Harman systems shine at the 50th
GRAMMY Awards®

JBL® speakers and Crown® amplifiers supported an all-star cast for the 50th-Annual GRAMMY Awards Anniversary special on February 10, 2008. Six-time GRAMMY® winner Tina Turner joined two-time nominee Beyoncé for a special performance; jazz pianist Eldar, rap-rocker Kid Rock, jazz saxophonist Dave Koz and jazz/pop singer Keely Smith also performed on the telecast. Presenters included 27-time winner and 50th-Anniversary-Celebration-Ambassador Quincy Jones, 25-time winner Stevie Wonder, 14-time winner Tony Bennett, four-time nominee Akon, GRAMMY winner Cher, winner and two-time nominee Nelly Furtado, two-time Academy Award winner Tom Hanks, six-time GRAMMY winner Prince, nine-time winner Ringo Starr, and GRAMMY-winner Dave Stewart.

To present all this talent to the live audience, rental-system contractor ATK/Audiotek (Valencia, CA) deployed a multiarray JBL VerTec® speaker system; it incorporated 70 full-size VT4889 line array elements temporarily suspended in the Staples Center. VT4880 subwoofer arrays boosted low-frequency reinforcement, and a dozen JBL VRX932LA enclosures (powered by Crown I-Tech amplifiers) served as VIP fill enclosures. "JBL VerTec arrays give us highly predictable coverage, and they set up faster and are lighter weight than other options," observed Jeff Peterson, event system engineer for ATK. "That is critically important in this venue due to the massive truss structures, and lighting and video equipment brought in to support the live show and telecast."

Behind the scenes, JBL LSR6300 studio monitors were used in the TV Committee room where the show is monitored by Recording Academy staff, and JBL LSR4300's were used by mixer Klaus Landsberg in the audience-reaction-mix control room.

The 50th-Annual GRAMMY Awards was presented live on the CBS Television Network from Staples Center in Los Angeles. Broadcast live in HDTV and 5.1 surround sound, the show was also supported on radio via Westwood One worldwide and XM Satellite Radio. The GRAMMY Awards is a property of The National Academy of Arts & Sciences, Inc., known variously as The Recording Academy or NARAS. Established in 1957, The Recording Academy is a U.S. organization of musicians, producers, recording engineers and other recording professionals dedicated to having a positive impact on the "lives of musicians, industry members and... society at large." For more information, visit www.grammy.com.