Vampire Weekend Tops My Top 10 International Countdown This Week

Vampire Weekend tops my Top 10 international countdown this week in time for this weekend's Grammy Awards.

Here are my ten favorite songs by international artists for the week ending January 24, 2020.

#1 Harmony Hall (#2)  *1 week
     Vampire Weekend

#2 The Man (#3)
     Taylor Swift

#3 Megatron (#4)
     Nicki Minaj

#4 Blessing (#5)
     Laura Story

#5 NASA (#6)
     Ariana Grande

#6 Earfquake (#7)
     Tyler the Creator

#7 Good as Hell (#8)
      Lizzo

#8 Don't Feel Like Crying (NEW)
     Sigrid

#9 Love You Anymore (NEW)
     Michael Buble

#10 Rare (NEW)
       Selena Gomez

Grammy Awards 2020: A Toss-Up Between Lizzo and Billie Eilish

Ok, now that the Grammy's have adapted that 8 nominees rule for their 4 major awards - Record of the Year, Album of the Year, Song of the Year and Best New Artist - it has become a bit difficult to choose who the frontrunner is since the increase in number of nominees can spread over genres and split the votes.

However, I have a strong feeling this year that the Recording Academy will award their biggest 4 awards to any of these two interesting women - Lizzo and Billie Eilish - both newcomers to the music scene - and both creating their own niches in a pretty crowded pop and R&B field.

When you thought you've had angst figured out (remember, I grew up listening to Alanis Morissette, Tori Amos, and Nirvana), here comes Billie Eilish with her own angst-ridden album - this time, with her own macabre interpretation of pop music!

I did listen to her seminal album When We Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go, and it has some pretty good songs in it.  Unfortunately, maybe because of my age, I couldn't quite connect with her emotions and ideas.  Otherwise, her image - which is very important to a pop artist - jives perfectly well with her well-crafted songs.

While Billie is weird, and macabre, Lizzo is such a breath of fresh air. When I first heard her album Cuz I Love You, I realized, OMG, I thought I heard all types of R&B music already - but this woman - just pushes R&B in a whole new direction - one that is positive, joyful, shameless and proud.  That's because Lizzo is a heavyweight, literally, and she makes no qualms about it.  I think it's what makes her voice quite strong and with so much bravado.

I don't know how the Grammy voters will split the votes - maybe Album and Best New Artist - to Billie Eilish - and Record and Song to Lizzo.

Anyway, no matter which way they give the major awards, I hope these two are recipients of it.

They deserve it!  Their music truly defined 2019!

My Picks for Grammy 2020

It's Grammy voting time again and I am once again casting my vote, pretending to be one of the Grammy voters.

It is a very fresh set of nominees this year and since I belong to the older demographic, my votes will go to the ones I kinda like.

I will be voting in all the four major awards as well as in the pop category, since that is my forte.

So here goes.....

RECORD OF THE YEAR - Post Malone and Swae Lee - Sunflower

None of the songs here reached my personal top 10 and none of them actually played too long in my VIBBIDI set.  The closest though would be Post Malone and Swae Lee's Sunflower.  Among all eight nominees, this is the one that I like the best.

ALBUM OF THE YEAR - Vampire Weekend - Father of the Bride

This is the easiest category for me to vote.  Hands down, Vampire Weekend's Father of the Bride. I have loved the work of these guys since Contra.  Now that they are nominated, I give my vote to them!

SONG OF THE YEAR - Lewis Capaldi - Someone You Loved

Among all the songs nominated this year, this one reached my own personal top 10 countdown. I think it even went to #1. 

BEST NEW ARTIST - Lizzo

I think she's an audacious performer and I love her album. If not for Vampire Weekend, I would've voted for her.  Also, Truth Hurts is not my favorite song of hers but those were the ones nominated unfortunately.  She has so many gems in her album!

BEST POP SOLO PERFORMANCE - Billie Eilish - Bad Guy

Probably the most unique artist to come out last year.  Such a breath of fresh air!

BEST POP DUO/GROUP PERFORMANCE - Jonas Brothers - Sucker

I have been a fan of these boys for the longest time. This is a strong record from them.  My vote goes to them!

BEST TRADITIONAL POP VOCAL ALBUM - Andrea Bocelli - Si

One of my personal Album of the Year!  Breathtaking work from Andrea!  His work here have brought tears to my eyes!

BEST POP VOCAL ALBUM - Taylor Swift - Lover

I was surprised this was snubbed in the Album of the Year category.  It's probably one of my most favorite albums of hers.  Such strong songwriting and she has always pushed the boundaries of pop!

Australian Open 2020: My Picks for the Women's Singles Title - Kiki Bertens

Kiki Bertens emerges as the player most likely to get the semifinal slot on her side of the draw, here in the Australian Open.  She is in a pretty crowded draw but apparently, she has the best H2H record among the group.

This includes Karolina Pliskova of the Czech Republic, former champion here Angelique Kerber, and Elina Svitolina of Ukraine - all pretty big names in women's tennis nowadays.

However, she has a winning h2h over Elina Svitolina, a prospective opponent in the 4th round, as well as with Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova of Russia, her prospective opponent in the QFs.

On paper, Kiki can be a dangerous player to deal with and she has shown that by reaching both a quarterfinal and semifinal in a grand slam.

With these statistics, she should be able to also do just that this AO.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   

Australian Open 2020: My Picks for the Women's Singles Title - Ashleigh Barty

After winning over Lesia Tsurenko of Ukraine in the first round, the only player in her side of the draw with a winning h2h against her, world #1 Ashleigh Barty, secures her position as the player most likely to get the semifinal slot on her side of the draw.

For now, she pushes out Madison Keys, but let's see how this unfolds as each round progresses.

Barty will next meet Polona Hercog of Slovenia, another dangerous opponent. Rybakina, Goerges and Keys are the other prospective opponents she might meet.

Defending champion Naomi Osaka may await in the semi's and former world #1 Simona Halep is a prospective opponent in the finals.

Australian Open 2020: My Picks for the Men's Singles Title - Novak Djokovic

While the young guns are trying to assert through media that 2020 may be the year their breakthrough happens, the legendary 3, including Novak Djokovic, are letting their records and preparations speak for themselves.  The results last year bear reason as he and Rafa were the ones who captured all four grand slam title, with Federer showing up in the Wimbledon finals.

Can they do it again?  Well, that depends really more on the challengers, if they can finally win their breakthrough winning games against the legendary 3, because with their records of consistency, Novak and Rafa and to a lesser degree, Roger, will play at their highest level every time, especially at the grand slams.

On his side of the draw, Novak may possibly face Marin Cilic of Croatia, Diego Schwartzman of Argentina and Yoshihito Nishioka of Japan. 

In the semi's Roger Federer is a most likely opponent, while Rafael Nadal could be his nemesis if he reaches the finals. 

Once again, none of the young ones may challenge him, unless Greek Tsitsipas is not foiled in the earlier rounds.  The Greek is also in his side of the draw.

For now, with a relatively easy draw, let's see if Novak can make it title #8.

Australian Open 2020: My Picks for the Men's Singles Title - Roger Federer

Roger Federer is already into his third decade of playing grand slam tennis and surprisingly, he still comes out on top of the draw that he's in.  Currently at #3 in the rankings, the Fed is still playing some of his best tennis, at least against 99% of the draw.

Federer has been granted a relatively easy draw with John Millman of Australia, Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria and Guido Pella of Argentina as his possible opponents.  Italian Mario Berrettini is also on this side of the draw but Pella has a better head-to-head so he might prevent a collision with Federer.

In the semi's Novak Djokovic is a possible opponent, and if he does get through him, Rafael Nadal is a possible finals opponent.  On paper, Federer might not even meet any of the top young guns and still deal with his two archnemesis to win another grand slam title.