Post by Dee on Feb 8, 2008 22:39:13 GMT -5
www.usatoday.com/life/music/awa...show_N.htm
Golden Grammys put a few spins on tradition for the show
Rock royalty: Recording Academy president Neil Portnow, left, chats with John Fogerty and Jerry Lee Lewis.
Kanye's year for Grammy 'Graduation'
Hancock bridged pop, jazz on 'River'
Partners in song will be steppin' out at Grammys
By Edna Gundersen, USA TODAY
The 50th anniversary of the Grammy Awards presented a challenge: how to honor a rich past without wallowing in it. Show producer Ken Ehrlich found the solution where he has conjured most Grammy magic, in the signature moments of cross-generation, genre-blending collaborations.
That's why the rundown for Sunday's show has rap-rocker Kid Rock and traditional pop singer Keely Smith meeting at the microphone for a little bit of That Old Black Magic, the song that earned Smith and Louis Prima a Grammy at the inaugural ceremony in 1959.
That's not the only odd couple. Electronic sorcery enables the pairing of a contemporary superstar (shhhh, it's a surprise!) with rare '50s footage of Frank Sinatra, a bewitching opener that sets the stage for a merry-go-round of time warps and chemical combustion.
Expect these highlights:
•Reunited funk-rock outfit The Time brings its Jungle Love to Rihanna's Umbrella. "After hearing Umbrella 6,000 times, I had to do something different," Ehrlich says. "I figured the '80s is a good place to go."
•Foo Fighters' The Pretender will be staged outdoors with an orchestra featuring the My Grammy Moment winner chosen by YouTube voters. Led Zeppelin's John Paul Jones is the arranger/conductor.
•In a salute to rock's heyday, Jerry Lee Lewis and Little Richard, parked at grand pianos, perform with John Fogerty.
•The casts of Cirque du Soleil's LOVE and Across the Universe revive A Day in the Life and Let It Be in homage to The Beatles. "It's a terrific moment," Ehrlich says. "There hasn't been another group that's had as great an impact on our culture."
•Aretha Franklin anchors a gospel medley with BeBe Winans, the Clark Sisters and Madison Bumble Bees, a trombone-driven South Carolina choir.
•Andrea Bocelli and Josh Groban perform The Prayer. Eight years ago, Bocelli fell ill, and an unknown Groban, summoned by producer David Foster, filled his duet slot with Celine Dion at a Grammy rehearsal. "That became Josh's calling card," Ehrlich says.
Beyoncé, Carrie Underwood, Brad Paisley, Tina Turner, Feist and a Fergie/John Legend duet also are on the bill. Amy Winehouse's performance may now be broadcast via satellite since her work visa has been denied. Ehrlich has hinted at a possible star-studded tribute to Michael Jackson's Thriller.
"It surprises me that every year we find ourselves in the position of not being able to fit everything we want on the show," he says. "I rue the day that we look at the nominations and say, 'How are we going to make a show out of this?'
"Great music is still being created and the Recording Academy inevitably finds it."
Golden Grammys put a few spins on tradition for the show
Rock royalty: Recording Academy president Neil Portnow, left, chats with John Fogerty and Jerry Lee Lewis.
Kanye's year for Grammy 'Graduation'
Hancock bridged pop, jazz on 'River'
Partners in song will be steppin' out at Grammys
By Edna Gundersen, USA TODAY
The 50th anniversary of the Grammy Awards presented a challenge: how to honor a rich past without wallowing in it. Show producer Ken Ehrlich found the solution where he has conjured most Grammy magic, in the signature moments of cross-generation, genre-blending collaborations.
That's why the rundown for Sunday's show has rap-rocker Kid Rock and traditional pop singer Keely Smith meeting at the microphone for a little bit of That Old Black Magic, the song that earned Smith and Louis Prima a Grammy at the inaugural ceremony in 1959.
That's not the only odd couple. Electronic sorcery enables the pairing of a contemporary superstar (shhhh, it's a surprise!) with rare '50s footage of Frank Sinatra, a bewitching opener that sets the stage for a merry-go-round of time warps and chemical combustion.
Expect these highlights:
•Reunited funk-rock outfit The Time brings its Jungle Love to Rihanna's Umbrella. "After hearing Umbrella 6,000 times, I had to do something different," Ehrlich says. "I figured the '80s is a good place to go."
•Foo Fighters' The Pretender will be staged outdoors with an orchestra featuring the My Grammy Moment winner chosen by YouTube voters. Led Zeppelin's John Paul Jones is the arranger/conductor.
•In a salute to rock's heyday, Jerry Lee Lewis and Little Richard, parked at grand pianos, perform with John Fogerty.
•The casts of Cirque du Soleil's LOVE and Across the Universe revive A Day in the Life and Let It Be in homage to The Beatles. "It's a terrific moment," Ehrlich says. "There hasn't been another group that's had as great an impact on our culture."
•Aretha Franklin anchors a gospel medley with BeBe Winans, the Clark Sisters and Madison Bumble Bees, a trombone-driven South Carolina choir.
•Andrea Bocelli and Josh Groban perform The Prayer. Eight years ago, Bocelli fell ill, and an unknown Groban, summoned by producer David Foster, filled his duet slot with Celine Dion at a Grammy rehearsal. "That became Josh's calling card," Ehrlich says.
Beyoncé, Carrie Underwood, Brad Paisley, Tina Turner, Feist and a Fergie/John Legend duet also are on the bill. Amy Winehouse's performance may now be broadcast via satellite since her work visa has been denied. Ehrlich has hinted at a possible star-studded tribute to Michael Jackson's Thriller.
"It surprises me that every year we find ourselves in the position of not being able to fit everything we want on the show," he says. "I rue the day that we look at the nominations and say, 'How are we going to make a show out of this?'
"Great music is still being created and the Recording Academy inevitably finds it."