娱乐英语新闻:Number of award categories to be cut for next year's Grammy Awards

LOS ANGELES, April 6 (Xinhua) -- The number of award categories will be reduced from 109 to 78 for next year's Grammy Awards, a move intended to streamline the ceremony, it was announced on Wednesday.

The reduction will not affect top categories of record, album and song of the year and best new artist, according to The Recording Academy, organizer of The Grammy Awards ceremony.

Most other award fields, however, will be reduced. In the R&B field, for instance, the past categories of best male and female vocal performance were combined into a single "best R&B performance" category. In previous years, there were eight R&B categories, but now there will be only four --performance, traditional performance, song and album, the academy said.

The country field, which had seven categories, will have four -- solo performance, duo/group performance, song and album.

Specific categories for Hawaiian, Native American, zydeco and cajun albums will also be dropped.

Despite the reduction, every submission would continue to have a home in other categories -- in this case possibly in categories such as best Americana, bluegrass, blues, folk or regional-roots albums, academy officials said.

"After careful and extensive review and analysis of all categories and fields, it was objectively determined that our Grammy categories be restructured to the continued competition and prestige of the highest and only peer-recognized award in music," said Neil Portnow, the academy's President/CEO.

"Our Board of Trustees continues to demonstrate its dedication to keeping The Recording Academy a pertinent and responsive organization in our dynamic music community," he said.

The academy also made changes in some of the ceremony's voting and submission requirements.

Under one change, if there are between 25 and 39 entries in a category, there will only be three nominees. If there are less than 25 entries, there will be no nominees, and if the lack of submissions continues for three years, the category will be permanent eliminated. The Grammy Awards are the only peer-presented award to honor artistic achievement, technical proficiency and overall excellence in the recording industry, without regard to album sales or chart position. The annual awards ceremony features performances by prominent artists, and some of the awards of more popular interest are presented in a widely viewed televised ceremony. It is the music equivalent to the Emmy Awards for television, and the Academy Awards for film.