The Grammys drop over 30 categories!

The US Recording Academy, the group that hands out the annual Grammy music awards, said it would trim the number of its prizes from 109 to 78.

The changes — the first restructuring since the group started handing out awards in 1959 — also includes a switch-up for the voting system.

There will now be single awards in the best Pop, R&B and Country singer categories, and not broken down in male and female groups, the Recording Academy said in a statement.

“After careful and extensive review and analysis of all categories and fields, it was objectively determined that our Grammy categories be restructured to the continued competition and prestige of the highest and only peer-recognized award in music,” said group President and CEO Neil Portnow.

Axed categories include best rap interpretation by a duo or group, some of the pop, rock and country instrumental categories, Zydeco/Cajun music, Polka, Light Classical Music, and Native American music.

Other changes include re-naming the Musical Show category as Musical Theater; the Film/ Television/Other Visual Media Field as Music For Visual Media; and the Gospel Field as the Gospel/Contemporary Christian Music Field.

“A transformation of the entire Awards structure would ensure that all Fields would be treated with parity,” read the statement.

“It is now expected that each Category shall have at least 40 distinct artist entries, up from 25,” the statement read, adding that no awards will be given if there are less than 25 nominations.

[video] Lady Gaga Performs Born This Way At 2011 Grammy Awards

We’re back! After a much needed getaway to South America, we arrived back just in time to catch the 2011 Grammy Awards. With all of the hype surrounding Lady Gaga’s new single ‘Born This Way,’ we were anxious to see her debut performance. Did it live up to the hype? You decided and leave a comment below.

Check out Lady Gaga’s ‘Born This Way’ –

2011 Grammy Awards Winners List

Last night at the 53rd annual Grammy Awards there were quite a few surprise wins and losses, but nonetheless there were a handful of amazing performances.

Check out the list of the winners below!:

ALBUM OF THE YEAR – Arcade Fire, “The Suburbs”

RECORD OF THE YEAR – Lady Antebellum, “Need You Now”

SONG OF THE YEAR – “Need You Now” (Lady Antebellum, performers)

BEST NEW ARTIST – Esperanza Spalding

BEST FEMALE POP VOCAL PERFORMANCE – Lady Gaga, “Bad Romance”

BEST MALE POP VOCAL PERFORMANCE – Bruno Mars, “Just the Way You Are”

BEST POP VOCAL ALBUM – Lady Gaga, “The Fame Monster”

BEST TRADITIONAL POP VOCAL ALBUM – Michael Buble, “Crazy Love”

BEST ELECTRONIC/DANCE ALBUM – La Roux, “La Roux”

BEST SOLO ROCK VOCAL PERFORMANCE – Paul McCartney, “Helter Skelter”

BEST HARD ROCK PERFORMANCE – Them Crooked Vultures, “New Fang”

BEST METAL PERFORMANCE – Iron Maiden, “El Dorado”

BEST ROCK SONG – “Angry World” (Neil Young)

BEST ROCK ALBUM – Muse, “The Resistance”

BEST ALTERNATIVE MUSIC ALBUM – The Black Keys, “Brothers”

First Group Of Grammy Performers Announced

Current Grammy nominees Arcade Fire, Eminem, Cee Lo Green, Lady Gaga, Miranda Lambert, and Katy Perry are the first performers announced for the 53rd Annual GRAMMY Awards telecast. Arcade Fire and Lambert will perform on the Grammy telecast for the first time, while Eminem, Green, Lady Gaga, and Perry are returning to the GRAMMY stage. Additional performers, presenters and special segments will be announced soon.

Lady Gaga To Perform At The Grammy Awards

Lady Gaga will be releasing her new single on February 13th and what better way to promote her new single than to perform at the Grammy Awards on the same night. It’s been confirmed by Gaga’s choreographer Laurieann Gibson on Twitter that Gaga will, in fact, be performing at the Grammy Awards.

Gaga is known for her memorable and show stopping awards show performances and, with the amount of press this will generate for her new single and upcoming album Born This Way, we expect this to be her biggest performance yet.

Grammys change rules for best new artist category

Lady Gaga’s exclusion from the best new artist category at this year’s Grammys has caused the Recording Academy to change eligibilty requirements for the next ceremony.

The change was announced Wednesday.

Although Lady Gaga was the most popular new artist of 2009, she was ineligible for a best new artist nomination. Her hit “Just Dance” had been nominated in 2008, before she was a platinum-selling act, and previous Grammy nominees can’t be nominated for best new artist.

The rule change allows previous Grammy nominees to be eligible, as long as the artist hasn’t released an entire album and doesn’t win.

Elton John’s Oscar Party Raises Millions Of Dollars

Elton John’s 2010 18th annual post-Oscars AIDS Foundation party raised over $3.7 million dollars on March 7th, all to raise money for the fight against AIDS.

Elton had a bunch of celebrities that hit up his party that included: Betty White, Victoria Beckham, Perez Hilton, and Nicole Richie.

Grace Jones performed during the party and there was an auction held that included items such as a photo of President Barack Obama in college, and private tennis lessons from tennis star, Andre Agassi.

Elton John was very pleased with the outcome, here’s what he had to say.

“I’m so blown away this year. We’re supposedly struggling though a recession and yet it keeps getting better every year.”

Kelly Clarkson Chimes In On The Taylor Swift Grammy Controversy

Kelly Clarkson has written an open letter to a record executive who defended Taylor Swift’s off-key performance at the 2010 Grammy Awards by declaring. Scott Borchetta came to Swift’s aid on Thursday after critics picked apart her duet with Stevie Nicks at the Los Angeles ceremony last Sunday. Scott Borchetta felt that Swift should be excused for the slip.

He said, “This is not American Idol. This is not a competition of getting up and seeing who can sing the highest note. This is about a true artist and writer and communicator. It’s not about that technically perfect performance.”

Kelly Clarkson took this quite personal, here’s what she had to say.

In a post on her official blog, she writes, “Wow… Dear Scott Borchetta, I understand defending your artist obviously because I have done the same in the past for artists I like, including Taylor, so you might see why it’s upsetting to read you attacking American Idol for producing simply vocalists that hit ‘the high notes’… You know what, we not only hit the high notes, you forgot to mention we generally hit the ‘right’ notes as well. Every artist has a bad performance or two and that is understandable, but throwing blame will not make the situation at hand any better.”

“I have been criticized left and right for having shaky performances before (and they were shaky) and what my manager or label executives say to me and the public is ‘I’ll kick butt next time’ or ‘every performance isn’t going to be perfect’. I bring this up because you should take a lesson from these people and instead of lashing out at other artists (that in your ‘humble’ opinion lack true artistry), you should simply take a breath and realize that sometimes things won’t go according to plan or work out and that’s okay.”

The pop star then signed her message, “Sincerely, One of those contestants from American Idol who only made it because of her high notes.”

So there you have it! What side are you on? Hahaha

Rihanna Is Going To The Grammys “Alone”

“I’m going to the Grammys alone…I’m still single.” Rihanna dismisses reports she’s dating Los Angeles Dodgers baseball star Matt Kemp.

Matt has a controversial history – a former lover filed a restraining order against him. But the baseball star insists the court order, which was subsequently lifted, is a “non-issue.” His agent said, “Matt Kemp is a consummate Midwestern gentleman who has never displayed any act of violence towards a woman.”

Rihanna insists she won’t be taking the stage this year after she and Chris Brown caused the producers so much hassle in 2009. She says, “We messed their show up pretty bad last year. They might be a little mad at me.”

I think it’s a smart move for her to go to this years Grammy awards alone given it’s only been a year since Chris Brown beat her up.

Lil Wayne Has Hometown Farewell Show Before Heading To Jail

Muti-platinum recording artist, Lil Wayne, returned to his hometown of New Orleans to perform at what he called, his “farewell” tour.

“I’m nothing without you,” he told the screaming crowd of thousands of fans at the New Orleans Arena after opening the concert with “A Milli,” which last year earned him a Grammy for best rap solo.

His real name, Dwayne Carter, pleaded guilty in October to a weapons possession charge and will be sentenced Feb. 9. His plea deal calls for a year in jail. Dwayne will only be 28 years old after he serves his time, assuming he isn’t released early.

The charge stemmed from a 2007 traffic stop of his tour bus in New York when authorities said they smelled marijuana, and as they approached, Lil Wayne tossed aside a bag with a loaded .40-caliber handgun.

Lil Wayne’s next album, “Rebirth,” is due for release Feb. 1. After New Orleans, he is scheduled to play a couple of dates in Texas and another show in southern Louisiana.

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