Will the Grammys be a disaster, a snooze, or something else? A round-up of stories.

The Grammy Awards have been on a downward spiral for years. The show is dull, ratings have been dropping, there are behind-the-scenes scandals, and the whole thing has lost legitimacy with artists and fans. Normally, I’d skip the whole thing and catch the highlights in the morning. Tonight, though, I may have to watch because the whole thing could be a made-for-TV disaster. Here’s why.

• After The Slap at the Oscars, there’s tension. Will there be a similar sort of incident? On the flip side, the potential for weirdness might draw people in.
• The awards, which are usually held in late January and always in Los Angeles, are coming up tonight in Las Vegas. This year’s event had to be delayed because of COVID. The venue they needed in LA is now unavailable, which necessitated the move. That will change the vibe of everything entirely. How? No idea.
• Behind the scenes, people are hugely frazzled because they can’t keep up with what the Grammys need. Word is that the music industry HATES being in Vegas.
• Despite being up for some awards, Kanye West was dropped from the list of performers because of his stupid online attacks on co-host Trevor Noah. It’s unclear if he’s been disinvited to the ceremony itself. A fiasco in the making?
• Speaking of Kanye, Marilyn Manson is up for an award for his work on Kanye’s Donda album. He’s, of course, dealing with a huge pile of sexual assault allegations.
• Louis CK is also up for an award for Best Comedy Album. He’s had his own #MeToo issues.
• The Foo Fighters were supposed to perform. That’s not going to happen. How will the Grammys acknowledge Taylor’s death?
• The Weeknd, one of the biggest artists in the world, continues to boycott the Grammys because of some inexplicable snubs.
• Drake withdrew his nominations because he thinks the whole Grammy nomination process is bogus.

BONUS: Here are the contents of the Grammy swag bag for presenters.