As executive producer of the Grammy Awards, Ken Ehrlich oversees every element of the show. Thirteen days before the telecast (which will be his 32nd), this was his workday preparing for the 55th annual Grammys.
7:30 a.m. I had tweaked the rundown over the weekend and during the drive from my Thousand Oaks, Calif., home to the office in Encino I spoke with [Recording Academy president/CEO] Neil Portnow about his speech.
9:30 a.m. My first conference call was with Alicia Keys and Adam Levine. Over the weekend, we had decided on a mash-up of “Daylight” and “Girl on Fire.” I had spoken with Alicia at the [Obama] inaugural and had [Virgin’s] Ron Fair do a scratch track as a demo.
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10:00 a.m. Brian Stonestreet, our scenic designer, brought me several looks that we made a few minor notes on: the set for the Miranda Lambert and Dierks Bentley duet and the one for fun. I also called Ed Sheeran’s management to review the staging of his performance with Elton John.
10:30 a.m. Justin Timberlake sent in a rough track of the song he’ll perform on the show and I played it for a few people in the office. It knocked me out.
11:00 a.m. We still have three or four openings for presenters and I went over potential artists with our talent booker, Chantel Sausedo. The show is still fluid at this point.
12:00 p.m. The most important promo ad for the show is the one that will air during the Super Bowl. Jack Sussman [CBS Entertainment executive VP of specials, music and live events] and his promo team clear the artists that can be announced with me.
12:30 p.m. Check in with [AEG’s] Randy Phillips about the possibility of his client, Juanes, appearing, and double check with Frank Ocean’s manager after seeing a report he is pulling out of the Grammys. Fortunately it was not true.
2:30 p.m. Our finale is still up in the air and one idea we are considering is a tribute to the Beastie Boys and MCA [the late Adam Yauch]. I spoke with LL Cool J about it and then with the Beasties’ management.
3:30 p.m. I visited Justin Timberlake on a Hollywood set where he is shooting a video (right). We went through the look of the show and a breakdown of the music to finalize his performance.
7:00 p.m. Arrive home-it’s probably the one day prior to the show I get home before 8 or 9 p.m.