Showbiz411

The Grammys were a big hit, that’s for sure. The show grabbed 28.4 million viewers and its second biggest audience in 20 years. Only last year’s was bigger, with the Whitney Houston death and Adele’s big wins bringing in viewers by the droves. This year’s show, I thought, was very good because the music quality was exceptionally high. There was less fakery and more real artistry than in many many years. Granted, I do not understand what that group fun. (with a period) is supposed to be, but everyone else was top notch.

And the Grammys have been great for CD and download sales. Justin Timberlake’s unreleased album, “The 20/20 Experience,” has presales that have put it at number 1 on iTunes. Even the “stupid f—ing media” likes him. He has two singles in the iTunes top 10, also. Rihanna is number 1. And all the Grammy performers are up, up, up in sales, all in the top 20. Only Taylor Swift hasn’t gotten much of a bounce, but her “Red” album is pretty much saturated among her audience.

On Amazon.com, Album of the Year “Babel” by Mumford and Sons, is number 1, with the Lumineers and the Grammy CD of nominated songs in hot pursuit. Amazon only has Timberlake at number 99, and doesn’t feature it at all on their MP3 chart. That must be because iTunes, as usual, has a one or two week exclusive on the download when the music is released on March 19th. I wish record companies wouldn’t agree to this. Not everyone wants to be hamstrung by iTunes.

Roger Friedman

Roger Friedman began his Showbiz411 column in April 2009 after 10 years with Fox News. Friedman previously wrote the Intelligencer column at New York Magazine, He writes for Parade magazine and has written for Details, Vogue, the New York Times, Post, and Daily News and many other publications. He is the writer and co-producer of a film about R&B Music called “Only the Strong Survive,” which was released by Miramax in 2003 and was a selection of the Cannes, Sundance, and Telluride Film festivals.