Grammy Awards show shaping up with performers and tributes

(AFP/VALERY HACHE)

Performers for the 52nd annual Grammy Awards were announced with a lineup of headliners to ensure the show has top-flight talent -- and that most major nominees on hand to accept their awards. The 2010 musical event happens January 31 at Staples Center in downtown Los Angeles.

Performers for the 52nd annual Grammy Awards were announced with a lineup of headliners to ensure the show has top-flight talent - and that most major nominees on hand to accept their awards. The 2010 musical event happens January 31 at Staples Center in downtown Los Angeles.

Ten-time Grammy winner Beyoncé will perform at the ceremony, as well as pop singer Taylor Swift, hip-hop act the Black Eyed Peas, soul singer Maxwell, and country act Lady Antebellum.

Beyoncé leads the nominees this year in 10 categories including Best Record of the Year, followed by Swift who nabbed eight, the Peas and neo-soul man Maxwell who both got six, and Lady Antebellum received two.

The show will also honor an accomplished group of musical legends with the Lifetime Achievement Award. Presented with the special kudo will be Canadian singer-songwriter Leonard Cohen, the late Michael Jackson. Bobby Darin, Loretta Lynn, Andre Previn, and Clark Terry will also be recognized on January 30, at a ceremony before the televised program.

Grammy Week prior to the main show includes a series of events including functions such as the MusiCares dinner paying tribute to Canadian rocker Neil Young.

Also scheduled is "Cue The Music: A Celebration Of Music and Television," part of the Grammy Foundation's Music Preservation Project. The evening features historical television footage from the Paley Center for Media and live performances by Grammy nominees Colbie Caillat, the Fray, singer/songwriter Jason Mraz, and Solomon Burke at the Wilshire Ebell Theater.

Illustrator Shepard Fairey has been selected to create the artwork for this year's Grammys. He will combine traditional Grammy iconography with his unique designs for the program book, poster and cover of the nominees CD. Best-known for his "Hope" portrait of Barack Obama for the presidential campaign, Fairey's Studio Number One has produced CD cover art for the Black Eyed Peas, Led Zeppelin and the Smashing Pumpkins.

www.grammy.com

RC