Adele edges Taylor Swift as young female artist poised to sweep Grammys

This was supposed to have been Taylor Swift's year at the Grammy Awards.

The 22-year-old Berks County native became the youngest singer to win Album of the Year for "Fearless," and won three other Grammys in 2010. And her third disc, "Speak Now," was poised to do even better. It sold an astonishing 4 million copies and she wrote all of its songs five of which are gold or platinum hits.

But it's another female singer in her early 20s who has captured the attention of The Recording Academy and will likely be crowned Sunday night at the 54th annual Grammy Awards.

English-born Adele, 23, released "21" three months after "Speak Now." It not only outsold Swift's CD by 50 percent, but also had three singles (two of which topped the charts) that together sold more copies than Swift's five hits.

The disc also captured the critics, who raved about its bare emotion, insightful lyrics far beyond expectations for a young woman and the singer's soaring, searing voice.

Swift's "Speak Now" got three Grammy nominations, all in country music categories. Adele has six, including the top ! categori es of Album of the Year and Best Pop Vocal Album, Record of the Year and Song of the Year for "Rolling in the Deep," and Best Pop Solo Performance for "Someone Like You."

Wins in all the categories (she's also nominated for Best Short Form Video for "Rolling in the Deep") would tie Adele for the most Grammys won in a single year a feat Beyonce accomplished in 2010. Adele's sweep would be even more extraordinary; Beyonce's sweep included four untelevised R&B categories.

It also would come in the year The Recording Academy slashed more than a quarter of its categories down from the previous 109 to 78 in April in an effort to end what some viewed as a bloated list.

It will be the first year, for example, that male and female vocal performance now will be combined into a new pop solo performance category theoretically making a win more difficult for Adele.

But an Adele sweep could happen. She should win Record of the Year, and it would be an outright crime if she doesn't win Album of the Year. Pop Solo Performance and Pop Vocal Album also seem like locks.

Song of the Year, a writer's award, may be tougher, with competition from Mumford & Sons' "The Cave" and Bruno Mars' "Grenade." The video award depends on whether voters go for the heart (an Adele win) or the cool factor (OK Go's "All Is Not Lost" wins).

In any event, Adele should be the big winner at this year's Grammys. Kanye West actually got more nominations seven and Bruno Mars and Foo Fighters also got six each. But West competes against himself in two categories, meaning the most he can win is five, and he's up against Adele and Mumford & Sons for Song of the Year. The rest of his nominations are in rap categories.

Foo Fighters faces Adele for Album of the Year, but could win in the four rock categories and long-form video for which it's nominated. Mars, who in September played at Allentown Fair, faces Adele in five of the categories, but could win Producer of the Year for his own "Doo-Woos & Hooligans."

Doylestown native Pink has a single nomination this year her 12th overall; she's won three for Best Pop Solo Performance for "Perfect," but she's also up against Adele.

Nominated for Best Children's Album is "All About Bullies ... Big And Small," which was produced by Gloria Domina of Allentown and four Bucks County residents Kevin Mackie of Quakertown, Steve Pullara and James Cravero of Warminster and Patrick Robinson of Penndel.

As for Swift, don't fret. She could likely win all three of the awards for which she's nominated.

It's hard to argue against "Speak Now" for Country Album of the Year, and her song "Mean" has gotten a lot of praise for its supposed anti-bully stance. So look for it to win Best Country Song, and maybe even Best Country Solo Performance.

Swift also is scheduled to perform on the awards show for the second time.

But once again she may be overshadowed by Adele, who will give her first public performance following throat microsurgery in November.

Here's who I think will win and should win the major awards: