But on the end of the dais is a guy from Pittsburgh who couldn’t be less rock and roll if he got a neck tattoo, and by the end of the program he’d convinced me he was right.
This was John Dick. Of CivicScience. A polling firm.
And he wasn’t borderline autistic, like Nate Silver. He radiated no nerd cred. And he kept talking about the numbers to the point where I had to get into it with him, WHO CARES WHAT THE PUBLIC HAS TO SAY!
And then Mr. Dick explained his methodology.
He trolls for people on PerezHilton. He gets them to answer the question of the day, and then places a cookie on their computer, tracking them as they move about the web. Sounds scary, doesn’t it? Welcome to the twenty first century!
But what Mr. Dick and his team of Carnegie Mellon technicians is looking for is…the ability of those he tracks to get it right. That’s the science. And last year he predicted five out of the six big Grammy winners. He was eighty percent at the Oscars. And before Nate Silver and the 2012 election, I’d pooh-pooh Mr. Dick and his numbers, but the geeks have inherited the earth and gut reactions might feel good, but can be totally wrong.
Don’t get me wrong, the gut is key to art. And research will tell you where you’ve been as opposed to where you’re going. But if you want to play the game as opposed to just pontificating, today you have to look at the numbers.
It got to the point where I was less interested in what I had to say than Mr. Dick’s conclusions.
And here they are:
Best New Artist: Macklemore & Ryan Lewis
Best Pop Duo/Group Performance: “Blurred Lines”
Best Rap Album: Macklemore & Ryan Lewis
Best Rock Album: Kings Of Leon
Best Country Album: Taylor Swift
Song of the Year: “Royals”
Record of the Year: “Royals”
Album of the Year: Macklemore & Ryan Lewis
Now if “Royals” wins, I’ll be thrilled. Kind of like when “Annie Hall” won Best Picture, Lorde DESERVES IT!
I thought voyage was feminine too.
) but most of the other quotes in the interview sound like she's joking 