Welcome to Enjoy the Music.com™
43rd Annual Grammy Awards show coverage. This year the Grammy
Awards has been filled with joy for many talented musical artists while
various activist groups have protested the Grammy nomination of rapper Eminem
because of his inflammatory lyrics. There
has also been some controversy over the voting procedure and how there may be
some whose votes are more commercially motivated rather than an honest vote
for the deserving musical artist. And so sets the stage while artists such as
Paul Simon, Madonna, Steely Dan, Dolly Pardon, 'N Sync and many others receive Grammy Award nominations.
While we here at Enjoy the Music.com™
have been invited to the Grammy Awards for years, our lack of attendance and
coverage stemmed mainly due to timing factors. February is a month reserved
for much needed vacation time. Hence, taking a break as we deserved a much needed holiday
rather than flying cross country to report on this very important music awards show.
This year is different as we have become the place for show coverage all
around the world plus the obvious neglect in focusing on the music versus the
equipment as seen in many specialty audio magazines. Remember this my friends, without
music to enjoy our prized equipment with, our electronics would be nothing more than expensive
space heaters.
There has been much buzz about a duet between two artists performing
at the show. Namely, Sir Elton John and Eminen. Other performances at the show
include well-known
artists such as Madonna to longtime pop stars U2 and living legend country singer
Dolly Pardon. Those who present awards to others are no less impressive
including the likes of Carlos Santana plus Steven Tyler and Joe Perry of Aerosmith.
Of course a nomination may help to spur music sales of an artist, though
winning an award virtually guarantees increased recognition and sales
of their music releases. Music is very diverse and the Grammy Awards aims to
promote those who excel in their field.
Photo credit: Kevin Winter, photographer
Paul Simon with the Recording Academy President/CEO Michael Greene.
A few days before the live Grammy Award ceremony, the Recording Academy
awarded Paul Simon their MusiCares 2001 Person of the Year. We here at Enjoy
the Music.com™ are supporting members of the MusiCares Foundation who do great
work in helping struggling artists through financial care, addition treatment
and many other services. Paul Simon received
this honor at a special tribute dinner, concert, and silent auction on Monday, February 19th in Los Angeles.
While i had the chance to attend this benefit and tribute concert, my workload
did not allow me the time to attend.
The Coveted Grammy Award
Of course before you can have the chance to attend the awards
you need to have a very selective, special invitation as seen below.
Once you have decided to attend the show and filled out the
proper forms you can receive a ticket to the show (seen below).
Many of you wondered where my seat was during the show. While
it was initially off to the front row yet far left near the group Steely Dan, an opportunity presented
itself to sit only eight rows back with dead center positioning. If you look
at the seating chart below, you will see my seat positioning marked by the green box in
the Platinum Reserved section.
Of course the media was everywhere! Seen above is just a small
handful of the many media trucks with dishes mounted on top of them. While
walking down the red carpet one could hear the many media personalities shouting
for the attention of the more popular artists.
As artists' limos drove up to the show they came through
these orange cones and under the large Grammy banner.
Of course then it is off for the Red Carpet treatment. Walking
down the famous Red Carpet was a weird experience for me. All the press scurrying
around for the Next Big Thing while also hounding many known artists. i can
see why many artists like to "disappear" from the whole scene once
their career has concluded.
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