Elton John and Lady Gaga kick off the show. Can they upstage the piano man's memorable Stan duet with Eminem in 2001? Beyoncé's medley is shaping up as a monster production number. Will it measure up to Beyoncé's Proud Mary duet with Tina Turner in 2008? Does this year's Taylor Swift transcend last year's Taylor Swift?
Music's most prestigious awards show is more than a podium for dispensing Grammys in highly competitive races. It's also a distinguished showcase for live performances, and that competition, while friendly, can be fierce.
Sunday's musical marathon promises back-to-back showstoppers (and a sprinkling of statues) as performers angle for a chapter in Grammy's history book.
Intensifying the pressure is TV's growing role as a critical key in promoting artists, says Grammy executive producer Ken Ehrlich, whose patience tends to be tested by demanding and mercurial stars.
"At one point, when I was getting frustrated with a couple acts who will remain nameless, someone reminded me that this is the biggest night of their year, or their careers in some cases. They want to beat past performances by Prince or Beyoncé or Paul McCartney. They feel as much pressure as we do to come through."
They may be hard-pressed to outshine the departed Michael Jackson, who resurfaces in a previously unreleased 3-D version of Earth Song, joined live on the Grammy stage by Celine Dion, Jennifer Hudson, Smokey Robinson, Carrie Underwood and Usher. (Viewers can pick up free 3-D glasses at Target through Sunday.) The film was created for Jackson's scrapped This Is It tour.
"It's going to be pretty remarkable," says Ehrlich, who saw Jackson's tour rehearsals the night before his death. "When I was thinking about how to honor him, I didn't want someone doing Beat Itor Billie Jean. This is the proper homage, considering how he felt about this song and the message it sends to fans. And he always wanted to push the envelope."
So does Ehrlich, who produced his first Grammy show 30 years ago, inaugurating a tradition of magical pairings with Neil Diamond and Barbra Streisand's duet of You Don't Bring Me Flowers. Over the years, the show expanded from two hours to 3½, from a nightclub to a small auditorium to the 20,000-seat Staples Center.
"We've covered a lot of ground, but I don't feel tired," Ehrlich says.
Ask him again Monday morning. Sunday's partial menu:
Other performances include:
• Mary J. Blige and Andrea Bocelli will join voices on Bridge Over Troubled Water.
• Jeff Bridges will introduce a Les Paul tribute, How High the Moon, with guitar hero Jeff Beck and rockabilly singer Imelda May.
• Maxwell and Roberta Flack reprise her Where Is the Love and his Pretty Wings.
• Eminem and Lil Wayne join Drake on his Forever, with Blink-182's Travis Barker on drums.
• The Black Eyed Peas' I Gotta Feeling will incorporate singalong videos submitted online by fans.
• Green Day does 21 Guns, sharing the stage with the cast of Broadway's upcoming American Idiot, based on the trio's album.
• Bon Jovi will play a song chosen by fans, who can vote at www.cbs.com/grammys for Always, It's My Life or Livin' on a Prayer until the band takes the stage. (Logic suggests Sugarland's Jennifer Nettles, a late addition to the Grammy bill, will pop up here for duet Who Says You Can't Go Home.)
• Country pop trio Lady Antebellum performs Need You Now.
• Pink tackles Glitter in the Air.
Watch the Grammys this Sunday, January 31st at 8:00 pm (ET) on CBS.
HBO will host quite the little monsters mash when five-time Grammy winner Lady Gaga headlines her first solo concert special on Saturday, May 7th.
