Opening 2020 Grammy Award Odds – Billie Eilish Favored to Sweep Major Categories

• The nominees for the 2020 Grammy Awards were announced on November 20
• Lizzo leads the pack with eight nominations, yet Billie Eilish is expected to be the night’s big winner
• The Grammy Awards will be presented on January 26, 2020 at Staples Center in Los Angeles

Music’s biggest night is right around the corner. It seems like just yesterday Kacey Musgraves and Childish Gambino cleaned up and took home a bunch of Grammys, but it’s almost time once again to crown the best in music.

The nominees this time around see eight contenders in each major category, making it slightly harder to pick who will be heading home with some brass. With more choices, it just makes for a more exciting telecast.

Record of the Year Grammy Odds

All odds taken Nov. 22

Record of the Year is a cornucopia of wildly different offerings. So it really just depends how the Academy wants to call the results. When you look at the reality, though, it’s going to be Billie Eilish‘s “Bad Guy”.

Self admittedly, she’s the bad guy. Duh. Eilish’s tune has been everywhere for the past several months. With that logic, it seems just as likely to award Lil Nas X’s “Old Town Road”.

But Eilish’s tune is more distinctive, more likely to age well, and really sums up the outsider culture that was prominent thematically and socially this year. It wouldn’t be just a win for her, it’d be a win for every kid out there who considers themselves a bit different.

Pick: Billie Eilish – “Bad Guy” (-125)

Album of the Year Grammy Odds

Eilish’s singles have helped her make a name for herself, but her album as a whole hasn’t been as culturally impactful.

Some major players fill up this category, but the one to watch is Lana Del Rey’s Norman Fucking Rockwell. It may not have spawned top 10 singles or played to radio criteria, but this is the Grammy Awards not the MTV VMAs.

https://twitter.com/LanaDelRey/status/1197275894630567937

Consider that this category features some chart-topping artists but the Academy also voted to include some nominations based on artistic merit alone.

Del Rey spans the worlds between being a household name yet manages to shy away from trends or even care about what’s going on in music outside her own trajectory. She’s also been ignored by the Grammys far too long and Rockwell has been beloved by fans and critics alike.

Pick: Lana Del Rey – Norman Fucking Rockwell (+500)

Song of the Year Grammy Odds

It’s a toss-up between “Bad Guy” and “Truth Hurts”. Given that this is an actual songwriting category (as opposed to Record of the Year which awards the recorded track itself), it’s likely to be Eilish taking home the trophy yet again.

In terms of songwriting properties, “Bad Guy” is a well-constructed track. It’s unique, original, and has properties that throw it back to the past while still remaining fresh and exciting.

Lyrically and thematically, Eilish and brother Finneas really built a great song here from the ground up and deserve to be awarded for their work.

Pick: Billie Eilish – “Bad Guy” (+200)

Best New Artist Grammy Odds

Again, you can’t deny the impact Billie Eilish has made on the world around her. Among these nominees, it seems Best New Artist is hers for the taking.

Lizzo has made a moderate impact as well, particularly notable for her motivating body positivity narrative (not to mention her impressive flute playing), but musically, less so than Eilish.

And the Best New Artist nominees are…. @blackpumasmusic, @billieeilish, @LilNasX, @lizzo, @maggierogers, @rosaliavt, @TankandDaBangas, and @iamyola. 👏🎶 #GRAMMYs https://t.co/IyZVl2vDOD

— Recording Academy / GRAMMYs (@RecordingAcad) November 22, 2019

Similarly, Lil Nas X’s success story is still one for the books, but the steam on his career seemed to die down once “Old Town Road” finally finished its record-breaking summer charts streak.

The rest of the category includes lesser-known artists (though we are not denying your gorgeous voice, Maggie Rogers) who the Academy will likely overlook.

Pick:  Billie Eilish (-175)