The 55th Grammy Awards are almost here

They call it music's biggest night. It's definitely an exciting event and this year, with three new categories, 81 golden gramophones are being awarded next Sunday, February 10th.

Here's a list of some nominees and *my bets for the winners of the 55th Grammy Awards. (In such a big year for the Grammys they failed big with this awful poster.)

Album of the Year/Álbum do Ano 

El Camino, The Black Keys; Some Nights, Fun; Babel; Mumford & Sons; Channel Orange, Frank Ocean; *Blunderbuss, Jack White

(I'm rooting for Jack White's Blunderbuss but Frank Ocean has been pointed out by many as having the best album of 2012, so I'm in doubt./Estou a torcer pelo Blunderbuss do Jack White mas com tantas nomeações do disco de Frank Ocean como o melhor álbum de 2012, não sei o que vai a Recording Academy decidir.)

Record of the Year/Gravação do Ano
'Lonely Boy', The Black Keys; 'Stronger', Kelly Clarkson; 'We Are Young', Fun. feat. Janelle Monae; *'Somebody That I Used to Know', Gotye feat. Kimbra; 'Thinkin Bout You', Frank Ocean; 'We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together', Taylor Swift

(This one can either way - the Academy can decide to go pop with the Record of the Year and in that case it's definitely going to be 'Somebody That I Used to Know', or they can take it to the alternative side and give the award to The Black Keys./Este prémio pode resultar em duas escolhas - se a Academia decidir levá-lo para os êxitos pop do ano, o vencedor será o já esgotado 'Somebody That I Used to Know'; se a escolha permitir gostos menos óbvios, serão os The Black Keys a receber o galardão.)

Best New Artist/Melhor Artista Revelação 
Alabama Shakes; Fun.; Hunter Hayes; The Lumineers; *Frank Ocean

Best Pop Vocal Album/Melhor Álbum Vocal Pop
Stronger, Kelly Clarkson; *Ceremonials, Florence and the Machine; Some Nights, Fun.; Overexposed, Maroon 5; The Truth About Love, Pink

Song of the Year/Canção do Ano
'The A Team', Ed Sheeran; 'Adorn', Miguel; 'Call Me Maybe', Carly Rae Jepsen; 'Stronger (What Doesn't Kill You)', Kelly Clarkson; *'We Are Young', Fun. 

(If it is 'Call Me Maybe' I'm tuning out./Se for a 'Call Me Maybe' desligo na hora.)
  
Best Pop Solo Performance/Melhor Performance Pop a Solo
*'Set Fire to the Rain (Live)', Adele; 'Stronger (What Doesn't Kill You)', Kelly Clarkson; 'Call Me Maybe', Carly Rae Jepsen; 'Wide Awake', Katy Perry; 'Where Have You Been', Rihanna

(After last year, it's obvious she's coming back for more./Depois da razia do ano passado, é claro que ela quer mais.)

Best Pop Duo/Group Performance//Melhor Performance Pop em Dupla ou Grupo 
'Shake It Out', Florence and the Machine; *'We Are Young', Fun.; 'Somebody That I Used to Know', Gotye feat. Kimbra; 'Sexy and I Know It', LMFAO; 'Payphone', Maroon 5

Best Dance Recording/Melhor Canção de Dança 'Levels', Avicii; 'Let's Go', Calvin Harris feat. Ne-Yo; *'Bangarang', Skrillex feat. Sirah; 'Don't You Worry Child', Swedish House Mafia feat. John Martin; 'I Can't Live Without You', Al Walser 

Best Rock Performance/Melhor Performance Rock 
'Hold On', Alabama Shakes; 'Lonely Boy', The Black Keys; 'Charlie Brown', Coldplay; 'I Will Wait', Mumford & Sons; *'We Take Care of Our Own', Bruce Springsteen

Best Rock Song/Melhor Canção Rock 
'Freedom at 21', Jack White; 'I Will Wait', Mumford & Sons; 'Lonely Boy', The Black Keys; *'Madness', Muse; 'We Take Care of Our Own', Bruce Springsteen
 
Best Rock Album/Melhor Álbum Rock
El Camino, The Black Keys; The 2nd Law, Muse; Mylo Xyloto, Coldplay; Wrecking Ball, Bruce Springsteen; *Blunderbuss, Jack White

Best Alternative Music Album/Melhor Álbum Alternativo
*The Idler Wheel Is Wiser Than the Driver of the Screw and Whipping Cords Will Serve You More Than Ropes Will Ever Do, Fiona Apple; Biophilia, Bjork; Making Mirrors, Gotye; Hurry Up, We're Dreaming, M83; Bad As Me, Tom Waits

Best Urban Contemporary Album/Melhor Álbum Contemporâneo Urbano 
Fortune; Chris Brown; Kaleidoscope Dream; Miguel; *Channel Orange, Frank Ocean

Best Rap/Sung Collaboration/Melhor Colaboração Rap
'Wild Ones', Flo Rida feat. Sia; 'No Church in the Wild', Jay-Z & Kanye West feat. Frank Ocean & The-Dream; 'Tonight (Best You Ever Had)', John Legend feat. Ludacris; '*Cherry Wine', Nas feat. Amy Whinehouse; 'Talk That Talk', Rihanna feat. Jay-Z

Best Country Song/Melhor Canção Country
'Blown Away', Carrie Underwood; 'Cost of Livin'', Ronnie Dunn; *'Even If It Breaks Your Heart', Eli Young Band; 'So You Don't Have to Love Me Anymore', Alan Jackson; 'Springsteen', Eric Church

Best Americana Album/Melhor Álbum Americana
The Carpenter, The Avett Brothers; From the Ground Up, John Fullbright; The Lumineers, The Lumineers; *Babel, Mumford & Sons; Slipstream, Bonnie Raitt

(Something for Mumford & Sons, ok?/Alguma coisinha para os Mumford & Sons, sim?)
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Estas são *as apostas do Urban Blues para algumas das categorias dos Grammys. Acontece já no próximo Domingo, 10 de Fevereiro, a entrega dos 81 gramofones mais emblemáticos do mundo da música.

Gotye em Lisboa em Novembro

Mais um óptimo concerto para 2012 e para nos deixar na penúria. Gotye, o homem que pôs toda a gente a cantar desgostos de amor com 'Somebody That I Used To Know' vai estar em Portugal. É no Campo Pequeno, a 17 de Novembro.

Os bilhetes estão à venda a partir de 1 de Junho e custam entre 25€ e 36€.

O espectáculo promete e é o próprio Gotye que o diz:

"To all y’all long-time listeners, the guys in the band and I are working on a bunch of older songs for upcoming shows- lots of folks were asking for tracks from Boardface and Like Drawing Blood that we haven’t played live before. It’s gonna be fab to extend the show and play some different things for you, and share for the first time some new visuals from some amazing animators I’ve been lucky to work with recently."

Gotye vai andar pela Europa a mostrar o seu Mirrors, álbum que o consagrou a nível mundial. Alemanha, França, Reino Unido, Polónia, Luxemburgo, Dinamarca e Holanda fazem ainda parte da tour do belga-austríaco.

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The man who has got everybody crying their eyes out with 'Somebody That I Used To Know' will be playing in Portugal. The show will take place at Campo Pequeno on November 17th.

Tickets are available for sale on June 1st and will range from 25 to 36€

We can expect a great show by Gotye's own words:

"To all y’all long-time listeners, the guys in the band and I are working on a bunch of older songs for upcoming shows- lots of folks were asking for tracks from Boardface and Like Drawing Blood that we haven’t played live before. It’s gonna be fab to extend the show and play some different things for you, and share for the first time some new visuals from some amazing animators I’ve been lucky to work with recently."

Gotye will be touring Europe with Mirrors, the album that sent him to the tops. Germany, France, United Kingdom, Poland, Luxembourg, Denmark and the Netherlands also have dates announced.

Who is Gotye?

Nos espectáculos está de pé em frente ao microfone, rodeado por uma bateria adaptada à multiplicidade de coisas que faz em palco. Não é um músico muito efusivo (metade das letras são praticamente sussurradas) mas transmite emoção só com as expressões faciais. É o mais recente fenómeno indie que virou pop e chama-se Gotye.

Making Mirrors é já o terceiro álbum do cantor e compositor belga e australiano, mas o primeiro a atingir o sucesso internacional graças a 'Somebody That I Used To Know', que conta com a participação de Kimbra e tem este vídeo muito original.

A minha preferida até agora é a 'Easy Way Out'.

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At shows he just stands up in front of the mic, surrounded bu a set of drums adjusted to all the things he is doing on stage. He is not the most physically enthusiastic musician (he even whispers half of the lyrics) but he conveys so much emotions with only his facial expressions. He is the latest indie phenomenon that turned into pop and his name is Gotye.

Making Mirrors is the third album of the Belgium and Australian singer/songwriter, and the first to hit global success thanks to 'Somebody That I Used To Know', which has the help of Kimbra and the video above.

My favourite is 'Easy Way Out'.

Gotye: Easy Way Out video

Gotye continues his journey to take over the indie scene. In this 'Easy Way Out' he goes through a boring day in his life, with stop-motion animation that makes it original and worthy of Gotye's conquest.

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Gotye continua a sua jornada para tomar conta da música indie. Neste 'Easy Way Out' ele mostra um dia aborrecido da sua vida, com a técnica stop-motion que faz deste vídeo uma peça original e digna da conquista de Gotye.

Listening to Gotye

'Somebody that I used to know' is the second single released from Gotye's 2011 album Making Mirrors.

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'Somebody that I used to know' é o segundo single do álbum de Gotye de 2011, intitulado Making Mirrors.