Taylor Swift might have won the Country Music Association's Horizon Award last year, but she heads into this Sunday's Grammy® awards convinced that she will not take home the Best New Artist trophy, which she thinks will be won by troubled pop singer Amy Winehouse.
Particularly for an 18-year-old who's been thrown into the spotlight, Taylor's viewed her success with a fairly realistic outlook, which she attributes to the dueling voices of her parents.
"My mom let me know right off the bat that there's a chance you could fall on your face, and there's a chance that this [career] won't work," Taylor told The Tennessean. "Before the CMA Awards, she sat me down and told me, 'You're not going to win that award, so just don't go into it thinking you're going to.'"
In contrast, Taylor's dad has nothing but positives to say about every song she writes and every performance she gives.
"I think that balance of the two makes me very happy to be where I am," Taylor notes, "and very not expecting the success we've gotten."