Major overhaul in Grammy categories

Cafe Society
#1

There won’t be any more “male” and “female” vocal Grammy awards in pop, country, and R&B. They’re going from 109 categories to 78.

This will, for example, have Katy Perry and Beyonce competing against John Mayer and John Legend, while Carrie Underwood and Taylor Swift will be up against Keith Urban and Brad Paisley.

One one hand, I’m all for consolidating these inflated fields like “Best Rock/Pop Collaboration by Duo with Vocals and Three or Fewer Instruments Recorded in a Field on a Cloudy Day with Full Camera Crew,” but if it strands artists like Tejano, Hawaiian, polka, and those from other important cultures — well, screwed again.

#2

You’ve got a weird link there. Maybe this one?

#3

Screw Tejano! They can’t even give jazz and blues their proper due. They had an award for polka until very recently and dropped it because there wasn’t enough depth to the remaining pool of artists.

Though the number of categories is ridiculous, I suspect that they aren’t doing it for noble reasons. It’s likely that they want more room for performances so they get higher ratings so they can charge more for advertisements. I don’t think many actually care who wins the awards, they tune in for the show. Sure the networks could just stage a big concert but the Grammys have name-brand recognition.

If your favorite performers doesn’t win a Grammy they’ll likely win one of the twenty or thirty other music awards handed out each year…

#4

I still think Jethro Tull deserved its win for Best Heavy Metal for Crest of a Knave!

#5

Except the Grammys don’t bother airing the vast majority of the awards on TV anyway, so I don’t see how the change in categories is going affect the show.