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Pop superstar Beyonce, winner of more Grammy awards than any other female artist, has never taken home the coveted album of the year trophy at the music industry's highest honours.

That could change on Sunday, according to industry experts and awards pundits, although it is not a sure thing in a formidable, wide-ranging field that includes Puerto Rican rapper Bad Bunny, pop musician Harry Styles, singer and flautist Lizzo and disco-era Swedish hit makers ABBA.

Winners will be announced during a ceremony broadcast live on the CBS network and streamed on Paramount+ from 8pm Eastern time (0100 GMT on Monday).

Beyonce heads into the show in Los Angeles with nine nominations, including an album of the year nod for the dance-heavy album Renaissance.

She has won 28 Grammys across her career and could break the all-time record of 31 on Sunday.

But the top prize has escaped her. The acclaimed 2016 album Lemonade was defeated by Adele's 25, prompting the British vocalist to say on stage that Beyonce deserved the honour.

Beyonce "is about to be the most-winningest Grammy award winner - there's almost no way she's not going to break the record", said Jem Aswad, deputy music editor for Variety.

"But she has never won album of the year, one of the top awards, and that's just wrong," he said.

Adele, who has claimed the album trophy twice, is also in the mix this year with 30.

It is possible that Adele and Beyonce voters could cancel each other out, Aswad said, opening a door for Styles to prevail with Harry's House.

Beyonce's other nominations include record and song of the year for Break My Soul.

If she wins at least four awards, she will top the late classical conductor Georg Solti as the most-decorated artist in Grammys history.

The winners are chosen by roughly 11,000 members of the Recording Academy, which has faced complaints that it has not given Black talent proper recognition.

The organisation has worked to diversify its membership in recent years.

In the best new artist category, contenders include Italian rock band Maneskin, jazz artist Samara Joy, American bluegrass singer Molly Tuttle and TikTok phenom Gayle, who rose to fame with abcdefu.

Taylor Swift's 10-minute version of her 2012 song All Too Well was nominated for best song.

Swift's latest album, Midnights, was released after this year's eligibility window, which ran from October 2021 through September 2022.

Comedian Trevor Noah will host Sunday's awards show.

Scheduled performers include Styles, Lizzo, Sam Smith, Luke Combs and Bad Bunny. First lady Jill Biden is among the night's presenters.

The Grammys have seen their television audience decline in recent years.

Last year's ceremony drew roughly nine million viewers, the second-smallest on record.

© RAW 2023

A surging sprint to the finish line has delivered Matt Bevilacqua an Ironman Series victory he rates as the highlight of his life.

Bevilacqua pipped Ben Carberry as the pair engaged in a thrilling battle for the series crown in the final race at Kurrawa on the Gold Coast on Sunday.

With defending champion Ali Day ruled out with a virus, Bevilacqua and Carberry entered the last race tied on points; whoever finished first between them would claim the title.

The duo were neck-and-neck after the ski leg, getting to their feet at the same time for a beach sprint to determine the champion.

Bevilacqua edged out Carberry to capture his second series title, following his 2018 triumph.

"It feels awesome ... it's the greatest achievement of my life," Bevilacqua said.

"That is the hardest thing I've ever done. That last leg (of the race) was so ridiculous, to drop down on the wave with Benny - I was like 'Oh, my god'.

"I have won a lot of individual races but winning the series was all that was on my mind coming into today and that last race.

"I knew what I had to do and that was to beat Benny ... I didn't even know where I came when I crossed the line, I just had my eye on the prize."

Bevilacqua finished third with Carberry fourth in the last race, won by Finn Askew from Cory Taylor.

The 30-year-old Bevilacqua claimed the series with 104 points, just one point ahead of 28-year-old Carberry, with New Zealander Joe Collins (97 points) in third place.

Meanwhile, Georgia Miller has taken out the women's title despite finishing eighth in Sunday's last race.

After winning four consecutive rounds, Miler entered the finale with a 13-point advantage and only had to complete the race to ensure a series victory.

"That's incredible. That is something that dreams are made of," Miller said.

"I'm going to get emotional because I've been hanging in there the last two days, I have been very nervous ... I am going to cherish this forever."

Miller (111 points) was well ahead of Lizzie Welborn (101) and Danielle McKenzie (96) despite all but McKenzie finishing outside the top-three in the last race, won by Naomi Scott from Harriet Brown with McKenzie third.

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Perth Scorchers captain Ashton Turner, teenager Cooper Connolly and Nick Hobson have all produced heroic knocks to lead their side to a thrilling five-wicket victory over the Brisbane Heat "nobodies" in the BBL final.

In reply to the Heat's 7-175 on Saturday night, the Scorchers were looking wobbly at 3-54 in the eighth over in front of 53,866 fans at Optus Stadium.

But a knock of 53 off 32 balls from Turner helped turn the tide the Scorchers' way, with the skipper joining Josh Inglis (26 off 22 balls) in a crucial 80-run stand.

The disastrous run out of Turner with 39 runs still needed off 19 balls put the game back on a knife's edge.

But the 19-year-old Connolly (25no off 11 balls) stepped up to the plate with a series of big shots.

The Scorchers still needed 10 runs to win off Michael Neser's final over.

This time it was Hobson's turn to shine.

Hobson, who had been responsible for the run out of Turner, made glorious amends, cracking a huge six before following it up with a four to secure a famous victory.

Scorchers' players streamed onto the field in wild celebrations after the winning runs secured the franchise a record fifth title.

Hobson, who finished unbeaten on 18 off just seven balls, admitted he had felt "awful" after Turner was run out with both batsmen mid-pitch.

"Ash is an amazing leader," Hobson said.

"When we were sitting there waiting for the decision (about which batsmen would be out), he said, 'mate you're a gun, you'll get us over the line'.

"There was no resentment."

The Heat were left to rue a costly dropped catch in the dying moments of the match.

The Scorchers needed 19 more runs for victory when Connolly's skied catch was dropped by Josh Brown.

"It's a steep learning curve, it doesn't get much bigger," Heat captain Jimmy Peirson said of the drop.

"He'll be ok. Everyone drops catches; I've dropped plenty and it won't be the last he drops."

The brave Heat did well just to make the decider.

The team sat in last spot on the ladder just 22 days ago before winning four of their last five games to sneak into the finals in fifth spot.

The Heat then won away finals against the Sydney Thunder, Melbourne Renegades and Sydney Sixers to make the decider, but they started as rank underdogs against a Scorchers outfit hunting their another crown.

Brisbane were even labelled "nobodies" by the local newspaper in Western Australia due to the absence of Usman Khawaja, Matt Renshaw, Mitchell Swepson and Marnus Labuschagne to Test duties.

"Just FYI. We keep our receipts," the Heat tweeted on Saturday alongside a picture of the liftout that was headlined: "Scorchers versus a bunch of nobodies".

Those 'nobodies' stepped up and gave the Scorchers an almighty scare before Turner, Connolly and Hobson got Perth home.

"We actually didn't know about it until the head coach Wade Seccombe said, 'hey boys look at this'," Peirson said of the newspaper headline.

"It's to be expected. It's their home turf and it's all tongue-in-cheek. We're not household names, it doesn't offend us at all."

© AAP 2023