LOS ANGELES, Calif. - Innovative R&B crooner Miguel has five nominations heading into this Sunday's Grammy Awards, including a nod for song of the year.

And yet — this is crazy — he spent Friday extolling the virtues of his competitors, especially Canadian Carly Rae Jepsen's earworm smash "Call Me Maybe."

"It's an infectious song, man," said the 27-year-old with a broad grin following his rehearsal on Friday night.

"That song, I'm telling you, is still in my head. Every once in a while I'll just wake up for some reason (and sing) 'Call Me Maaaybe,'" he adds with a laugh, cooing the last few notes for effect.

He's similarly adoring of fun.'s anthem "We Are Young," which he jokes is the song he turns to at 4 a.m., a few whiskeys in.

Of course, Miguel's had quite the year too. The Los Angeles native issued his sultry, druggy sophomore album "Kaleidoscope Dream" in October to rapturous critical acclaim. Along with Frank Ocean's similarly celebrated "Channel Orange," the audacious record was immediately considered a milestone for forward-thinking R&B.

His song of the year nomination came for the torrid earth-shaker "Adorn," which he will perform at Sunday's gala with an assist from rapper Wiz Khalifa.

Aside from his velvety voice, Miguel has a reputation as a spry stage presence and he says he won't hold back at the televised bash.

"I'm just going to leave it all out there," he said with a smile.

Even at Friday's rehearsal, he aimed to entertain. With Wiz Khalifa absent, a crew member stood in awkwardly for the Pittsburgh rapper during the run-through and Miguel engaged him in some light-hearted dancing while filling the silence by singing "raps and raps and raps and raps."

A few dozen members of the public were admitted to the Staples Center to observe from the wings, and Miguel was one of the day's only performers to acknowledge his audience, who clapped politely after each take.

"Can we just keep you guys?" said Miguel, whose surname is Pimentel. "You made us feel really good."

But even though Miguel paid his respect to his competitors, he's still hoping to take home a trophy in one of his five categories. And he is preparing a speech.

"My team is making sure that I remember everyone's names in case we do have to take that walk up those stairs," he said. "I hope I need a speech. I hope so."

News from © The Canadian Press, 2013