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'It Seems Like A Change In Pop': New, Diverse Female Artists Making Waves With Grammy Nominations

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) - The 62nd annual Grammy nominees are in, and this year women are running the show.

New, diverse artists are making a name for themselves, breaking records and shattering top charts.

2020 is already proving to be a big year for women in the music industry. Wednesday morning, Grammy host Alicia Keys joined CBS This Morning's Gayle King to announce nominees for top categories, including Best New Artist.

Newcomers Lizzo and Billie Eilish are breaking records. Lizzo leads the pack with eight nominations. Billie Eilish is now the youngest person to ever be nominated in all four major categories, at just 17 years old.

LINK: Full list of Grammy nominees

"It seems like a change in pop, in terms of having different voices and new faces and a lot of females, which I think is really exciting," said Kerensa Cadenas, culture editor at The Cut, the musical subsection of New York magazine. She says this year, the female artists, including many young women, are expected to sweep the award show.

Aspiring artists are taking notice. Kendi King and Eden Rolle are students at the professional Performing Arts School in Hell's Kitchen. They're both hopeful future Broadway performers, and say they're excited to finally see women that look like them take the stage - and hopefully the hardware - in the 62nd annual award show.

"It's like you know that the dream is attainable. So it's not like if I want to win a Grammy some day, it's like, no that's never going to happen, no - I could. Because I have all these people just like me who have," King said.

"I definitely feel motivated by these Grammy nominees to pursue my craft and pursue it in a way with the lens of individuality," Rolle said.

As the young women look ahead to college, they're excited to take a break from the application process, and root for their favorite performers, including host Alicia Keys, a graduate of their high school.

Women lead the way in the award show's most prestigious category, album of the year. Five of those eight nominees are female, including Billie Eilish, Lizzo, Ariana Grande and singer-songwriter Lana Del Ray.

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