REAL COOL STORIES (week ended 2/10/24)
It was a week all about music. First, the Grammy’s were presented on Sunday night. Taylor Swift won Album of the year for the FOURTH time (most all time). There were fantastic performances, although NONE better than Tracy Chapman and Luke Combs rendition of “Fast Car”. If you did not see it, here you go!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OAFkMPsU-T4
The Grammys are presented by the Recording Academy which has over 11,000 voting members. The process goes as follows:
Submission - Recording Academy members and record companies enter recordings and music videos released during the eligibility year which they consider worthy of recognition in the GRAMMY Awards process.
Screening - Reviewing sessions by more than 350 experts in various Fields are held to ensure that entered recordings meet specific qualifications and have been placed in appropriate Fields such as Jazz, Traditional Pop, Contemporary Instrumental & Musical Theater and Latin, Global, Reggae & New Age, Ambient, Or Chant, among others. The purpose of screenings is not to make artistic or technical judgments about the recordings, but rather to make sure that each entry is eligible and placed in its proper category.
Nominating - First round ballots are sent to voting members in good dues standing. To help ensure the quality of the voting, members are directed to vote only in their areas of expertise; they may vote in up to ten categories across up to three genre Fields plus the six categories of the General Field (Record Of The Year, Album Of The Year, Song Of The Year, Best New Artist, Producer Of The Year, Non-Classical and Songwriter Of The Year, Non-Classical) Ballots are tabulated by the independent accounting firm of Deloitte.
Special Nominating Committees - In Craft categories, final nominations are determined by committees comprised of voting members from all of The Academy's Chapter cities who are actively working the craft they are judging.
Final Voting - After nominations have been determined and announced, Academy voting members vote in up to ten categories across up to three Fields in the genre Fields plus the four categories of the General Field to determine the winners. To ensure the quality of voting, members are directed to vote only in those Fields in which they are peers of the nominees.
Second, this week we lost a country music legend, Toby Keith. Toby had a list of hits and was a real patriot. The tributes from across music genres were real and sincere.
Last, it is Super Bowl week. So, how will the performers do? Reba McEntire will sing the National Anthem. The over/under for the time of the Anthem is 90.5 seconds which would be the SHORTEST is history.
Usher is the halftime performer. His song “My Way” is an even money pick to be the first song. Another prop is who will join Usher for his show. The lowest odds is Alicia Keys at -500. Wow.
Should be a great Super Bowl. Music always delivers real, cool stories!