All things music: USA TODAY's Ken Barnes

Tuesday, Feb. 1, 1 p.m. ET


Houston, Tx: Hello Ken!!! Two questions to ask.First, what do you think of Jennifer Lopez's new single, Get Right. I think it may be her best single yet. Second, who do you think should take home the Best New Artist at the Grammys. Maroon 5 will win, but I want Joss Stone or Kanye West to win.

Ken Barnes: Haven't heard Jennifer; been avoiding the radio of late owing to general dissatisfaction with top 40 radio and having a lot of CDs to listen to.

Kanye and Joss would be much more deserving of the Grammy for new artist, and I hope they get it, but with Maroon 5 opening the Grammys, it would be dangerous to bet against them. (Not that there's any connection between performing and winning awards; it's just an omen.)
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how do you go from Prince to Maroon 5? talk about a letdown

Did they ever say Prince WAS opening this year?

The Grammy's have been using Prince on their commercials and in a way that IMPLIES that he will be involved in some capacity.

Is Maroon 5 that bad? I've actually likes most of their songs I've heard, but admit, I saw them on The Tonight Show a couple of weeks ago and was not impressed w/ their live performance. (But is TTS a good representation?)

FunkMistress said:

nope. all it is is that people are still stuck on all that went on last year and they just want 'im to open up the friggin awards every year from here on out.

Nothinbutjoy said:

they are very good live...and used to do a killer version of Darling Nikki...yes they are totally played out but they are good bunch of musicians....

can anybody name who opened the grammy's the last 5 years without doing a google search?

no matter -- Prince is more well-known for being the big finale for award shows

meltwithu said:

2004-Prince/Beyonce
2003-Simon & Garfunkel
2002-U2 (????)
2001-Madonna
2000-Santana (????)
1999-Madonna
1998-Will Smith
1997-Ellen DeGeneres All Star Band (Sheila E, Chaka Khan, Bonnie Raitt, Shawn Colvin, MeShell Ndegeocello)

I'm stumped because I lost my taped copies of 2000/2002

in the commercial i think its just implying that he will actually bethere physically, but it doesn't guarantee or set off any bells that he will be performing. why would he perform 2 straight years in a row when it took him nearly 20 more years to appear last year?

1997-Ellen DeGeneres All Star Band (Sheila E, Chaka Khan, Bonnie Raitt, Shawn Colvin, MeShell Ndegeocello)

This was so fun!

Handclapsfingasnapz said:

missfee said:

I don't even think it implies he'll be there. As bogus as the Grammy's are Usher will be the big winner, so why bother even showing up? Now if they promised him the finale, we could get lucky!

SexyBeautifulOne said:

agreed...it just features a clip from last year along with a bunch of other clips from previous shows..

me thinks we are all reading our desires into things a bit too much..hehehehe...



ihatethegrammiesedit..
[Edited 2/2/05 3:21am]

Nothinbutjoy said:[quote]The Grammy's have been using Prince on their commercials and in a way that IMPLIES that he will be involved in some capacity.

He's nominated. That all.

I figured he wouldn't be opening the show again, though that is the best way to be seen by the most people. I know there are people who sit through the whole 3 hours, but it's difficult cause these shows are so hit and miss. You get 5 minutes of excitement and have to wait another 2 hours for anything else good to happen.
But since I'll be taping it, I won't have to worry about missing one single shot of Prince and Mani sitting in the audience looking bored.

I don't get how anyone would think that he'd open two years in a row. He may play but I doubt they'd even ask him to open again. At least Maroon 5 are fans.

In trade publications they are listing Prince's name as scheduled to appear, but it doesn't say if he will be performing or not.