RECORD OF THE YEAR

SHOULD WIN: M.I.A., ''Paper Planes''
The zeitgeist-bottling sleeper deserves recognition, but even with its major movie tie-ins — to Slumdog Millionaire and the slightly less Oscar-redolent Pineapple Express — it's probably too raw for grey-ponytail voters. Plus, the hook of the song is based on a sample (the Clash's 1982 punk classic ''Straight to Hell'')

WILL WIN: Coldplay, ''Viva La Vida''
Adele's ''Chasing Pavements''? Lovely. And Robert Plant and Alison Krauss's ''Please Read the Letter'' is a worthy competitor — or would be, if it hadn't previously been released on a 1998 Plant & Page album. So we'll go with Grammy catnip Coldplay, unless Leona Lewis' flawless pop pinnacle ''Bleeding Love'' squeaks by.