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Grammy preview: And the nominees may be...

Nominations for the 54th Annual Grammy Awards will be announced Wednesday night in a special live concert on CBS.

But who is likely to be named among the nominees?

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Adele is most likely to be a big nominee this year, Joe Levy, a music journalist, said on "The Early Show."

"Adele has one of the biggest records of the year, two of the biggest singles, (she's a) young talent, a lot of raw emotion on this album," Levy said. "It's the kind of thing the Grammys love. It's a young singer who has a classic sound."

Adele, Levy said, is a "shoo-in" for the big categories, such as album of the year, song of the year and record of the year.

In the category of best new artist nominees, Levy said hip-hop sensation Nicki Minaj, whom he called a "walking, talking cartoon," as well as some lesser-known acts, such as Foster and the country sibling group, The Band Perry, will be recognized.

Of The Band Perry, Levy said, "You (may not be) a country radio fan, but if you were a country radio fan, you would be living with this band over a year now."

As for superstar Lady Gaga, Levy said she's likely to be nominated, but he's not sure which categories will be graced with her presence.

"Her album has not been as big as her last one and I'm not sure if she is a song of the year nominee," Levy said. "Her big song 'Born This Way' sounds a lot like a Madonna song, 'Express Yourself,' and I don't know what they will make of that."

When asked about this year's Grammy trends, Levy said it's about youth and women. "A lot of our biggest artists this year, Taylor Swift, Nicki Minaj, Adele, Rihanna, Katy Perry...are all female artists and all young and under 25. Bruno Mars who is also probably going to get nominated as well, is an old guy at 26."

He added, "All of these young people are producing their records and writing and singing and this is a big deal."

The Grammy nomination concert airs on CBS with performances  by Lady Gaga, Rihanna and Usher, among others. You can catch the special at 10 p.m. ET

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