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What time are the Grammy Awards? Here’s what you need to know about Sunday’s show

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Another weekend, another awards show. The Recording Academy is holding its 60th Grammy Awards live at New York City's Madison Square Garden this Sunday.

Though much of the awards season is focused on film and television, the Grammys recognize music, with a sprinkling of categories honoring sound in film and television.

Here are a few key facts to know before showtime.

What time does the show start? And on what channel?

As usual, there are actually two Grammy Award ceremonies. The first is a more subdued pretelecast ceremony that takes place in a separate venue prior to the main, performance-heavy broadcast.

The televised event will be broadcast live on CBS from 4:30 to 8 p.m. Pacific.

Since the ceremony has moved from Los Angeles to New York this year, the pretelecast show — where the bulk of gilded gramophones will be handed out — will take place at the Theater at Madison Square Garden from 12 to 3 p.m. Pacific and will stream on the Grammys website.

Who is hosting?

CBS tapped its late-night talent once again, choosing “The Late Late Show” host James Corden to emcee the ceremony for the second year in a row.

“I certainly don’t feel like ‘I’ve got this’ in any way about any facet of my life, really,” Corden said on “CBS This Morning” earlier this week. “Look, I'm from High Wycombe, which is a town that none of you have heard of. That’s how small it is. And so to be hosting a show like the Grammys is so far beyond anything I ever thought I would ever do with my life.”

Corden said he was “going to try and not ruin” the show during his approximately 20 minutes of stage time but promised to arrive “with some little bits of fun.”

The host was generally well-received during the 2017 telecast, rapping during a segment and leading a special star-studded edition of “Carpool Karaoke” to the tune of “Sweet Caroline” that even Neil Diamond joined in on. (Diamond, who announced his retirement from touring earlier this month, will be presented with the lifetime achievement award on Sunday.)

    R&B artist Khalid, who is up for five Grammys on Sunday, rehearses for the ceremony on Friday.
    (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)

    Who are the nominees?

    The Recording Academy finally embraced rap and hip-hop in the marquee categories this year, giving several major nods each to rappers Jay-Z, Kendrick Lamar and Childish Gambino.

    Jay-Z leads the pack with eight nominations, while Lamar picked up seven, and R&B-pop dynamo Bruno Mars earned six. Gambino, the alter ego of Emmy-winning actor-director Donald Glover, earned five nominations, as did singer Khalid and producer-songwriter No I.D.

    One of 2017’s biggest hits, the remix version of Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee's “Despacito,” featuring Justin Bieber, has become the first non-English-language track to be nominated in both the song and record of the year categories. Embattled pop star Kesha finally got her first Grammy nomination, while Ed Sheeran and Post Malone were largely left out in the cold.

    Here’s a look at the contenders in the major categories. The complete list of nominees can be seen here.

    The nominees

    Album of the year

    • "Awaken, My Love!" — Childish Gambino
    • “4:44” — Jay-Z
    • “Damn.” — Kendrick Lamar
    • “Melodrama” — Lorde
    • “24K Magic” — Bruno Mars

    Record of the year

    • “Redbone” — Childish Gambino
    • “Despacito” — Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee, featuring Justin Bieber
    • “The Story of O.J.” — Jay-Z
    • “Humble.” — Kendrick Lamar
    • ”24K Magic” — Bruno Mars

    Song of the year (awarded to the songwriters)

    • "Despacito" — Ramón Ayala, Justin Bieber, Jason "Poo Bear" Boyd, Erika Ender, Luis Fonsi & Marty James Garton
    • "4:44" — Shawn Carter & Dion Wilson
    • "Issues" — Benny Blanco, Mikkel Storleer Eriksen, Tor Erik Hermansen, Julia Michaels & Justin Drew Tranter
    • "1-800-273-8255" — Alessia Caracciolo, Sir Robert Bryson Hall II, Arjun Ivatury & Khalid Robinson
    • "That's What I Like" — Christopher Brody Brown, James Fauntleroy, Philip Lawrence, Bruno Mars, Ray Charles McCullough II, Jeremy Reeves, Ray Romulus & Jonathan Yip

    New artist

    • Alessia Cara
    • Khalid
    • Lil Uzi Vert
    • Julia Michaels
    • SZA
    Grammy host James Corden rehearses on Thursday.
    (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)

    Who’s performing?

    The main Grammys telecast tends to put more emphasis on the medley performances than the awards. This year is no exception. While only a handful of awards will be doled out on television, more than 30 artists will take the stage to perform live.

    Among them: Jon Batiste, Brothers Osborne, Alessia Cara, Cardi B, Childish Gambino, Eric Church, Gary Clark Jr., Miley Cyrus, Daddy Yankee, DJ Khaled, Luis Fonsi, Emmylou Harris, Elton John, Kesha, Khalid, Lady Gaga, Kendrick Lamar, Little Big Town, Logic, Patti LuPone, Bruno Mars, Maren Morris, Pink, Ben Platt, Rihanna, Zuleyka Rivera, Sam Smith, Chris Stapleton, Sting, SZA, Bryson Tiller and U2.

    Since it’s the 60th anniversary of the show, there will likely be a few surprise performers as well.

    Who is presenting?

    The Recording Academy announced an eclectic lineup of artists, musicians, actors and comedians to present during the main ceremony.

    So far, this year’s presenters include Tony Bennett, Dave Chappelle, Kelly Clarkson, Victor Cruz, Eve, Jim Gaffigan, Katie Holmes, Nick Jonas, Anna Kendrick, Alicia Keys, John Legend, Shemar Moore, Trevor Noah, Sarah Silverman, Hailee Steinfeld and Donnie Wahlberg.

    Cardi B, whose “Bodak Yellow” was a breakout hit in 2017, is among the performers for Sunday.
    (Scott Roth / Invision/Associated Press)

    What will they be wearing?

    While ubiquitous black gowns saturated the Golden Globes, there’s a chance that artists will show their support for the far-reaching Time’s Up and #MeToo movements in a different way.

    An open letter written by advocates within the music industry calling themselves “Voices of Entertainment” has been circulating this week. Instead of calling on attendees and nominees to wear black, the writers asked them to wear white roses in support of “equal representation in the workplace, for leadership that reflects the diversity of our society, workplaces free of sexual harassment and a heightened awareness of accountability.”

    Though diversity was applauded in this year’s crop of nominees, a recent USC study on gender and racial figures in pop music found that more than 90% of recent Grammy nominees were men.

    For further reading, here’s a breakdown of what the Recording Academy got right — and a lot of what it got wrong — since the inaugural ceremony in 1959.

    Is that all?

    Not even close! Be sure to tune into The Times’ live coverage of the 60th Grammy Awards as we bring you updates from on the red carpet and inside the Garden, social media commentary, winners’ reactions and more.

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