Adele, ''Rolling in the Deep''
The Hit Songwriter (a go-to scribe for pop's 1 percent; half the Hot 100 has him on speed dial): ''It's the record of the year by so many standards. It's the biggest selling record, it's probably the best known worldwide. How it's produced, how it's performed, the whole nine yards — it's not easy to find a record that does all that; it's lightning in a bottle.''

Adele, ''Rolling in the Deep''
The Country Star (a Nashville crossover with several Grammys already in his trophy case): ''Adele's probably going to win it. I love that more people are going to buy Bon Iver records because they'll try to figure out how to pronounce the name, but he won't win. If anyone's going to upset Adele, it's Mumford, just because it seems like everyone in the world who didn't know about Mumford bought them off of iTunes in the last 12 months.''

Bon Iver, ''Holocene''
The Pop Star (an MTV favorite with a handful of high-charting hits and a knack for cheeky, attention-grabbing music videos): ''I just think that ''Rolling in the Deep'' was played to death everywhere. It was an inescapable album, and I think I would feel better about it if I didn't hear it so much. I do think that's what's gonna win, but I think that the production, especially the vocal stuff, on the Bon Iver record would be my personal pick.''