TORONTO - As mainstream giants Mary J. Blige and the Red Hot Chili Peppers lead a roster of populist hitmakers in line for a Grammy trophy Sunday, critics are questioning whether there's any place for the staid ceremony in a time of rapid change for the music industry.
Blige leads the pack with eight nominations, followed by the Chili Peppers with six. Other multiple nominees including the Dixie Chicks, James Blunt and John Mayer.
Canadians in line for a trophy include Nelly Furtado, Neil Young, Sarah McLachlan, Daniel Powter and Michael Buble, who himself raised questions about the show's format in an off-the-cuff lashing he later retracted last week.
Music critic Bob Lefsetz is quick to unleash an expletive-laden rant on the black-tie gala.
"The Grammys are the industry's love letter to themselves,'' Lefsetz declares from Santa Monica, Calif., where his online "Lefsetz Letter'' routinely rankles for its frank look at the music business.
"It doesn't reflect what's really going on. It's about a TV show ... The TV show is not reflective of the scene and they're so high and mighty .... It'll be another trainwreck of a show and the ratings will go down, and they'll say, `Well, it's because people are stealing music.' ''
To the Grammys credit, organizers do appear to be trying to cater to the online world by inviting them to vote on which aspiring unknown singer should join pop star Justin Timberlake in a Grammy duet.
And then there's the much heralded reunion by the Police after front man Sting, drummer Stewart Copeland and guitarist Andy Summers apparently buried the hatchet after a long-running feud.
But with a core fan base of boomers and aging hipsters, an appearance by the '80s supergroup won't exactly drag the Grammys into the digital age, says Alan Cross, Toronto host of the syndicated radio show, "The Ongoing History of New Music.''
"How many people have been clamouring for a Police reunion?'' asks Cross, who speculated that the motivation behind the reunion is a pension top-up for Summers, now pushing 65.
"It's been more than 20 years since the band broke up.''
The once-bleached blond, now-greying trio stands to gain a reported US$350 million paycheque from an expected summer tour and possible recording dates.
In turn, the cash flow for record companies could be considerable, suggest Cross.
It's record industry moguls that are behind the Grammys' Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, he points out, and they most certainly want to drive as many boomers to the record stores as possible.
"Remember what the Grammys are: It's an awards program done in the first quarter of the new year when retail sales are traditionally the slowest. There's a reason why we do all the awards shows in January and February and March. It's because there's nothing else happening and it's to stimulate sales and to stimulate attendance at the movie theatres.''
People over the age of 35 remain one of the few groups of music lovers that still buy CDs, says Cross. Despite the novelty of a Police return, he can't help but suggest it may all come down to the most basic of impulses.
"The timing is interesting, the amount of money is interesting and you know, we will be left forever to speculate on the motivations,'' he says.
"Just let's get over the fact that it's not about the music, man. It's not. The music is simply a vehicle for something greater and whatever that is, we don't know.''
Canadian nominee Gordie Sampson, of Big Pond, N.S., says he still considers it an honour to be a part of the big event and isn't swayed by industry cynicism.
The singer-songwriter heads to Los Angeles this weekend to vie for trophies for country song of the year and song of the year for his work on "Jesus Take the Wheel,'' sung by Carrie Underwood.
"It's the biggest award in music, certainly in this part of the world,'' Sampson says. "Anything that large is going to be suspect to all kinds of people being unhappy and anything that big is bound to eat itself in some way.''
Still, Lefsetz says stunts like the Timberlake duet contest are not enough to draw young viewers. Allowing an upstart to perform alone would have been better, he suggests.
He also says the show should let viewers participate by posting their comments online and running them onscreen during the broadcast.
For his part, Cross wondered if the Grammys can ever be considered hip again as long as it remains a traditional television broadcast.
"Is prime time television even relevant to people under 25 anymore? Outside of a couple of programs, maybe not,'' he says.
"There's a huge generation gap between traditional distribution of media and the new online world. The online kids don't get this idea of not being able to get what I want when I want it wherever I happen to be. The idea that I have to be in front of a TV to see something at 8 o'clock on a Sunday night is like, `What? No, I'll just go on YouTube and get whatever I want.' ''
