Ordinary People," experts say.

Where does that leave West, the outspoken rapper who won three Grammys last year but was very annoyed to lose best new artist? The experts say he will sweep the rap categories, to the detriment of 50 Cent.

But Valdes said West's new album, "Late Registration" was not as good as his previous effort, "The College Dropout," while Levy said West had a "remarkable ability ... to turn people off with his attitude every bit as much as his music turns them on."