Grammy cage match: Beyoncé vs. Adele

The Grammy Awards' executive producer, Ken Ehrlich, said in a roundtable with Billboard that Adele and Beyoncé are both expected to perform at the Grammys. For Adele, this will be her chance to amend her subpar performance of "All I Ask" from last year's Grammys, in which audio glitches caused by a piano microphone actually overpowered Adele's voice.

As for what Adele might sing, there have been no indications. Considering she has not put out any new music since her "25" album in late 2015, chances are she will sing a single or two from it. But with five nominations, it's clear that those songs hold up and the audience won't complain.

Beyoncé performed at the Grammys in 2004 alongside Prince. In 2010, she took to the 52nd Annual Grammy Awards with a theatrical performance of "If I Were a Boy" that segued into Alanis Morissette's "You Oughta Know". Most recently, she was part of a massive Stevie Wonder tribute performance last year at the 58th Annual Grammys.

The question of whose performance will garner more attention and praise is a no-brainer. It's not because of anything Adele might or might not do, but simply because Beyoncé is in this equation. Adele's performances feature only her voice, and while that is more than enough, Beyoncé goes full-blown Broadway when she performs. Nothing surpasses the hype of a Beyoncé performance.

Adele is nominated for Record of the Year for her 2015 lead single "Hello." "Hello" peaked at No. 1 on the Billboard Top 100.

Beyoncé's lead single "Formation" is also nominated for Record of the Year. "Formation" peaked at No. 10 on the Billboard Top 100.

Nominated for Record of the Year alongside Adele and Beyoncé are Rihanna and Drake for "Work," Twenty One Pilots for "Stressed Out," and Lukas Graham for "7 Years."

No offense to any of them, but this award will come down to Adele or Beyoncé, and I think recency bias helps Beyoncé. That said, Adele's "Hello" is a more universal song and, for that reason alone, will win.

Adele's third studio album "25" was released on Nov. 20, 2015. The album reached diamond status, selling 10 million copies in the U.S. and reached many other perplexing financial feats. This album was highly anticipated as Adele hadn't released an album since 2011's "21." To almost nobody's surprise, "25" was highly received.

In contrast, nobody knew that Beyoncé was going to drop "Lemonade" like she did on April 23, 2016.

Along with four Emmy nominations, "Lemonade" is nominated for an Album of the Year Grammy. The biggest difference between "Lemonade" and any other album nominated (Adele's "25," Drake's "Views," Justin Bieber's "Purpose" and Sturgill Simpson's "A Sailor's Guide to Earth") is its visual component. "Lemonade" is more like a film with a really great soundtrack than an album, and that definitely plays to Queen Bey's favor.

It's tougher to say whether this category is strictly between Adele and Beyoncé given the massive successes of Drake's and Bieber's albums plus their subsequent tours. But between Adele and Beyoncé, "Lemonade" wins.

Adele has an advantage over Beyoncé in Best Pop Solo Performance because "Hello" feels more poppy than Beyoncé's "Formation." People go nuts when Adele belts out "Hello, from the other side" at a magnitude that is impossible to convey with text.

The other artists nominated in this category are Justin Bieber ("Love Yourself"), Ariana Grande ("Dangerous Woman") and Kelly Clarkson ("Piece by Piece").

Adele has as good a shot as Beyoncé in this category if the category ended at "Best Pop Solo." Again, there's that word: performance.

Beyoncé's most viewed performance of "Formation" was during the Super Bowl 50 halftime show. You can't necessarily say that Adele has had an equally signature moment performing "Hello" but rather created millions of ripple effects and replications with the way she performs the song.

Adele is just as big in pop as Beyoncé, but pair the words "Beyoncé" and "performance" and it's over. That's not an insult to Adele. In fact, I think Adele would agree.

Adele is nominated for Song of the Year thanks again to "Hello." Other artists nominated in this category are, of course, Beyoncé ("Formation"), Justin Bieber ("Love Yourself"), Mike Posner ("I Took a Pill in Ibiza") and Lukas Graham ("7 Years").

Beyoncé is nominated for Song of the Year for "Formation." While Record of the Year and Song of the Year are largely the same, the presence of Justin Bieber and "Love Yourself" in this category makes Beyoncé's chances a bit slimmer than Record of the Year.

I wouldn't count Adele out for this one, or any of them, either. It's just so hard to pick against Beyoncé.

Adele is also nominated for Best Pop Vocal Album alongside Justin Bieber ("Purpose"), Ariana Grande ("Dangerous Woman"), Demi Lovato ("Confident") and Sia ("This Is Acting").

Beyoncé is also nominated for Best Music Video ("Formation"), Best Rock Performance ("Don't Hurt Yourself"), Best Urban Contemporary Album ("Lemonade"), Best Rap/Sung Performance ("Freedom") and Best Music Film ("Lemonade").

Beyoncé has the most nominations of any artist with nine for the 59th Annual Grammy Awards, which will be hosted by James Corden and air on Feb. 12 at 8 p.m. Eastern on CBS.