Photo: ABC
The pandemic has halted most of our biggest festivals and events for almost two years now. It has been a whirlwind of events from “it is now safe” to “another variant has existed.” Now, another big event has been rescheduled due to the pandemic.
The Grammys is supposed to be set for the last week of January in downtown Los Angeles at the Crypto.com arena. However, the omicron variant has emerged, so the music industry’s biggest night is put on hold.
The big award show is now moved to take place on April 3. They have also changed its venue to the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.
Recording Academy representatives have not disclosed the grounds behind the change in location. But it looks like the Crypto.com Arena is fully booked in the days leading up to April 3, in addition to either one of a Clippers or a Lakers game on the day of.
The change of location has seen a knock-on effect, though, as it will overlap with the CMT Music Awards, which was arranged for that same date.
The Grammys has undergone a series of rough roads lately. The ceremony last year smashed, with viewership plummeting to roughly 8.8 million. That is a 53% drop from the previous year’s numbers.
The 2021 award show was controversial due to Canadian singer The Weekend promising to boycott the show following the rebuff for any nominations, mentioning the anonymous committees that comprise the initial voting ballots as the key motive of his complaints.
The Recording Academy has steered actions to boost equity to its list of nominees. This includes the anonymous committees’ abolishment and stretching the number of prospective winners in the big categories.
The host of the evening will still be comedian and “The Daily Show” host Trevor Noah. And the award show will be broadcasted live on Paramount+.
