Grammy gala to be met by protest

A coalition of musicians have vowed to stage a protest outsideSunday's Grammy Awardsover the 31 categories organizers have cut from the annual celebration.

As fans, nominees and performers like Adele, Rihanna, the Foo Fighters, Deadmau5, Coldplay and the Beach Boys arrive at the Staples Center in Los Angeles on Sunday, they will be greeted by demonstratorsurging the U.S. Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences to reverse the changes.

After the demonstration, the protesters will stage an alternative concert at a Los Angeles nightclub.

"We are holding this concert to remind music fans about all the great music that has been eliminated from the Grammys," Afro-Latin jazz bandleader Bobby Matos told Reuters.

"To paraphrase what Frank Sinatra said at the first Grammy Awards in 1959, 'Remember, the awards are about excellence, not popularity.'"

At the first Grammy ceremony in 1959, organizers presented awards in 28 categories.

In April 2011, the Recording Academywhich organizes the annual U.S. musical honourannounced a major overhaulthat reduced the number of categories to 78 from the previous 109. It was the first comprehensive cull of categories in more than 50 years.

[IMAGEGALLERY galleryid=1519 size=small]

The restructuring largely slashed the Grammy trophies for ethnic and minority genres, though some pop, rock, country and R&B categories were consolidated as well (for instance leaving male and female artists to complete in a single category).

Among the categories cut was best Native American album, a category in which Alberta powwow group Northern Cree had had six nominations, without winning.

Organizers of the protest have circulated a petition calling for the eliminated categories to be reinstated. Approximately 23,000 have signed the petition and artists such as Paul Simon, Carlos Santana and Bonnie Raitt have blasted thecuts.