Grammy: How the West Won : * Pop music: Insiders attribute the awards’ return to two factors: Irving Azoff, chairman of the L.A. Host Committee, and Inglewood’s Forum.

It’s official: The Grammys are coming back to Los Angeles--or actually, to Inglewood--after two years in New York. On Wednesday, Michael Greene, president of the Grammy-sponsoring National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences, and Mayor Tom Bradley announced that L.A. will host 1993 ceremonies and a series of related events.

The globally telecast show itself will be held at Inglewood’s Forum, which can accommodate 12,000 spectators--doubling the seating at either L.A.’s Shrine Auditorium or New York’s Radio City Music Hall, where the Grammys have been held in recent years.

At a Los Angeles City Hall press conference announcing the decision, a panel of about 20 civic and music industry figures were asked what the key was to the awards returning west. Before anyone else could answer, Bradley struck a macho pose next to the podium and bellowed:

“I am!”

Bradley’s playful response underscored a basic truth: To win the Grammy Awards back from New York, Los Angeles had to shed its laid-back image. And that’s what it did, as members of the L.A. music industry got mad . . . and got even.

Before the 1991 Grammys, L.A. had hosted the show 28 out of 32 years. When New York beat out Los Angeles in the battle for the 1991 Grammy Awards, L.A. just seemed to shrug. But the loss of the show for a second year showed how much L.A.’s efforts had been outclassed by an aggressive coalition of New York business and civic leaders, who enticed the National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences with promises of lavish Grammy-related events that would both give the awards show a higher profile and raise money for its several charities--reportedly $750,000.

That stirred up both the Los Angeles music industry and the mayor’s office.

The campaign to bring the Grammys back to L.A. focused on two elements, key players said.

One was Irving Azoff, the owner of Giant Records, who took the reins of the drive and became the chairman of the first official Los Angeles Host Committee for the Grammys. In the past, the effort had been left to the Los Angeles Convention and Visitors Bureau, which may have lacked the contacts necessary to whip up the music community.

“I would lay the success at Irving’s feet,” said George Kirkland, the president of the Convention and Visitors Bureau. “Had it not been for his initiative and pursuit, we wouldn’t be enjoying the success.”

But in an interview before the press conference, Azoff cited another key element: the Forum in Inglewood. For years, Grammy telecast producer Pierre Cossette has lobbied to move the show to a larger facility. The Recording Academy decided that ’93 was the year to make the move, and the Forum was given the nod over New York’s Madison Square Garden.

“We do have the opportunity after it being in New York for two years to do a different version of Grammy week in L.A.,” Azoff said, indicating that competition between the two coasts was forcing the hosts to raise their standards.

Expected to be announced in coming months are at least one major concert to benefit the academy’s MusiCares program, which provides health care and other support for needy musicians, and other events connected with the Grammy in the Schools education program.

The announcement marks the latest episode in the long-running battle between New York and Los Angeles for, among other things, the image of the nation’s entertainment capital. It’s also a battle for dollars from both the direct spending of the Grammy producers on the show and of Grammy participants on hotels, restaurants and other services. New York officials have estimated that the ’91 and ’92 Grammys generated upward of $40 million each for the city.

Kirkland, the convention bureau head, believes that the estimate is high, but said that there are unquestionable benefits for the host city.

“Events like this that have a high level of media exposure help promote Los Angeles as the entertainment capital,” he said from his Los Angeles office.

Ironically, New York representatives are taking some credit for L.A.’s victory--and positioning itself as the likely host in ’94. Jonathan Tisch, the president and chief executive officer of the Loew’s Hotels chain and the head of the 1992 New York Grammy Host Committee, told The Times that Los Angeles is merely trying to meet the standards set by New York in the last two years.

“We are confident that L.A. will follow us with many programs we set forth and try to put on a Grammy show and Grammy week that will follow in our footsteps,” Tisch said by phone from his New York office. “I’ve already had conversations . . . about 1994.”