Report: Taylor Swift, Kanye West Given Last-Minute Grammy Noms
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) – Taylor Swift, Kanye West, Abba and Lil Nas X were all given Grammy Award nominations in a last-minute move by the Recording Academy, according to a New York Times report Wednesday.
According to the Times, in a meeting just 24 hours before the nominations were announced Tuesday morning, the Recording Academy made the decision to expand the four top categories from eight nominees to 10.
Swift and West were already nominated in other categories, but Swift's "Evermore" and West's "Donda" were added to the album of the year list of nominees.
According to the Times, the expansions in the record of the year category lead to the additions of Lil Nas X's "Montero (Call Me by Your Name)" and Abba's "I Still Have Faith in You."
The nominations for the songwriters' song of the year category and best new artist category were also expanded at the last minute. Doja Cat's "Kiss Me More" and "Right on Time" by Brandi Carlile were added to the song of the year category. Rapper Baby Keem and composer Arooj Aftab were added to the best new artist category, according to the Times.
In an interview with the Times, the Recording Academy president and CEO Harvey Mason Jr. said the expansion of nominations has been in the works for years, and the Latin Grammy Awards expanded their lists to 12 last year.
Mason Jr. also told the Times the addition of Swift and West to the expanded list of nominations was not for commercial reasons or to improve television ratings.
The Grammys came under fire last year when artist The Weeknd didn't receive a single nomination for his album "After Hours," which was one of the biggest of the year.
The ensuing criticism prompted the Recording Academy to announce in April that it would be getting rid of the anonymous committees, made of experts, who review initial nominations for 61 of the 84 categories and decide which artists and groups make the final cut for Grammy nominations, per the Times.
The 2022 Grammy Awards are scheduled for Jan. 31 at 5 p.m. at Crypto.com Arena in downtown Los Angeles. They will be televised on CBS and Paramount+.
(© Copyright 2021 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. City News Service contributed to this report.)