LOS ANGELES – Sennheiser filled the stage with performances from Rihanna, Beyoncé, Fergie, Josh Groban, Andrea Bocelli at the 50th Annual Grammy Awards Ceremony, broadcast live from the Staples Center in Los Angeles. Most of the Sennheiser performers opted to sing into Sennheiser's new MD 5235 dynamic capsule in combination with the top-of-the-range SKM 5200 wireless microphone, while others, including the "Biggest Night In Music's" biggest winner, Amy Winehouse, used Sennheiser's wired evolution e 935, and the Foo Fighters' Dave Grohl favored the classic MD 431 II.
The "My Grammy Moment" segment featured classically trained young adults in a performance with the Foo Fighters using Sennheiser HD 25 headphones to stay on time and in tune. And when it came to choosing microphones for the piano duets of classical performances of Herbie Hancock and Lang Lang, the new Sennheiser MKH 8040s made their Grammy debut.
Nominated for three awards and previous winner of five, Beyoncé wowed fans in a captivating duet with legendary diva Tina Turner using the Sennheiser MD 5235/SKM 5200 combo. Fergie used the same combo in her duet with John Legend, and operatic and classical powerhouses Andrea Bocelli and Josh Groban used it for their moving duet of "The Prayer." Rihanna, a four-time nominee this year, joined Prince protégés The Time as the 1980s funksters –featuring mega-producers and multi-Grammy Award-winners Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis – reformed for their first live performance in 15 years. Rihanna relied on the Sennheiser MD 5235/SKM 5200 combo in a performance that anticipated her award for Best Rap Song Collaboration with Jay Z. Rihanna's custom-made mic featured the word "BAD GAL" prominently written on the mic body against a field of bling that could go pound-for-pound against the city of Las Vegas.
Foo Fighters front man David Grohl used a wired Sennheiser MD 431 II in a performance with the "My Grammy Moment" winners with John Paul Jones of Led Zeppelin conducting. Because the finalists were playing classical instruments, it was imperative that they had a well-mixed blend of their performances. Sennheiser HD 25 headphones delivered the requisite clarity and isolation to ensure that everyone performed at the peak of their abilities. The Foo Fighters went on to win two Grammys for Best Rock Album and Best Hard Rock Performance. As usual, the entire Foo stage was filled with Sennheiser evolution microphones.
Winehouse, who won five Grammys for Best New Artist, Best Pop Vocal Album, Record of the Year, Song of the Year, and Best Female Pop Vocal Performance, delivered a remote performance from London's Riverside Studios using a wired evolution e 935 microphone.
Herbie Hancock, winner of Album of the Year and Best Contemporary Jazz Album for "River: the Joni Letters," and world-renowned pianist Lang Lang's dueling piano performances of "Rhapsody in Blue" were captured with the new Sennheiser MKH 8040 cardioid condensers with spellbinding transparency and musicality. Noted John Harris, music mixer for the Grammys, "The MKH 8040s are fantastic! I was somewhat apprehensive about mic selection for the pianos so I compared the 8040s against several other contenders and they won. I placed two pairs of the virtually camera-"invisible" 8040s on stands above the soundboard in the curve of the pianos, in the classical position about an octave above and below middle C, around a foot from the strings. At the end of the show, people came up and asked me what I used to capture the piano sound. These mics are just that good." In addition to the MKH 8040s, Harris says that every drum kit on the Grammys was miked with his favorite evolution e 602 IIs and e 604 mics.
Backstage, David Bellamy of Los Angeles-based Soundtronics provided wireless coordination and oversaw all of the wireless microphone systems used during the broadcast from the Staples Center. Bellamy's RF rig included over one dozen channels of Sennheiser EM 3532 and EM 3032 twin receivers.
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