51st Annual GRAMMY Awards Pre-Telecast Ceremony On February 8, 2009

SANTA MONICA, CA. (Top40 Charts/ Recording Academy) - The 51st Annual GRAMMY Awards Pre-Telecast Ceremony will take place on GRAMMY Sunday, Feb. 8, from 1 - 3:45 p.m. PT at the Los Angeles Convention Center. The ceremony is the non-televised event where a majority of GRAMMY categories are awarded, and it has grown into its own celebrated affair with guest presenters and live performances.
Presented with full production values appropriate for the GRAMMY Awards, the Pre-Telecast is now attended by thousands, including many nominees, and occurs just hours before the live telecast at 8 p.m. ET/PT on CBS.
The Pre-Telecast Ceremony will be streamed live internationally on www.grammy.com beginning at 1 p.m. PT, and will remain on the Web site for 30 days following the event.

Hosting and performing at the Pre-Telecast will be current GRAMMY nominees Wayne Brady and Tia Carrere. Additional live performances include Latin GRAMMY-winning folk/jazz singer Lila Downs, GRAMMY-winning classical artist Hilary Hahn, and current GRAMMY nominee Heavy D. Presenting GRAMMY Awards in approximately 99 categories will be four-time GRAMMY-winning gospel singer Yolanda Adams, producer/host of "Millennium of Music" radio show Robert Aubry Davis, GRAMMY-winning songwriter/producer Lamont Dozier, GRAMMY-winning children's folk artists Cathy Fink & Marcy Marxer, comedian Alex Raymundo, and actor Blair Underwood.

The Pre-Telecast Ceremony is produced by John Cossette Productions, and the musical director for the pre-telecast is Larry Batiste.

Music's Biggest Night will take place live on Sunday, Feb. 8, at STAPLES Center in Los Angeles and will be broadcast in HDTV and 5.1 Surround Sound on the CBS Television Network from 8 - 11:30 p.m. (ET/PT).
The show also will be supported on radio via Westwood One worldwide, and covered online at GRAMMY.com and CBS.com, on Twitter at "theGRAMMYs," on Facebook at "The Recording Academy," on YouTube at "51stGRAMMYs," and on Last.fm at "the51stgrammys."