From left: Taylor Swift and Kanye West.Photo: Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images (2)
At the very last minute,The Recording Academy— the organization behind theGrammy Awards— decided to expand the number of allotments in select categories shortly before the nominations were announced,according toThe New York Times.
TheTimesreports that a day before theGrammy nominations were announced on Tuesday, Recording Academy members determined that the top categories at the annual awards show should expand to 10 nominees instead of eight.
The move, according to the paper, benefited artists such asTaylor SwiftandKanye Westas well asLil Nas XandABBA.
TheTimesreports that it was able to determine which musicians were added as last-minute additions as they were not seen on a “final nominations list” of eight names — a list that the paper said it had obtained that was crafted several days before nominations were actually named.
The Recording Academy did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.
The Grammys.Michael Kovac/Getty Images
According to theTimes, Swift, 31, and West, 44, were late additions to the album of the year category for their respective works,EvermoreandDonda. Their reported late additions joined a list of albums fromJustin Bieber,Olivia Rodrigo,Tony BennettandLady Gaga,Doja Cat,H.E.R.,Billie Eilish,Jon Batisteand Lil Nas X, 22.
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During a live broadcast that announced the Grammy nominations, Recording Academy CEO Harvey Mason Jr. praised the decision to include 10 nominees as a way “to make room for more music, more artists and more genres, and to embrace the spirit of inclusion.”
Speaking withVariety, Mason, 53, echoed those sentiments: “We saw it as an incredible opportunity for us to honor more artists and shine a light on more great music and potentially offer a greater opportunity for more genres of music to be honored.”
When asked about the decision to allow more nominees, which seemed to come about quickly, Mason explained that it was something that had been planned all along.
“It’s something that we’ve talked about for quite some time but it ended up happening fairly recently,” he said. “We looked at the voting and the amount of submissions [for the 2022 Grammys] and saw it as a great opportunity.”
The 64thGrammy Awardswill air live from the Staples Center in Los Angeles on Jan. 31.
source: people.com
