USA: Preparations for music's biggest night are underway as Grammy nominees take to the stage for rehearsals in Los Angeles

Record ID: 645046

  • Title: USA: Preparations for music's biggest night are underway as Grammy nominees take to the stage for rehearsals in Los Angeles
  • Date: 25th January 2014
  • Summary: LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES (JANUARY 23, 2014) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF PREPARATIONS UNDERWAY OUTSIDE STAPLES CENTER FOR 56TH ANNUAL GRAMMY AWARDS
  • Embargoed: 9th February 2014 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Usa
  • Country: USA
  • Topics: Arts / Culture / Entertainment / Showbiz
  • Reuters ID: LVA779VV9DMKXII130DY93DM7H6M
  • Story Text: The 56th Annual Grammy Awards will be handed out Sunday (January 26) and the Staples Center arena in downtown Los Angeles is abuzz with preparations.
    New Zealand singer Lorde, best album nominee Kendrick Lamar, and singers Miranda Lambert and Billie Joe Armstrong were a handful of big acts rehearsing for music's biggest night.
    The Grammys, rated in a recent industry poll by Billboard magazine as the second-best promotional opportunity for an artist or group behind performing at football's Super Bowl halftime show, will offer that chance to several young singers like Lorde, who had a breakaway hit in 2013 with "Royals."
    "Well, obviously it's such a huge honor. I think it's something that the industry really respects, which is important to me. And beautiful musicians get awarded," says Lorde, who was nominated for four Grammy Awards, including record of the year and song of the year for "Royals," which she rehearsed on stage.
    For Lorde, being nominated for a Grammy was something she only could dream of: "I don't know, I can't even fathom what it's like, it's just the hugest thing, a year ago I couldn't even think that this would happen, and here I am... So hopefully it goes on."
    This year's top performances include pop stars Beyonce, Katy Perry, promising rappers Kendrick Lamar, Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, as well as former Beatles Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr.
    Grammys can be notoriously difficult to predict and this year seems to be particularly vexing because there is no predominant genre or theme. The nominees for the top award, album of the year, represent five different sounds, from country pop's Taylor Swift to French DJ duo Daft Punk.
    In the end, the awards could easily be eclipsed by performances and the kind of spontaneity that tends to make the Grammys one of the most surprise-filled nights in show business.
    As workers put the finishing touches on stage arrangements, the red carpet tent outside, and the specially organized seating arrangements, Miranda Lambert practiced her song with Green Day's Billie Joe Armstrong.
    "I'm doing a tribute song, and I won't give away too much, it's kind of a surprise, but it's really cut acrossing genres with Billie Joe Armstrong and myself, and it's very cool to get to get out of my genre and my comfort zone, and sing with someone else, and that's great, that's what the Grammys are about, its about collaborations with people that you maybe don't ever cross paths with," says Lambert.
    For Kendrick Lamar, nominated for seven Grammys including album of the year for "Good Kid, M.A.A.D City," the awards show has given him a chance to sit back and reflect on his career and the heights it has reached.
    "Oh it's great fun, great fun," says Kendrick Lamar, on being nominated for seven Grammy Awards. "A lot of work, a lot of hard work, not only with my team, my family, you know, me becoming a man and actually doing something that's positive for once, for a change, and to actually put that work in and to have this type of success story, as of right now in the moment, I've got to take it all in."
    The winners will be announced on Sunday at a live televised ceremony held at the Staples Center in downtown Los Angeles.
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