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If I were a higher-up in the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, I'd be kneeling right now and thanking whatever I worship for Taylor Swift. The 18-year-old country crossover queen didn't give the best performance during Wednesday night's hour-long live Grammy nominations special from the Nokia Theatre, but she did embody what makes a likely Grammy winner this year -- as well as what makes a hope-generating star in a music industry on the skids.
Swift, who co-hosted the special telecast along with a perpetually amused LL Cool J (who had a good moment poking fun at best new artist nominees the Jonas Brothers right to their faces), is the kind of widely popular, artistically credible star the Grammy organization loves. Her new album, "Fearless," was released too late to earn any award nods, and her 2006 debut was apparently too old for nominators to remember, though it spawned two hits this year.
Yet she was the most relevant presence during the special that featured several of Grammy's top Good Children -- Mariah Carey, Celine Dion, Christina Aguilera, the Foo Fighters and John Mayer were the others -- as well as elder B.B. King.
Each member of this often-rewarded Grammy set upholds the ideals of professionalism and adherence to tradition that the annual awards ceremony usually honors. Performing songs previously inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame, partly as a promotion for the just-opened Grammy Museum at downtown's L.A. Live, each emanated respect and enthusiasm for the classic material.
Only Swift got in over her head -- her doe-eyed crooning was no match for the backing band as she covered Brenda Lee's 1960 classic "I'm Sorry."
Yet only she also got to sing a portion of her own current hit, gaining confidence as she moved into the breakup...