The Grammy Museum will open downtown this weekend, but on Wednesday night the venerable awards brand was trying to prove it's no relic in this “American Idol" era.
The nominations for the 51st Annual Grammy Awards were announced Wednesday not at some early-morning news conference -- as they have been in the past -- but sprinkled in a one-hour prime-time special featuring performances by Celine Dion, Mariah Carey and other stars singing classic songs at the Nokia Theatre. It was a move that could be considered an entrenchment bid by a show that pulled its third-lowest audience ever this last February and its all-time lowest number in 2006.
“We are evaluating everything and, as this new nomination concert show proves, we are very open to doing new things that reach an audience and celebrate music," Recording Academy President Neil Portnow said.
All of the songs performed Wednesday were Grammy Hall of Fame entries written before 1976 -- with the exception of a portion of a new song from country star Taylor Swift -- perhaps not the best way to connect with young music fans. But the producers wanted a show that would dovetail with the spirit of Saturday's public opening of the Grammy Museum and also would avoid giving any nominated artists an edge with the Recording Academy's 17,000 voters.
Those voters will decide in upcoming weeks whether the album of the year award will go to “Raising Sand" by Plant and Krauss, “In Rainbows" by Radiohead, “Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends" by Coldplay, “Tha Carter III" by Lil Wayne or “Year of the Gentleman" by Ne-Yo.
The Grammys seemed out of touch with the generation of fans that screamed loudly for the Jonas Brothers back in February when the show drew a historically meager audience of 17.5 million and then handed the album of the year award to 67-year-old Herbie Hancock for a jazz collection interpreting the songs of Joni Mitchell. It was, by all accounts, a sparkling work -- but had sold fewer than 40,000 copies.
The nominations for the 51st Annual Grammy Awards were announced Wednesday not at some early-morning news conference -- as they have been in the past -- but sprinkled in a one-hour prime-time special featuring performances by Celine Dion, Mariah Carey and other stars singing classic songs at the Nokia Theatre. It was a move that could be considered an entrenchment bid by a show that pulled its third-lowest audience ever this last February and its all-time lowest number in 2006.
“We are evaluating everything and, as this new nomination concert show proves, we are very open to doing new things that reach an audience and celebrate music," Recording Academy President Neil Portnow said.
All of the songs performed Wednesday were Grammy Hall of Fame entries written before 1976 -- with the exception of a portion of a new song from country star Taylor Swift -- perhaps not the best way to connect with young music fans. But the producers wanted a show that would dovetail with the spirit of Saturday's public opening of the Grammy Museum and also would avoid giving any nominated artists an edge with the Recording Academy's 17,000 voters.
Those voters will decide in upcoming weeks whether the album of the year award will go to “Raising Sand" by Plant and Krauss, “In Rainbows" by Radiohead, “Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends" by Coldplay, “Tha Carter III" by Lil Wayne or “Year of the Gentleman" by Ne-Yo.
The Grammys seemed out of touch with the generation of fans that screamed loudly for the Jonas Brothers back in February when the show drew a historically meager audience of 17.5 million and then handed the album of the year award to 67-year-old Herbie Hancock for a jazz collection interpreting the songs of Joni Mitchell. It was, by all accounts, a sparkling work -- but had sold fewer than 40,000 copies.
