The American Music Awards must try to appeal to audiences accustomed to creating new stars, not honoring old ones
The American Music Awards must try to appeal to audiences accustomed to creating new stars, not honoring old ones
The awards, in their 40th year, will air Sunday on ABC and feature 19 performances.
At rehearsals this week for the 36th Annual American Music Awards at the Nokia Theatre, one of the key executives for the show gushed that Sunday night’s broadcast will have 19 performances, a record number: “We called everyone on our dream list and they all said ‘Yes,’ so we just had to make room!” That effusive appraisal was met with a smile and a shrug by graybeard Al Schwartz, a consulting producer who has worked on the show since the Nixon administration. ¶ “Well, it is a great year, but the stars are coming because they need it more than ever. Albums don’t sell like they used to. And even with the stars we have a tough fight ahead of us: There’s the premiere of ‘24′ and there’s football on.” ¶ These are strange days for traditional music awards shows. The recording industry is still reeling, the concert-touring business is in retreat and television audiences have made it quite clear that their fascination lies with shows that create new celebrities, not the ones that honor existing stars. ¶ In 2006, “American Idol” hammered the first hour of the Grammy Awards in head-to-head ratings competition. The following year the producers of the grand old awards show responded by reluctantly adding an imitation “Idol” competition component to the broadcast. ¶ “Idol” also has sapped the AMAs of one of their defining traits, their proudly populist heritage; when the AMAs started in 1974, it was the show where music-buying fans picked the winners, not some rarefied academy. But if you can’t beat them, book them: The AMAs are dotted with past “Idol” contestants, with David Cook, Carrie Underwood, Jordin Sparks, Chris Daughtry and David Archuleta all attending as nominees, presenters or both.
Football specials @ El Guapo: half-price booze
Half-priced drinks, so you can get twice as drunk
Football specials @ Sonny McLean’s: half-price booze and $3.50 apps
Calling all Patriots fans
Conductor Gustavo Dudamel is riding a wave of Dudamania
The Venezuelan, who will take over the Los Angeles Philharmonic next year, brings youth and experience, exuberance and gravitas, along with an affinity for pop culture.
The new global poster boy for classical music and his wife are salsa-stepping across the ballroom of the Alba Hotel. Calm, precise and seemingly always sure of their next move, Gustavo Dudamel and Eloisa Maturen grin at each other and the dozens of other couples around them as they execute perfect copas and “spot turns.”