Clapton’s ‘Tears,’ Grammy Fears : WHO SHOULD WIN : Naming ‘Tears in Heaven’ record of the year would prevent an embarrassing ‘Achy Breaky Heart’ victory for Billy Ray Cyrus

You can already feel the applause building for the moment Wednesday night when Eric Clapton steps to the podium to accept a single of the year Grammy for “Tears in Heaven.”

Who can resist cheering one of the most respected musicians of the modern pop era, especially on a night he is being honored for a warmly sentimental record that reflects his grief after the accidental death in 1991 of his 4-year-old son?

No one, however, will applaud a Clapton victory more vigorously than the National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences’ governing board, because a “Tears in Heaven” win will eliminate any chance of the Grammy’s worst nightmare: a mini-sweep by Billy Ray Cyrus.

Grammy credibility could survive Cyrus victories in any of three supporting categories, but an upset by the country hunk from Flatwoods, Ky., with the flyweight “Achy Breaky Heart” in the coveted best single competition would be the biggest embarrassment for the Grammys since Milli Vanilli’s award for best new artist three years ago.

Even before the world discovered that Milli Vanilli’s Fab Morvan and Rob Pilatus didn’t actually sing on their album, it was still shocking that Grammy voters would declare the makers of such a blatantly inconsequential dance-pop album the best new artists of the year.

It was yet another sign that the voters, who are supposed to focus on musical excellence, are often swayed by massive sales.

Who besides Clapton deserves applause Wednesday night? U2, Arrested Development, Nirvana, Ministry, Garth Brooks and Wynonna Judd. With luck, one or two may even make it to the podium.

Here are my choices in the 35th annual Grammy Awards competition--the artists who deserve to win:

Best Single: The Grammy brain trust can talk all it wants about how the days are past when the voting leaned toward stylishly produced but ultimately limited records, rather than those with the substance and spirit to stretch artistic boundaries or define the times in which we live.

The truth is many of the recent Grammy choices in this key category (officially known as Record of the Year) remain as removed from pop’s vital currents as in the ‘60s when Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass and the 5th Dimension were honored over the likes of Bob Dylan, the Rolling Stones and, yes, Eric Clapton’s groups the Yardbirds and Cream. The last four best single award winners: Natalie Cole, Phil Collins, Bette Midler and Bobby McFerrin.

Of this year’s nominees, Vanessa Williams’ “Save the Best for Last” is right in step with the old thinking--music that is well designed, but also thoroughly conventional. Anyone who saw “Beauty and the Beast” might be tempted to support the title song, but the overblown Celine Dion-Peabo Bryson duet loses much of its charm when separated from the on-screen animation.

Since no one can take “Achy Breaky Heart” seriously, that leaves k.d. lang’s “Constant Craving” and “Tears in Heaven.” Neither offers the artistic daring that you’d like to see honored in this category (think U2’s “One” or Arrested Development’s “Tennessee”), but they have far more individuality and passion than “Save the Best for Last.” Because it is the more convincing and affecting statement, the choice is “Tears in Heaven.”

Best Album: Cyrus wasn’t nominated in this category, so the academy can relax. On the surface, a victory by any of the five albums would be viewed as reasonable by most observers because the field consists of four much-admired artists and the soundtrack from an Oscar-winning film. But the quality of the five albums varies greatly.

The “Beauty and the Beast” soundtrack is more appealing on balance than the title track alone, but it has ridden the bandwagon of the film’s success far enough. Its objectives are too narrow to be considered the year’s most distinguished and/or important work.

Annie Lennox’s vocal on the single “Why” was captivating, but the rest of her debut album wasn’t similarly inspired. Lang turned in such a moving performance on a Cole Porter song on 1990’s “Red Hot + Blue” album that it made sense for her to discard her country trimmings and tackle an album of torch-like pop. The problem is that lang, as a writer, isn’t Cole Porter, and even her deeply felt vocals rarely brought the songs to life. Clapton’s “Unplugged” was a top-notch exercise but nothing that defines the pop moment or challenges the pop order.

Towering above the competition is the album with the ambition and daring to be considered the year’s most accomplished work. It’s an album that examined questions of troubled relationships, identity and self-worth, all cast in captivating instrumental soundscapes: U2’s “Achtung Baby.”

Best Song: One reason the Grammys get criticized so much is the clumsiness of its rules--none more puzzling than the one that allows any song to be eligible for this award as long as it has never been nominated previously in the category. That’s how Irving Gordon’s 42-year-old “Unforgettable” won last year. This year, thankfully, all the songs are at least new. The year’s most unforgettable song was U2’s “One,” but it wasn’t nominated. The choice here: “Tears in Heaven.”

Best New Artist: No contest--Arrested Development, the Georgia group that mixed hip-hop freshness, classic R&B; influences and a disarming social idealism.

Best Pop Vocal Performance, Female: Another goofy rule allows artists to be nominated for either an entire album or just a single record. Instead of matching Annie Lennox’s “Why” single against k.d. lang’s “Constant Craving” single or Lennox’s “Diva” album against lang’s “Ingenue” album, for instance, the academy’s oranges-and-apples guideline has allowed lang’s single to be matched against Lennox’s album. On that basis, give the award to lang’s single over the inconsistent “Diva” album.

Pop Male: Again, we’re mixing singles by Clapton, Elton John and Michael Jackson with albums by Peter Gabriel and Lyle Lovett. John is long overdue for a major Grammy and he turned in a terrific job on “The One,” but Clapton made you feel his pain in every vocal phrase of “Tears in Heaven.” The choice: Clapton.

Pop Group or Duo: The absence of a dominant rival gives us a chance to give John some of that overdue recognition. The choice: John’s remake with George Michael of “Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me.”

Traditional Pop: Easy decision here. Tony Bennett’s a splendid singer and he showed a lot of courage in “Perfectly Frank” by being measured against the master on a series of songs previously recorded by Sinatra.

Rock Female: The easiest way to point out the bad rule here is to note that Chrissie Hynde has never won in this category even though she is easily the most compelling female rock singer of the last decade. The reason: She records under the group name the Pretenders and thus is only eligible for the rock duo-group competition. It’s the same rule that keeps Courtney Love (Hole), Kat Bjelland (Babes in Toyland) and P.J. Harvey (her band is called PJ Harvey) from being eligible here. The result is a small and generally weak field. To protest the rule, I’d just leave the ballot blank. Pass.

Rock Male: The nominees here are virtually interchangeable with the pop male entries, suggesting the Grammy membership is failing to keep up with the changes in rock. Indeed, Clapton and Gabriel are nominated in both categories. The real rock singers of today are lumped into the hard-rock and metal categories, which means the nominees should come from the ranks of Axl Rose, James Hetfield, Kurt Cobain and Eddie Vedder. Of the actual nominees, I’d have gone for Bruce Springsteen if he hadn’t been nominated for the wrong album (“Human Touch” instead of “Lucky Town”). The choice is Peter Gabriel for his snarling “Digging in the Dirt.”

Rock Group or Duo: U2’s “Achtung Baby” over Los Lobos’ also outstanding “Kiko.”

Hard Rock: Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit”-- the rock ‘n’ roll single so far of the ‘90s.

Metal: Ministry’s astounding “N.W.O.”

Alternative: From the list of nominees, it’s clear that no one knows exactly what this category is intended to honor. What do the B-52’s, the Cure, Morrissey, Tom Waits and XTC have in common? While we’re waiting for an answer, let’s give the award to Tom.

R&B; Female: Oleta Adams, a wonderfully promising newcomer, for her gripping rendition of Elton John and Bernie Taupin’s “Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me” on the “Two Rooms” tribute album.

R&B; Male: More apples and oranges as Michael Jackson’s “Jam” single and Bobby Brown’s “Humpin’ Around” single are pitted against Tevin Campbell’s debut album. A close nod to Jackson.

R&B; Group or Duo: En Vogue showed great range, but Arrested Development was even more disarming.

Rap Solo: You can’t blame the problem here on the rules, but there’s something wrong when Hammer and Marky Mark get nominated and Ice Cube doesn’t. So, let’s go with Sir Mix-a-Lot. He should at least bring a smile to the long awards show.

Rap Group or Duo: Arrested Development’s “Tennessee,” a poignant, spiritually accented song about social equality that should have been nominated in the best record category.

Country Female: The material on Wynonna Judd’s debut album wasn’t everything hoped for, but her vocals were commanding.

Country Male: It’s hard in some of these categories to separate the vocal from the production, theme and other elements of the record. Vince Gill is a better pure singer than Garth Brooks, but Brooks’ “The Chase” album was a bolder and more ambitious work than Gill’s “I Still Believe in You.” Hats off to Brooks.

Country Group or Duo: Emmylou Harris--who is nominated in this category rather than female vocal category because her album is credited to Harris and her band the Nash Ramblers--just may be the greatest single talent in country music over the last two decades, and you can never give her enough Grammys.