Mary J. Blige is set to hit the stage — and hopefully not her husband, at this year’s event; if Kendu can keep from peering at other industry beauties, the Yonkers native won’t be forced to turn the musical event into a main event.
Lil Wayne will also be performing, and I’m quite sure the rapper will give his all since he’s just days away from serving his yearlong sentence in the slammer. Maybe he can kill two birds with one stone and bring along all of his babies (oops … already did that at BET, while performing the racy “Every Girl”) and their mamas for a tender, loving send-off set to the expletive-laced “Drop the World.”
Don’t hold your breath for performances by Rihanna or Whitney Houston, even though the two have new projects out. They’re both recovering from “he put his hands on me” syndrome. Whitney may be free now, but she’s still picking up the pieces, based on emerging rumors of a possible substance abuse relapse. I’ll hope for the best. One would think Rihanna would have learned from Whitney’s bad choice in men. Her slide further downhill with each fight with Bobby Brown was glaringly obvious, but I guess some of us have to learn the hard way. So, for now, Rihanna will be sidelined from performing. Here’s an idea, how about just having Whitney and Rihanna join Mary J in performing “No More Drama”; they all could be enriched by it.
To add to — and soften up — the evening, musical innovation will be provided by safe go-tos Celine Dion, Jennifer Hudson, Smokey Robinson and Usher as they take part in a 3-D tribute to late superstar Michael Jackson. Nice gesture, but I was thinking, it would’ve been even more compelling if they had thought to bring in some of the Singapore inmates to participate in the tribute; would shoot my “soften up” theory down, but it would make for great TV. Either way, viewers should tune in Sunday, Jan. 31 to CBS to view the show live. –christian johnson
For a complete list of the performers, visit www.grammy.com.
The music industry’s premier event will take place live on Sunday, Jan. 31, at STAPLES Center in Los Angeles and will be broadcast in HDTV and 5.1 Surround Sound on the CBS Television Network from 8 – 11:30 p.m. (ET/PT).
