Producers select Grammy openers

http://www.variety.com/aw...=1985&cs=1

Prince has still got the pulling power....

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It takes a lot of pull to get the Police and Simon & Garfunkel to appear onstage.
One would think such lightning-in-a-bottle Grammy openers are the brainchildren of savvy music managers and record label execs who lean on the show's producers. After all, an artist's Grammy performance translates into an immediate bump in record sales -- something akin to cold spring water in an industry that's been parched by online music sharing.

Yet when it comes to jumpstarting the Grammys, the labels nowadays have nothing to do with it.

"It all comes out of Ken Ehrlich's head," vouches the show's talent exec, Renato Basile, about the Grammys' executive producer, who is in his 29th year running the kudocast.

Music insiders contend there was a time in the early '90s when the major labels, especially those that controlled most of the Grammy-nominated talent, would attempt to leave their fingerprints on the Grammy lineup. As the industry has buckled, however, the suits have lost their sway. In fact, record labels shy away from the subject of their involvement with the kudocast simply because it's Ehrlich's show.

"When Beyonce and Prince performed together in 2004, it was Ken who made a phone call to them," Basile says. In staging the Prince/Beyonce duet of his "Purple Rain" and her "Crazy in Love," "Prince laid out beat-by-beat what he wanted to do," Ehrlich says.
While the opening act is typically not the highest-rated segment of the Grammycast, it may be viewed as the hook that reels viewers in. It's also the benchmark for the night's other performers to top. This year nominees such as Coldplay, Katy Perry, Paul McCartney, the Jonas Brothers and Radiohead are skedded to take the stage. But the opening act is always kept under wraps.

"Our agenda is to kick off the show and to create those watercooler moments," Ehrlich says. "The Grammys is always about the family of music, and you want to take artists who typically don't tour together and create a moment."

Among the Grammys' adult 18-49 audience over the past seven years, the Prince/Beyonce opener ranks as the highest-rated first 15 minutes for the show, garnering a 10.2 rating. The second highest rated belonged to the 2003 Simon & Garfunkel reunion with "Sounds of Silence" (9.9), followed by 2007's Police reunion performance of "Roxanne" (7.6).

LondonStyle said:

Beyonce got on my nerves that night!

GAME... BLOUSES!! That was a great opener!

The last time I was xcited about the Grammyz.

THEREALWORLD said:

nurseV said:

So he has the highest rated grammy opener and the #1 super bowl halftime show..Prince IS great!

If the opening act is never announced, why would Prince be given credit for pulling in the huge numbers?

This year's Superbowl was the highest rated of them all, but I'm sure Bruce Springsteen had nothing to do with it...
[Edited 2/8/09 5:46am]

That was a fya performance
Hated the way they tried to reenact the prince/beyonce thing at the grammys with The Time/ and rhianna ..the time where good ...rhianna was jus s**T

There was really no good reason to watch the Grammys last night. Ever since the Prince/Beyonce performance, the Grammys have been horrible!!!

sexxydancer said:

I agree. Their performance was hot!!!!

marrakech said:

Well duh it is Prince were talking bout!!!