Grammy nominations highlights: No trophies, but lots of buzz

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Click through the gallery for a look at the performances at the 56th Grammy Awards nominations concert on Dec. 6, 2013. (AFP / Getty Images; Los Angeles Times)

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Macklemore, pictured, and Ryan Lewis open the program with a rendition of “Thrift Shop.” (Rob Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

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Ryan Lewis works the stage - and excites the audience - with his performance of “Thrift Shop.” (Rob Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

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LL Cool J takes the stage as the evening’s host and brings on the charm - again. (Rob Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

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Taylor Swift works the stage as she sings “I Knew You Were Trouble.” Her performance was a telecast from Australia to the Nokia Theater. (Rob Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

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Grammy Award winner Enrique Iglesias announces the nominees for Album of the Year. (Rob Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

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Katy Perry delights the audience with “Roar” before admitting she used a “goose bump test” when ranking the song, which she didn’t expect to be such a hit. She performed from a remote location. (Rob Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

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Ed Sheeran, a nominee for Best New Artist, represents the nominees for Pop Duo Group. (Rob Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

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Kelly Rowland reveals the nominees for Best Country Album and manages to squeeze in a “Happy Birthday, Mom” announcement. (Matt Sayles / Invision / AP)

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Keith Urban, left, and Miguel collaborate to sing Bill Withers’ “Ain’t No Sunshine.” (Rob Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

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Miguel, pictured, and Keith Urban collaborate to sing Bill Withers’ “Ain’t No Sunshine.” (Matt Sayles/ Invision / AP)

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Keith Urban, pictured, and Miguel collaborate to sing Bill Withers’ “Ain’t No Sunshine.” (Matt Sayles/ Invision / AP)

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Arsenio Hall reveals the nominees of Best New Artist. (Matt Sayles / Invision / AP)

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Much-buzzed about Aussie musician Lorde performs her hit “Royals” with an acapella beginning. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

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LL Cool J takes the stage with Victoria’s Secret Model Candice Swanepoel. (Frederick M. Brown / Getty Images)

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Melissa Etheridge, left, and Pauley Perrette announce nominees for Record of the Year. (Matt Sayles / Invision / AP)

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Verdine White, left, of Earth, Wind and Fire, Robin Thicke and T.I. perform “Blurred Lines.” (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

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Verdine White, left, and Robin Thicke lean together while performing “Blurred Lines.” (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times )

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A general view of the atmosphere onstage during “The Grammy Nominations Concert Live!! Countdown To Music’s Biggest Night” at Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles. (Rob Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

By Todd Martens and Gerrick Kennedy

Dec. 7, 2013 7 AM PT

The now-annual Grammy nomination CBS special is the award-show that isn’t. No trophies are handed out, but it plays as a 60-minute teaser for what the Grammys will have to come Jan. 26 when the actual awards take place at the Staples Center. Still, it’s not without some award-show-like moments. Here are a few standouts.

Where’s Drake? Neil Portnow seemed puzzled by Drake’s eleventh-hour dropout from the lineup and admitted he didn’t know what happened. “Artists and their careers, things change.... They had some changes with plans and schedules. It was one of those things that was last-minute. But everybody is big boys and girls and everything was amicable.”

Past and present: The Grammy Awards, nominally speaking, are a time for drawing connections between pop’s past and present. That was evident Friday when country star Keith Urban and soulful local crooner Miguel gave a rendition of Bill Withers’ “Ain’t No Sunshine,” a heart-stinging number that deals with loss. The mood stayed dour through the mid-section of the telecast, with LL Cool J giving a brief tribute to Nelson Mandela. “May this brave man rest in peace,” said LL Cool J.

FULL COVERAGE: Grammy nominations 2014

Directions instantly shifted when chart favorite Katy Perry appeared on camera via satellite feed from Canada. She performed her hit “Roar,” but with a rather lengthy preamble, introducing the song by saying she hopes it gives you the “self-strength you need.” Then Perry, in glitter, roared. The song doesn’t really do much else, as it’s all chorus. If there was a Grammy for best cheerleading anthem, it’s “Roar.” But alas, there’s not.

Tough act to follow: Macklemore & Ryan Lewis called their seven nods mind-blowing, but the pair aren’t in a rush to quickly follow-up their Grammy-nominated album, “The Heist.”

“There’s a lot of pressure, but as an artist you control how much you tap into that pressure,” Macklemore said when asked about how the nominations raised the stakes. “I think the biggest mistake a lot of artists make is they feel like they need to immediately remain relevant and push out the first music that comes, and I need to live a little bit of life.”

COMPLETE LIST: 2014 Grammy Awards nominees

A ‘royal’ showing: The just-turned-17 Lorde performed her sarcastic takedown of popular culture in “Royals,” a live performance that was even more stripped down than the song is on record. Much of the first 30-or-so seconds was essentially a cappella. For a would-be pop star, performing a song that was little more than spacious beats and dead-angry vocals could be considered a brave move. The fact that it mocks much of what the Grammy-nominated pop songs celebrate — excess drink, fancy cars, lots of money — made it feel like something even better: Important.

Some bold “lines”: Best moment of the night? That goes to Earth, Wind & Fire bassist Verdine White, who was asked about the elephant in the room: Did the soul legend think Robin Thicke ripped off Marvin Gaye for his Grammy-nominated hit “Blurred Lines” (a song currently at the center of a bitter suit between the composers and Gaye’s family)? “No I don’t,” White said. “Actually, if you listen to the song, they are in a different key.”

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