Grammy Awards: Nominees, performances and who’s likely to win this year

With the 2020 Grammy Awards almost upon us, here’s everything you need to know including, where to watch, nominees and performances, and who’s likely to take home trophies.

Positive pop star Lizzo erupts into howls of laughter when contemplating not being invited to perform at the 2020 Grammy Awards.

“It would been awkward, right? ‘Well I guess like eight nominations wasn’t enough for you’,” the leading nominee said during her recent Australian tour.

It wouldn’t have been the first time the Grammys have got it wrong in its chequered six-decade history.

Quite rightly, Lizzo was among the first performers to be announced for Monday’s ceremony, alongside her fellow multi-nominee Billie Eilish, who scored six nominations.

The Truth Hurts singer has slayed every awards stage she has graced over the past year – and she’s been on most of them, singing in front of a giant butt at the MTV awards and on top of an enormous wedding cake at the BETs.

Two years after she released that single – and her other popular sleeper hit Good As Hell – Lizzo exploded onto the global airwaves last year courtesy of a freak alignment of pop culture moments and social media.

Her songs inspired viral TikTok dance challenges and soundtracked the popular Netflix film Someone Great.

Lizzo was among the first performers to be announced for Monday’s ceremony, alongside her fellow multi-nominee Billie Eilish, who scored six nominations. Picture: Gaye Gerard

Yet it is her joyous live performance – complete with scene-stealing flute solos – which gets everyone talking, and Rihanna out of her seat to give Lizzo a standing ovation when she busted out Sasha Flute during the BET awards last year.

Lizzo claims to have banked an enviable catalogue of potential awards show moments just in case she ever realised her dreams of pop stardom.

“Every time you see an awards show performance or televised performance from me, it’s always completely different because mind you, I’ve been in the industry since 2015 and I’ve been a rapper and a singer and a songwriter since I was nine, so I’ve had all these ideas just waiting to happen,” she says.

“So this one, in particular, is going to be a dream of mine come true and it will unlike anything I have ever done.”

Two years after then Grammys boss Neil Portnow answered criticism of the inequality of Grammy nominations by saying female artists needed to “step up” to provoke change, the 2020 awards appeared to reflect the sound of now, courtesy of Lizzo, 18-year-old dark pop sensation Eilish and country rap crossover star Lil Nas X at the top of the leaderboard.

Other performers who came away with a handful of nominations included Ariana Grande and H.E.R. with five each, and Beyonce, J. Cole, Yola and Radiohead’s Thom Yorke with four.

All of the nominated artists welcomed the Grammys something-for-everyone nominations spread.

Tyler, The Creator will be among the performers at this year’s Grammys Picture: Getty Images

US pop sensation Ariana Grande has come away with five Grammys nominations. Picture: AFP

“Billie Eilish is always so unique and special, Lil Nas X has this same joie de vivre you see in my shows,” Lizzo says.

“That’s why I like that tagline ‘Unexpect everything’ because this year there’s so many fresh faces at the Grammys, fresh creatines, fresh sounds, fresh ideas and I feel like this is something the music industry has wanted for a while.

“What a great way to usher in the new decade with fresh meat.”

Alongside Eilish’s nominations is another “fresh meat” name familiar to her millions of followers around the world; her brother and songwriting and production collaborator Finneas O’Connell.

“We’ve had so many things that have made us feel so good about what we’ve made, and this acknowledgment of it has been really sweet and kind and unexpected, but also very important to us,” O’Connell says.

“So many artists we’ve looked up to our whole lives have been nominated for Grammys, it’s crazy to be a part of that club.”

The “club” was rocked by fresh scandal just 10 days out from the 2020 Grammys when CEO Deborah Dugan was placed on “administrative leave” due to alleged misconduct.

She replaced long-serving head Neil Portnow, who ignited outrage when he said female artists needed to “step up” in response to a question about why the winner’s circle was dominated by male performers in 2018.

If dark pop singer and songwriter Billie Eilish walks away with Album of The Year, she would make history as the youngest ever recipient. Picture: AFP

Lil Nas X has been nominated for seven Grammy Awards. Picture: Getty Images

The Grammys board sought to redress any “conscious or unconscious bias” in its voting academy, inviting almost 600 new targeted voters, and Dugan’s appointment as the first woman to run the Grammys was heralded as a step in the right direction.

But Dugan was suddenly pushed aside last weekend in the wake of an alleged bullying complaint by a senior member of staff, believed to be a former assistant to Portnow.

The CEO hit back in a statement via her lawyer and pundits claimed she was stood down by the Grammys’ “old boys’ club” because of a controversial memo she sent the organisation’s human resources department a few weeks back.

In the memo, she outlined concerns over voting irregularities, financial mismanagement, “exorbitant and unnecessary” legal fees and “conflicts of interest involving members of the academy’s board, executive committee and outside lawyers.”

The war or words between the Academy and Dugan continued throughout the week and the controversy will no doubt be the subject of much conversation among nominees and music industry executives during tomorrow’s ceremony.

Music fans will be watching to see whether Taylor Swift will win anything after being “snubbed” in the album of the year category. Picture: AFP

But music fans will care little for the politics of the music business. They are far more interested in who performs the best, who makes the most WTF speech and whether Taylor Swift will win anything after being “snubbed” in the album of the year category. Hey, Tay Tay still got three nominations.

Other performers at the 2020 Grammys, to be hosted again by Alicia Keys, include Blake Shelton and Gwen Stefani, Demi Lovato, Aerosmith, Camila Cabello, Run-D. M. C, Charlie Wilson, Bonnie Raitt, H.E.R., the Jonas Brothers, Rosalía and Tyler, The Creator.

You can catch all the action tomorrow kicking off with E! Live From The Red Carpet from 10am and then watch the Grammys on Foxtel’s Arena channel from midday.

Originally published as Grammy Awards: Nominees, performances and who’s likely to win this year