BEST POP SOLO PERFORMANCE
“Flowers” MILEY CYRUS
Cyrus mined the uber-specific details of her high-profile divorce from Liam Hemsworth — while tapping into the resolve of Gloria Gaynor and countering the sentimentality of Bruno Mars — to make this seemingly universal post-love song from her album of the year nominee, Endless Summer Vacation. Give this child star-turned-adult pop queen her flowers for scoring her biggest Hot 100 hit along the way (eight weeks at No. 1) with a song that had even Diane Keaton dancing in her backyard.
“Paint the Town Red” DOJA CAT
Bitch, she said what she said! Doja lyrically answers all her haters’ critiques point by point — Is she too pop? Does she need a feature to succeed? Is she the actual devil? — on this flashy and brazen Hot 100 chart-topper from her Scarlet album. The track works in a sample of Dionne Warwick’s “Walk On By,” turning the plucky 1964 heartbreak hit into an instruction manual for anyone trying to stand in Doja’s way.
“What Was I Made For?” (From Barbie: The Album)
BILLIE EILISH
Eilish perfectly matches the existential crisis at the heart of Greta Gerwig’s blockbuster Barbie movie with her soundtrack ballad that asks life’s biggest question. The singer-songwriter’s breathy, yearning vocal telegraphs the desperation she (and Margot Robbie’s Barbie) feels about understanding someone’s true purpose. As a 25-time Grammy nominee by the age of 21, it seems like Eilish has a pretty good grasp on what she was made for.
“vampire” OLIVIA RODRIGO
According to Rodrigo, vampires aren’t mythical creatures; they’re very real. On the lead single from her Billboard 200-topping second album, Guts, the pop star laments six months wasted with a “cool guy” who bled her dry. While she’s no stranger to a heartbreak ballad, on “vampire,” Rodrigo treads new ground with her bombastic, impassioned delivery, showing just how bloody far her vocals can go. The track sunk its teeth into the 66th annual Grammys, landing additional nominations for song and record of the year.
“Anti-Hero” TAYLOR SWIFT
Look no further than Swift’s “narcissism/altruism” couplet in Midnights lead single “AntiHero” (“Did you hear my covert narcissism I disguise as altruism/ Like some kind of congressman?”) to hear the verbal gymnastics the singer-songwriter engaged in for this eight-week Hot 100 chart-topper. In the tongue-incheek hit, Swift faces down her biggest insecurities while also embracing her role as the antihero so many want her to be. What’s the problem? It’s clearly not Taylor Swift.