Haines His Way

The furnace is installed and the men are not putting in the thermostat.

Then they will work under the house and I can get ready to go to work as they will not need to get inside any more.

As for Spamalot snagging the Grammy... Regardless of the quality of the show and/or of the recording, I knew the whole voting process and knowledge of the voting body was "off" the year that "Riverdance" won.  Need I say more?  Not to diminish the contributions and talents of those involved with any of the nommed recordings, it seems to be a matter of name recognition than anything else.

They are now done and I shall take a shower and wing my way to work!

Topic of the Day...

New York City, 1924

In particular, February 12 for Paul Whiteman's "Experiment in Modern Music" at Aeolian Hall, and the first performance of "Rhapsody in Blue" with Gershwin himself at the keyboard.

Well... As an initial effort to "Stop the Madness", I'm going to get my hairs cut.  -It's a start.

Laters...

Word of the day....weren't there lots of teles in DR CP's HERCULES?

But should the Show Album Grammy be about the quality of the music and lyrics, or about the audio representation of whatever the show is in performance and production, or is it a combination?   Or maybe something else?

If it's about the quality of music AND lyrics, I might have given it to HAIR over SPAMALOT, DRS, PIAZZA (where I love the music but find the lyrics less satisfying), or SPELLING BEE.

And as I've brown-nosed, er, I mean said, before, but seriously, I DO really mean it - if it's a combination of song quality and audio representation, or a total listening experience, Kritzerland's own AFTER THE BALL would have fit squarely above at least several of the nominated albums.  

But of the actual nominees, I think SPAMALOT most closely represents  and recalls/approximates the experience I had in the theater watching the show.  Maybe that's the quality the voters were looking for???

But of the actual nominees, I think SPAMALOT most closely represents  and recalls/approximates the experience I had in the theater watching the show.  Maybe that's the quality the voters were looking for???

Who votes?  A specialized committee who know from quality in OBC recordings or the entire Grammy membership?



If it's like the Oscars, I assure you not much thought other than name value (or sympathy vote) goes into the final voting since everybody votes on the nominees selected by a specialized committee (outside of Best Film, which is a category everyone participates in during the nomination process).

Lost --

SPOILER


SPOILER

First...Jose, I have to say I agree with you about that long commercial break...I was suprised to see that a good chunk of time was left before the hour was up.

After Sawyer's "There's a new sheriff in town" comment, I was torn between thinking "GOOD" and "SHOOT"....but the twist REALLY made me smile.  What a great turn of events...and Sawyer's "long con" was revealed with Charley's question about how he thinks of such things.

Oh, and I'd say that the majority of people who vote in the show album category have not heard the CD.

And I think I was wrong above - I do think the five nominees are chosen by committee.  And, just WHO that committee is is unknown to me.  One presumes that since we labels send our CDs to them, that they are required to listen.

The workshop went very well today.  The kids are really bright, and very attentive, and I think they had fun, too.

We did the I Remember business.  First, I read them the lyric, and we discussed the song as a song, and as a song from a specific show sung by a specific character.  I then played the four versions of the song in a row, while they took notes.  First up was Bernadette, then Liz, then Dianne Reeves, then Theresa McCarthy.  It really was fascinating hearing them back to back.

I then told them I wanted to hear their comments first, and told them the names of each singer.  The comments were all well thought out, whether one agreed with them or not.  And I would say each singer had people for whom their version worked.  Just as example, one person found Bernadette's version very melancholy and a bit dark, found Liz's version very positive and warm (and that didn't work for this person), found Dianne's version to labored and jazzy, but liked Theresa McCarthy's best because it sort of fused the parts he'd liked about Liz and Bernadette.  

Another found Liz's version the one, because they felt it really catured the essence of the song and felt that the character who is singing it really came through - someone who has, just before the song starts, says in response to someone saying "But you haven't seen the sun in thirteen years," "don't pity me - I have my memories."  And Liz doesn't play the pity, which Bernadette does.  Bernadette's version is almost angry, and that's certainly a choice, but it doesn't work for me because it goes against the character who's singing it.

For me, Liz is the only one who makes the song not maudlin and yet who keeps its essential beauty and underlying sadness intact.  She's also the only one who's really playing the specificity of the word images.  Of course, having directed that performance, I'm partial to it, because we were very specifically trying to make it about the character who's singing it.

The Reeves version is fascinating in its own right - the slowest (by a minute - the others are all within seconds of each other), it does create an interesting atmosphere, and Miss Reeves certainly understands the song, but it's not really ABOUT the song with her - it's about her voice.  And it's not musical theater.

As for Miss McCarthy - she has a lovely voice, but I feel there's nothing there in terms of her and the song.  The person who liked her because it seemed she was using the best of Liz and Bernadette was spot on - that's exactly what it sounds like - like she had listened to both versions (more Liz than BP), and taken the phrasings she liked.  But, there's no heart, no soul, just a pretty voice singing words.

On the subject of who votes for specific Grammy categories:  Seems that anyone who votes can vote for the four major categories, but they're only allowed to vote in eight of the other 31 "fields."  So they have to pick and choose which fields they want to vote in beyond the top four categories, I guess.  So does that mean that someone who votes in the Show Album category has to REALLY want to vote in that category, since they're allowed only eight out of 31 fields to vote in?  

From the Grammy website:

Submission
Recording Academy members and record companies enter recordings and music videos released during the eligibility year which they consider worthy of recognition in the GRAMMY Awards process.

Screening
Reviewing sessions by more than 150 experts in various fields are held to ensure that entered recordings meet specific qualifications and have been placed in appropriate fields such as Rock, R&B, Jazz, Country, Gospel, New Age, Rap, Classical and Latin, among others. The purpose of screenings is not to make artistic or technical judgments about the recordings, but rather to make sure that each entry is eligible and placed in its proper category.

Nominating
First-round ballots with lists of eligible recordings in all fields, except those voted on by special nominating committees, are sent to voting members who return their ballots to the independent accounting firm of Deloitte for tabulation. To help ensure the quality of the voting, members are directed to vote only in their fields of expertise; they may nominate in the four general categories (Record Of The Year, Album Of The Year, Song Of The Year and Best New Artist) and in no more than nine out of 31 fields on their ballots.

Special Nominating
Committees In craft and other specialized categories, final nominations are determined by national nomination review committees comprised of voting members from all of The Academy's Chapter cities.

Final Voting
Lists of the finalists are sent to voting members with their second round ballots. The finalists determined by the special nominating committees are also included on these lists. In this final round, Recording Academy members may vote in the four general categories and in no more than eight of the 31 fields. Ballots again are tabulated in secrecy by the independent accounting firm, Deloitte.

Results
Results of members' voting are not known until the GRAMMY Awards presentation ceremony when names of the winners are delivered by Deloitte in sealed envelopes. GRAMMY Award winners are revealed during the GRAMMY Awards telecast.

JRand55, you will be pleased to know that THE LONG, LONG TRAILER releases on DVD on May 9th, along with some other Lucille Ball films.