TOMORROW ON OUTQ: SOME VERY TALENTED LADIES

For those of you who are
new to No Expiration, every Wednesday morning at 9 am ET I go on the SIRIUSXM channel OutQ. I am a weekly contributor to The Morning Jolt with Larry Flick. Most weeks I bring a theme, and since "female singers," or "divas" seems to always go over well, I decided to go with that one again, particularly because there are lots of relevant
albums out right now.

First off is Larry's #1 favorite album of the year, Lungs, by Florence & The Machine. He's been talking about it for months, and I only just listened to it for the first time. It's a pretty powerful album. In some ways, Florence reminds me of Tori Amos, but I can't back that up with much, so I'll probably keep it to myself, as Larry is no fan of Tori! My wife Maria grabbed the CD from me, and she loves it. So, I'm glad to say that I like it also. I may even add this to my Best Of '09 series.

Leona Lewis has just released Echo. Larry and I disagreed about Leona last year, he thought she deserved the Record of the Year Grammy, last year, and I thought it rightfully went to Robert Plant & Alison Krauss. Sorry, Larry, I paid my NARAS dues and you forgot to pay yours! Larry felt that Leona's debut was an event on the level of Mariah Carey's debut. I disagreed with that - I almost think it is impossible for someone to dominate pop music the way Mariah did. (I also didn't think a Mariah-level-event would be a positive thing, anyway, as I don't like Mariah.) I did think Leona's "Bleeding Love" was a great pop song, and I don't hate on her because of it. I have only heard one new Leona song, "Happy," which I thought was really good. But she doesn't dodge comparassions to Mariah, that's for sure.

Norah Jones has been a favorite of mine since I heard her debut album, Come Away With Me, in 2002. I just got her new album, The Fall, tonight, and I think it's great. She broke up with her long time boyfriend/bass player Lee Alexander, which pretty much broke up her band. So she started working with new people, including producer Jaquire King, who worked on Tom Waits' classic Mule Variations. I think it is a really successful progression for her.

Finally, Joss Stone has just released Color Me Free!, which sees her fighting with her record label, which, sadly, doesn't usually end well for the artist. I got to interview her before her debut, 2003's The Soul Sessions EP when I worked for VH1. I think it's a good record but not a great one. She has so much talent, it's almost frustrating that she hasn't clicked with audiences in the way that she should. Maybe she needs a new record label. I hope they just don't slut her image up too much.

So call in if you want to weigh in! We'll probably do another week of female singers next month, when Alicia Keys, Mary J. Blige and Shakira have released their new albums. Next week: crack. Um, I mean box sets. The Rolling Stones, Dolly Parton, Hall & Oates, AC/DC and Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers.

GRAMMY PREDICITONS

As promised, here are my Grammy predictions in the big categories, as well
as predictions by Keith Price, the ebony, chunky, funky co-host of The Morning Jolt with Larry Flick on SIRIUS XM Satellite Radio. On Monday morning, we'll see how well we did, and discuss the show.

Record of the Year
Adele’s “Chasing Pavements”
Coldplay’s “Viva La Vida”
Leona Lewis’ “Bleeding Love”
M.I.A.’s “Paper Planes”
Robert Plant & Alison Krauss’ “Please Read The Letter”

No Expiration says: Robert Plant and Alison Krauss should win, it was a phenomenal track from an incredible record that gave two career artists a new career highlight. Record of the Year is also an award for the production: Robert Plant recorded the song ten years earlier with Jimmy Page, produced by Steve Albini. The new version, produced by T-Bone Burnett, casts the song in a new light. I also think it will win, this is the kind of record that Grammy voters love, and all of the younger artists will cancel each other out.

Keith Price saysAdele should win, but Leona Lewis, a favorite of Larry Flick, will win.

Album of the Year
Coldplay’s Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends
Lil’ Wayne’s Tha Carter III
Ne-Yo’s Year of the Gentleman
Robert Plant & Alison Krauss’ Raising Sand
Radiohead’s In Rainbows

No Expiration says: Robert Plant and Alison Krauss, again, should win, although Radiohead’s album is great and Coldplay’s is the rare “rock” record to have a long shelf-life with lots of single, and Lil Wayne’s sold over three milli. But I think Wayne and Ne-Yo cancel each other out, and Radiohead and Coldplay cancel each other out.

Keith Price says: Coldplay will win, but Robert Plant & Alison Krauss should win.

Song of the Year
Estelle featuring Kanye West: “American Boy”
Adele: “Chasing Pavements”
Jason Mraz: “I’m Yours”
Sara Bareilles: “Love Song”
Coldplay: “Viva La Vida”

No Expiration says: there’s no clear cut winner here, but Jason Mraz shouldn’t have been invited to this party, with all due respect. I liked a lot of these songs, but I voted for Coldplay, and I think that is who will win (which isn’t why I voted for them).

Keith Price says: “American Boy” will win, but “Chasing Pavements” should win.

Best New Artist
Adele
Duffy
The Jonas Brothers
Lady Antelbellum
Jazmine Sullivan

No Expiration says: Duffy should and will win. Yes, The Jonas Brothers sold tons of records and film tickets and concert tickets and deserve recognition for that, plus they write songs and play instruments. But the Grammys don’t want to become the American Music Awards. Duffy’s album is a great debut by a career artist that had the old-fashioned slow build, and she never seemed like she was getting overexposed.

Keith Price agrees!

LEONA LEWIS: NO ROBERT PLANT, BUT BETTER THAN DAVID COVERDALE

So, last night's Olympics closing ceremonies were a bit weird, right? Jimmy Page performing Led Zeppelin's "Whole Lotta Love" with British Pop Idol champ and "next mariah" Leona Lewis. OK, she's no Robert Plant, but she's better than David Coverdale, and not as annoying as Mariah either. Still, the thing was goofy as a Simpsons parody of an Olympics ceremony, and only got goofier when David Beckham appeared.

I can't wait to read the next interview with Robert Plant.