There’s been a fair amount of bitching and moaning about the omission of several categories from the Grammy repertoire, and heavies like Jesse Jackson (what the fuck does he have to do with music?) and Carlos Santana (what the f…oh, never mind) have made their grievances known. Hey, has anyone noticed that they cut categories from ALL genres of music? Even pop categories are missing. The best pop collaboration category has been jettisoned, and as with Rock and R&B, the male and female categories have been combined into one. They ain’t bitching. So quiet.

Anyway, most of the pop categories can be summed up in one word: Adele. The British songstress is the darling of this year’s ceremony, and if her 21 album doesn’t win in most or all of the categories it’s nominated in, there will be shrieks of shock, horror and general surprise from fellow artists, the musical community and quite possibly President Obama. OK, well maybe not President Obama, although I bet he digs some Adele. Here are the nominees (and since dance music is closest to pop these days, we decided to throw that category in there as well.)

Category: Best Pop Solo Performance

Nominees: “Someone Like You” (Adele), “You & I” (Lady GaGa), “Grenade” (Bruno Mars), “Firework” (Katy Perry), “Fuckin’ Perfect” (P!nk)

Should Win: You can’t go wrong with most of the nominees here. I have a soft spot in my heart for P!nk, and she sings the mess out of just about everything she tackles. I realize this is gonna be Adele’s night, but I don’t know if I would necessarily vote for her here, given the chance.

Will Win: Don’t sign, seal and deliver this to Adele yet. Bruno Mars won in this category (or at least the male version of it last year) and he has just as many nominations as Adele does. While I still expect the British diva to win, don’t be surprised if Bruno steals this one.

Category: Best Pop Duo or Group Performance

Nominees: “Body & Soul” (Tony Bennett & Amy Winehouse), “Dearest” (The Black Keys), “Paradise” (Coldplay), “Pumped Up Kicks” (Foster the People), “Moves Like Jagger” (Maroon 5 featuring Christina Aguilera)

Should Win: Dammit, “Pumped Up Kicks” is a good song. It’s not much of a “performance”, per se, but shit, what an earworm. In terms of actual “performances”, it’s always hard to beat Tony Bennett, and Amy Winehouse pulled it together to give an exquisite performance on “Body & Soul.”

Will Win: Tony Bennett is a longtime favorite of the Grammy voters, and a large chunk of the voting committee will be touched by the sentiment of “Body & Soul” being Amy Winehouse’s last recording. “Moves Like Jagger” was damn near ubiquitous all summer, but I say the award goes to Tony & Amy.

Category: Best Pop Vocal Album

Nominees: “21” (Adele), “The Lady Killer” (Cee-Lo Green), “Born This Way” (Lady GaGa), “Doo-Wops & Hooligans” (Bruno Mars), “Loud” (Rihanna)

Should Win: This is a pretty jam-packed category, talentwise. One good album (GaGa), one pretty good album (Bruno Mars), and three REALLY good albums are represented here. That said, Adele stands head and shoulders above all the rest.

Will Win: Seriously? This is as sure a thing as there is on Grammy night. The UPS guy might already be delivering the award to Adele’s house.

Category: Best Dance Recording

Nominees: “Raise Your Weapon” (Deadmau5), “Barbra Streisand” (Duck Sauce), “Sunshine” (David Guetta), “Call Your Girlfriend” (Robyn), “Scary Monsters & Nice Sprites” (Skrillex)

Should Win: I love Robyn. “Call Your Girlfriend” is a great fucking song. And it’s sad that she continues to get relegated to the dance categories. If she stays in the “dance music” ghetto then you should stick Lady GaGa in the “dance music” ghetto. Put her in the pop categories!

Will Win: This could be the year that Robyn finally snags a trophy (I believe this is her third or fourth consecutive year being nominated), BUT…David Guetta might just be the most well-known dance artist/DJ right now, and Skrillex is nominated for the Best New Artist award. This might be his consolation prize. Matter of fact, I’ll put my money down on Skrillex. And to think I didn’t know what the hell a Skrillex was three months ago.

The biguns are next, and then tomorrow night, the magic happens! We’ll be live-blogging the show, so make sure you check in!