more transparency in prospect at the Grammy Awards

Published on : 02/05/2021 – 16:36

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Gone are the days of the “secret” committee that made it rain and shine on the Grammy Awards in the United States, the equivalent of the Oscars for music. The scandal had grown after the absence of the Canadian The Weeknd forgotten from the last ceremony in March despite its huge public and critical success. The time is transparent and the Grammys had to take this into account.

With our correspondent in Los Angeles, Loïc Pialat

Eminem attacked the Grammys in his song 20 years ago The Real Slim Shady. There is no shortage of famous names in the list of artists to have lived in the academy, from Jay-Z to Drake to Pink or Kanye West who filmed himself urinating on one of his trophies.

The low number of black artists awarded in the four major categories, for example, has long questioned.

Omnipresent in our ears last year but invisible at the Grammys this year, The Weeknd denounced an Academy “ corrupt Suggested institutional racism and demanded more transparency. “ The Grammys remain corrupt “, Then tweeted the Canadian artist, famous for his hits like Blinding Lights and Starboy.

The call appears to have been heard. No more obscure committees of fifteen people who themselves chose the eight nominated in the main categories among the twenty favorite artists of the members of the academy.

This system, launched in 1995 to adjust the votes of an organization that is sometimes a little disconnected from the tastes of the public, has opened the door to conflicts of interest. Nothing prevented committee members from favoring artists or projects with which they were associated.

Henceforth, only the votes of the 11,000 members of the academy will count. An academy, which, like the Oscars, has diversified its members to better reflect American society.

► See also: 63rd Grammy Awards: the triumph of female artists

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