2014 GRAMMYS: My Predictions For The Top 4 Categories

Here are my pics for the winners in the Top 4 categories of the Grammy awards, which are being handed out at 8pm EST (5pm PST) in Los Angeles. Not only is prominent straight ally Macklemore & Lewis nominated in 3 of the top 4 categories for their marriage equality anthem "Same Love," they are going to be conducting a group marriage ceremony on stage while they perform the song, with Queen Latifah presiding and Madonna herself appearing as well. Macklemore & Lewis are an independent hip-hop act who had the #1 song of 2013 according to Billboard, the infectious "Thrift Shop."

RECORD OF THE YEAR
"Get Lucky" - Daft Punk & Pharrell Williams
"Royals" - Lorde
"Locked Out Of Heaven" - Bruno Mars
"Radioactive" - Imagine Dragons
"Blurred Lines" - Robin Thicke Featuring T.I. & Pharrell 

SHOULD WIN: "Get Lucky"
WILL WIN: Blurred Lines"

ALBUM OF THE YEAR
"The Blessed Unrest" - Sara Bareilles
"Random Access Memories" - Daft Punk
"Good Kid, M.A.A.D City" - Kendrick Lamar
"The Heist" - Macklemore & Ryan Lewis
"Red" - Taylor Swift  

SHOULD WIN: "The Heist"
WILL WIN: "The Heist"

SONG OF THE YEAR
"Just Give Me A Reason" - Jeff Bhasker, Pink & Nate Ruess, songwriters
(Pink Featuring Nate Ruess)
"Locked Out Of Heaven" - Philip Lawrence, Ari Levine & Bruno Mars,
songwriters (Bruno Mars)
"Roar" - Lukasz Gottwald, Max Martin, Bonnie McKee, Katy Perry & Henry
Walter, songwriters (Katy Perry)
"Royals" - Joel Little & Ella Yelich O'Connor, songwriters (Lorde)
"Same Love" - Ben Haggerty, Mary Lambert & Ryan Lewis, songwriters
(Macklemore & Ryan Lewis Featuring Mary Lambert)  

SHOULD WIN: "Same Love"
WILL WIN: "Royals"

BEST NEW ARTIST
James Blake
Kendrick Lamar
Macklemore & Ryan Lewis
Kacey Musgraves
Ed Sheeran 

SHOULD WIN: Macklemore & Ryan Lewis
WILL WIN: Kendrick Lamar

I don't know too much what "the kids are listening to these days" but I do know what I like and that Macklemore & Lewis album has numerous killer tracks on it.

"Thrift Shop" by Macklemore & Ryan Lewis Named #1 Song of 2013

Just a week after they received seven Grammy nominations, the independent rap duo Macklemore & Ryan Lewis have had their smash hit "Thrift Shop" acknowledged as the #1 hit song for 2013 by Billboard magazine.

1. Thrift Shop - Macklemore & Ryan Lewis featuring Wanz2. Blurred Lines - Robin Thicke featuring T.I. + Pharrell3. Radioactive - Imagine Dragons4. Harlem Shake - Baauer5. Can't Hold Us - Macklemore & Ryan Lewis featuring Ray Dalton6. Mirrors - Justin Timberlake7. Just Give Me A Reason - Pink featuring Nate Ruess8. When I Was Your Man - Bruno Mars9. Cruise - Florida Georgia Line featuring Nelly10. Roar - Katy Perry

In fact, as you can see, Macklemore & Lewis have two of the top 5 biggest songs of 2013, with their other huge smash "Can't Hold Us" coming in at #5. This is something of a surprise because "Blurred Lines" was a #1 song for a ridiculous 12 weeks this summer.  "Royals" by New Zealand teen phenom Lorde spent 8 weeks in 2013 but because the song was released late in the year it came in at #15. As Joe Jervis says, it is "f***ing awesome" that the most visible straight allies in pop music have the #1 song of 2013. "Thrift Shop" has nearly a half-billion views on YouTube.

How many of these tracks do you recognize? I think I could recognize them all if I heard them except for #9. My favorite of this group is probably a tie between #5 and #10.

Hat/tip to Joe.My.God