You know what that header means. Grammy season is soon upon us. As the eligibility period ends lets take a look at my persona predictions for the 2015 awards. Kicking things off are the awards for Song of the Year.

John Legend – All Of Me
Idina Menzel – Let It Go
Ed Sheeran – Sing
Sam Smith – Stay With Me
Pharrell Williams – Happy

Alternatives: Sia – Chandelier, Magic – Rude, A Great Big World – Say Something (Feat. Christina Aguilera)

The nominations for Song Of The Year are often the toughest to predict in the big 4, so I thought I’d start with that this year. As I mentioned back in April there are two songs that have been front runners for the whole of 2014. Pharrell Williams is no stranger to The Grammys and Happy has been such a monumental worldwide hit that I’d be baffled if it doesn’t pick up a nomination in both Song and Record of the Year. Everything about that song is catchy as hell and every single person voting for the Grammy nominations this year will know it. It’s hard to hate Happy and part of me thinks Pharrell will be taking home quite a few trophies in January.

The other song I mentioned back in April is still a front runner, but probably only in the Song Of The Year category. Let It Go transcended its Disney movie roots to become a bona fide hit in 2014, lasting in the top end of the Billboard Hot 100 for most of the year. I think it’ll pick up at least one major nomination and given it winning Best Original Song at the Oscars earlier this year I think it has a better chance in Song than Record. Idina’s performance is sure to be mentioned elsewhere but the writers are to thank for one of my picks here.

The other three songs I see are all self penned hits from male solo acts. Ed Sheeran and Sam Smith are early favourites in nearly every category this year, the former appearing in the Best New Artist category as well as this one in previous years. I think Ed will be popular once more with voters, his transition into a bigger sound for his second album x makes him an obvious nominee here. Sing is especially different for him, both him and Pharrell Williams on writing duties could help his chances. Sam Smith is an interesting choice here though. His success in the UK has been similar to Emeli Sande’s back in 2012, but she never quite managed to break the American market. Sam Smith has however, Latch and La La La were long running hits on the Hot 100 while Stay With Me has made it as high as #2 in recent weeks. I’d say that Stay With Me is the song to beat from the ones I’ve mentioned so far, it manages to be a heartfelt record without being too clean cut, an honest one that Grammy voters are sure to respond to.

That said I haven’t mentioned my main prediction for Song Of The Year, a song I’m not even sure is eligible for the 2015 show. John Legend is no stranger to the Grammys. In fact he’s won 9 awards out of 22 nominations, two of which were for Song Of The Year for his own song Ordinary People and Estelle’s American Boy. All Of Me is arguably the best song of his career, a simple and elegant love song. The Grammy voters love him and the song is brilliant, but given that it debuted back in June of 2013 I’m not sure it’s even eligible for Song Of The Year. The album All Of Me is taken from, Love In The Future was nominated for Best R&B Album at last year’s show, but it would be a real shame if John Legend misses out on his biggest chance at a win in the Song Of The Year category.

If All Of Me isn’t eligible there are a few songs that could score a nomination instead. Chandelier is one of Sia’s best hits yet, which is saying a lot considering her extensive writing discography, so I could see it making an appearance here. Rude by Magic! is another song that could make the cut, radio friendly and a nice contrast to ballad heavy selection above. As far as ballads go though, there’s one song I didn’t include above that you’d think would be a shoo in. Say Something was technically released way back in 2011, but it wasn’t until the Christina Aguilera version that we know now was released that the song took off. I’m more than certain that because of this Say Something won’t be eligible for Song Of The Year, a shame for A Great Big World given that it would 100% be the favourite if it was.

Obviously there’s a few months to go until the nominations are announced, but those are my predictions for the Song Of The Year category. I’ll be posting predictions of the other categories in the big 4 later in the week, while the genre awards will come soon after that.