This year's Grammys were supposed to be a return to normal. Then came The Slap
LAS VEGAS — As stagehands wheeled an enormous replica of what appeared to be Lil Nas X's head into position, the black-and-white faces of dozens of pop stars looked on from cardboard placards arranged, two to a bistro table, on the floor of the MGM Grand Garden Arena here.
With Billie Eilish just an outstretched arm from Lady Gaga and Carrie Underwood within murmuring distance of Jon Batiste, the cozy setup for Sunday night's long-delayed 64th Grammy Awards promises plenty of the celebrity hobnobbing missing from last year's masked-and-distanced rendition of music's most important awards ceremony.
"This show is about community, about seeing people that we love and watching them be celebrated amongst their peers," said Jesse Collins, one of the Grammys' executive producers, during a tech rehearsal this week.
But just days after Will Smith smacked Chris Rock onstage at the Oscars, setting off global chatter about the risks of live television, it's not hard to see the Grammys' up-close-and-personal vibe as a potential liability — if also, perhaps, as a draw for viewers eager to witness some other wild and
