Each year, the Grammy Awards not only serve to recognize the best achievements in music over the past year but also help to elevate certain artists from unknowns to stars and from successes into household names. The latter will probably be true of Bruno Mars once the awards are handed out in February, as the singer and producer was nominated for a total of seven awards during Wednesday night's [article id="1653389"]"Grammy Nominations Concert Live!"[/article] show.

Mars scored a handful of nominations as a performer for his vocal stylings on the chart-topping B.o.B track "Nothin' on You" and also picked up several nominations as a member of the Smeezingtons, the writing and production trio that consists of Mars, Philip Lawrence and Ari Levine. The three are responsible for hits like Cee Lo's "F--- You" (which picked up four nominations), and the crew also picked up a nod for Producer of the Year.

The Smeezingtons were rightfully thrilled at the prospect of taking home a load of hardware in February. "We don't know how it feels yet, because we just got the word. We're a little awkward in these situations," Mars admitted to MTV News following the show (in which he also performed live). "But the fact [is] that we worked so hard this year. In a little tiny shack studio, we'd have B.o.B in there [writing] 'Nothin' on You' with us, Cee Lo writing 'F--- You' with us. The fact that it's being acknowledged by the Grammys is incredible. It's really making us feel like we did something. We're being acknowledged by the biggest."

As far as which award the group is gunning for, they're open to anything. "I'd like to win Best Dressed," Mars joked. "Maybe Most Humorous. Or Best Kisser!" They also want the world to know that just because their status will become elevated doesn't mean that they're inaccessible.

"The funnest part of our job is that we don't know who we're working with next," Mars told MTV News. "We're fans and students of music, and we just love to work with whoever wants to work, whoever wants to write a song. Rock, hip-hop, R&B -- we just want to do music. And we're happy just doing that."

Mars and the Smeezingtons will compete against other heavy hitters like Eminem (10 nominations), Jay-Z (six), Lady Gaga (six) and B.o.B (five) when the Grammys are handed out on Sunday, February 13, 2011.

How many Grammys do you think Bruno Mars will win? Let us know in the comments!