Image Source: DJ Mag
As a lot of people expected and speculated, the 64th Annual Grammy Awards have been postponed once again due to the rise in the number of coronavirus and Omicron variant cases in the country, along with the health concerns related to it. According to reports, the United States has reported 1 million COVID-19 new cases on Monday which has forced the Recording Academy to postpone the award ceremony.
A subsequent joint statement from the Recording Academy and television partner, CBS was released on Wednesday, announcing the postponement of the awards. No new date has been set yet. The statement read,
"After careful consideration and analysis with city and state officials, health and safety experts, the artist community, and our many partners, the Recording Academy and CBS have postponed the 64th Annual GRAMMY Awards Show. The health and safety of those in our music community, the live audience, and the hundreds of people who work tirelessly to produce our show remains our top priority. Given the uncertainty surrounding the Omicron variant, holding the show on January 31st simply entails too many risks. We look forward to celebrating Music’s Biggest Night on a future date, which will be announced soon."
The annual award ceremony was scheduled to be held by the end of this month at the Crypto.com Arena, formerly known as the Staples Center, in Los Angeles. "Daily Show" host Trevor Noah, who hosted the award ceremony last year, was announced as the host for 2022 as well and will return as the host whenever the Recording Academy decides to host the ceremony. According to sources, the 64th Annual Grammy Awards could be held in April or May, hopefully.
"Daily Show" host Trevor Noah is going to host the Grammy Awards for second consecutive year. Image Source: Pitchfork
Surprisingly, Grammy Awards were also scheduled for January 31st, 2021, but were postponed for up to six weeks and were held on March 14th, 2021, after a holiday season when the virus spiked in Southern California. Ultimately, the 2021 Grammys took place in a scaled-down, tasteful setting at the Los Angeles Convention Center with small, rotating groups of nominees that changed every 45 minutes. Although it featured a combination of life and pre-recorded performances from Taylor Swift, BTS, Harry Styles, Billie Eilish, Bad Bunny, Silk Sonic, Megan Thee Stallion, Cardi B, and more, and received largely positive reviews. But, due to the scaling down of the ceremony reported the 53% decrement in the viewership compared to the previous year, along with a considerable ticket revenue was also lost.
The 64th Annual Grammy Awards nominees were announced on November 23rd, 2021, and are led by Jon Batiste with 11 nominations, followed by Justin Bieber, Doja Cat, and H.E.R. with eight nominations and Billie Eilish and Olivia Rodrigo with seven nominations each. It has been reported that whenever the award ceremony will take place, it will be broadcast live on CBS and will be available to stream live and on-demand from Paramount+. It was also reported a few weeks ago that Drake withdrew his two nominations; best rap album for Certified Lover Boy and best rap performance for his song Way 2 Sexy, featuring Future and Young Thug – due to reasons uncited
When nominations were announced, it was noted that there had been one of the biggest changes while choosing the nominations and voting process too. Compared to prior years, where nominees in several categories were selected by a committee of 15-30 individuals, this year, all nominees are selected by a majority of voting members.
Jesse Collins, Raj Kapoor, and Ben Winston are serving as the executive producers of the Grammys ceremony with Raj Kapoor taking over from Ben Winston as showrunner. Ben Winston said in a statement, “I am so excited to see Raj make his own mark on the world’s biggest musical stage", where Hamish Hamilton will be returning as director.
