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Adele and who else will likely get Grammy nominations tonight

Our music critic predicts the names that will be called during the televised Grammy nominations show at 9 p.m. on WCCO.

November 30, 2011 at 7:03PM

Adele on stage during her makeup concert at the Xcel Center, St Paul MN. The concert had about 9000 in attendance. (Star Tribune/The Minnesota Star Tribune)

(The Minnesota Star Tribune)

Adele/ Star Tribune photo by Tom Wallace

Go ahead, give the Grammy to Adele for album of the year ("21"), record of the year ("Rolling in the Deep") and song of the year ("Someone Like You"). Oops, I'm getting ahead of myself. The Grammy Awards haven't even announced the nominees. They'll do that at 9 tonight on CBS, Ch. 4. The trophies will be presented Feb. 12.

Here are some predictions on the nominations. Remember the eligibility period is between Oct. 1, 2010 and Sept. 30, 2011.

Album of the year

Adele's blockbuster "21," the biggest selling album of 2011, will be competing against Taylor Swift's "Speak Now," Rihanna's "Loud" and — watch out — Kanye West's "My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy." The usual hipster slot could go to either Wilco's "The Whole Love," TV on the Radio's "Nine Types of Light," Fleet Foxes' "Helplessness Blues" or possibly Bon Iver's "Bon Iver." Or the hipsters could get overlooked and Lady Gaga's "Born This Way," Foo Fighters' "Wasting Light" or Beyonce's "4" could be in the final mix.

Record of the year

Likely finalists could be Lady Gaga's "Born This Way" (or "Edge of Glory"), Nicki Minaj's "Super Bass," Bruno Mars' "Grenade," Maroon 5's "Moves Like Jagger," Katy Perry's "Firework," Foster the People's "Pumped Up Kids" (an outside shot) and, of course, Adele's "Rolling in the Deep" or even her "Someone Like You."

Best new artist

Defining a rookie gets dicey by Grammy rules so my predictions could be way off. I suspect they'll treat Bon Iver, James Blake and Fitz & the Tantrums as newcomers. Surefire finalists are Nicki Minaj, the Band Perry and Foster the People. Wiz Khalifa and Thompson Square could be in the running, and Gary Clark Jr. has an outside chance of making the finals. LMFAO could get some support (they are scions of Motown founder Berry Gordy) but the blue-ribbon panel might discount them as sloppy slackers.