Pop Votes Follow the Money Yet Again

Where’s the towel?

The Grammy voters have egg on their faces again.

I know it sounds like a tired refrain, but what else can you say when they nominate the Backstreet Boys, Cher and Ricky Martin in their most prestigious categories?

Who’s kidding whom when it comes to pop music award shows?

Yes, the thousands of voting members of the National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences did almost exactly what everyone feared: In both the best record and best album categories, they went almost exclusively for sales.

The Grammy camp speaks with pride about honoring the best in recording artistry, while rival shows--from the American Music Awards to the Billboard Music Awards--acknowledge that their competitions are based solely on sales. The bottom line, however, is that many of the same faces pop up far too often year after year on all these shows.

As part of this year’s voting process, the Grammy organization sent out a 241-page book with a list of almost 900 eligible albums and more than 500 eligible single recordings.

In retrospect, all the academy had to do was send out the SoundScan list of the year’s Top 20 sellers in both categories.

The only surprise in the balloting is that the voters went past the Top 20 (past the Top 200 in fact) in the album category to nominate Diana Krall’s “When I Look in Your Eyes,” a move that raises the question: Why?

Krall is one of the most acclaimed singers in jazz, but there’s little sense of convincing individuality or a trailblazing spirit in this collection.

Don’t expect to find those qualities in the other album nominees either. The Dixie Chicks are breaking some ground in country, but there is no way their “Fly” album is one of the year’s five most distinguished works. The Backstreet Boys may be the most interesting of the “boy bands,” but its music is formulaic pop.

That leaves TLC’s “FanMail” and Santana’s “Supernatural” as the two most reasonable candidates, and the voters will most surely go with the latter because of Carlos Santana’s stylish guitar work and his distinguished career.

Whatever the problems with the album category, the best record nominations are even more discouraging. Santana’s “Smooth” seems on the surface to be classier than Ricky Martin’s “Livin’ La Vida Loca,” but the only thing that makes it so is Santana’s guitar work. The lyrics, written and sung by Matchbox 20’s Rob Thomas, have only slightly less a production-line feel than “Vida Loca.”

Although those two records will be the favorites, TLC’s “No Scrubs,” a more artfully crafted effort and an expression of female independence, could be the surprise if “Smooth” and “Loca” split the mainstream vote.

The other nominees, Cher’s “Believe” and the Backstreet Boys’ “I Want It That Way,” are both examples of producers trying to craft hits (and succeeding) rather than artists’ trying to express original or revealing emotions (and sharing any).

There are a few bright spots scattered through the ruins of pop-rock nominations, starting with R&B; singer Macy Gray in the best new artist category. Her “On How Life Is” is stronger than any of the album of the year contenders. Unfortunately, it wasn’t among the nation’s Top 20 sellers.

Three other worthy album of the year candidates are stuck down in the “alternative” music category: Moby’s “Play,” Nine Inch Nails’ “The Fragile” and Beck’s “Mutations.” Unfortunately, they too fell below the voters’ commercial radar screen.

And so it goes . . . year after year.

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For a photo gallery and audio clips of the Grammy nominees, go to https://www.calendarlive.com/calendarlive/music/grammy/