Presenters for the annual celebration of the recording industry are scheduled to include Burt Bacharach, Natalie Cole, Reba McEntire, rapper Common, Alyson Hannigan, Cobie Smulders, Mandy Moore, Quentin Tarantino, Luke Wilson, Joan Baez, Natasha Bedingfield, Tony Bennett, Lewis Black, The Black Eyed Peas, Nicolas Cage, Ciara, Ornette Coleman, Melissa Etheridge, Nelly Furtado, Terrence Howard, Jennifer Hudson, Samuel L. Jackson, Queen Latifah, P!nk, Rihanna, LeAnn Rimes, Chris Rock, Nicole Scherzinger, Seal, David Spade and Stevie Wonder.
The evening will also boast performances by James Blunt, rapper T.I., Christina Aguilera, Beyoncé, Mary J. Blige, Chris Brown, the Dixie Chicks, Gnarls Barkley, Wyclef Jean, John Legend, Ludacris, John Mayer, Corinne Bailey Rae, Rascal Flatts, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Lionel Richie, Smokey Robinson, Shakira, Justin Timberlake and Earth, Wind & Fire.
Nominees in the Best Musical Show Album category include The Color Purple, The Drowsy Chaperone, Jersey Boys and the revivals of The Pajama Game and Sweeney Todd.
Other nominees of interest to theatre fans: Mel Brooks was nominated for the song "There's Nothing Like a Show on Broadway," which he penned for the film of "The Producers." Others nominated in the Best Song Written for Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media category include Imogen Heap (for "Can't Take It In" from "The Chronicles of Narnia—The Lion, The Witch & The Wardrobe"), Melissa Etheridge (for "I Need to Wake Up" from "An Inconvenient Truth"), Randy Newman (for "Our Town" from "Cars") and Dolly Parton (for "Travelin' Thru" from "Transamerica").
Nominees in the Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album category include Tony Bennett ("Duets: An American Classic), Michael Bubl ("Caught in the Act"), Sarah McLachlan ("Wintersong"), Bette Midler ("Bette Midler Sings the Peggy Lee Songbook") and Smokey Robinson ("Timeless Love"). Theatre veterans Lynn Redgrave and Jim Dale both received nominations in the Best Spoken Word Album for Children category. Redgrave was nominated for "The Witches" and Dale for "Peter Pan"; others in that field include Bill Harley (for "Blah Blah Blah: Stories About Clams, Swamp Monsters, Pirates & Dogs), John McCutcheon (for "Christmas in the Trenches") and producers Ted Kryczko and Ed Mitchell (for "Disney's Little Einsteins Musical Missions").
Ruby Dee and the late Ossie Davis received a nomination in the Best Spoken Word Album (Includes Poetry, Audio Books & Story Telling) category for "With Ossie and Ruby: In This Life Together". And, Tony Award winner John Lithgow was nominated in the Best Musical Album for Children field for "The Sunny Side of the Street."
The 49th Annual Grammy Awards are produced by John Cossette Productions in association with Ken Ehrlich Productions for The Recording Academy. Ken Ehrlich and John Cossette are executive producers, Walter C. Miller is producer/director, Tisha Fein is the coordinating producer, David Wild is the writer and Tzvi Small is supervising producer.
For more information visit www.grammy.com.
