Grammy nominations will be a TV special

Grammy nominations will be a TV special

LOS ANGELES — The Grammys are turning a dry nominations announcement into an hourlong TV special.

“The Grammy Nominations Concert Live! — Countdown to Music’s Biggest Night” will air Dec. 3, CBS announced Thursday. The Grammy Awards are scheduled for Feb. 8 on the network.

The show is a departure for the Grammys and other major awards. Top Academy Award and Emmy nominations, for instance, are announced in brief ceremonies that air as news stories — not as commercially supported programs.

The Grammy special will include nominations for at least six categories and feature performances by past winners at the Nokia Theatre, CBS said. It also will mark the opening of the Grammy Museum in the adjacent L.A. Live complex.

Presenters and performers will be announced later, CBS said.

Award shows in general have been struggling to attract audiences. This year’s Grammy Awards drew 17.2 million viewers, making it one of the least-watched Grammys, while the Emmy ceremony in September had its smallest audience yet with 12.34 million viewers.

Museum receives Picassos, $45M gift

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — The Harvard Art Museum has received a gift of $45 million and 31 major works of art, including three paintings by Picasso.

Harvard University on Friday announced the gift from Class of 1936 alumna Emily Rauh Pulitzer, a former curator at the museum and wife of the late Joseph Pulitzer Jr.

The financial gift is the largest in the history of the museum.

The donated artwork includes Picasso’s paintings, “Harlequin,” “Landscape” and “Portrait of Dora Maar”; the Joan Mir ≥ painting “Woman in the Night”; and a Roy Lichtenstein sculpture, “Sleeping Muse.”

The gifts coincide with the start of a museum initiative that includes an extensive renovation and efforts to better integrate the collections and programs into university life.

Today’s birthdays

Artist Peter Max is 71. Actor John Lithgow is 63. Singer Jeannie C. Riley is 63. Talk show host Charlie Chase is 56. Singer-keyboardist Karl Wallinger of World Party is 51. Singer Jennifer Holliday is 48. TV host Ty Pennington (“Extreme Makeover: Home Edition”) is 44. Singer-guitarist Todd Park Mohr of Big Head Todd and the Monsters is 43. Actor Jon Favreau is 42. “South Park” co-creator Trey Parker is 39. Comedian Chris Kattan (“Saturday Night Live”) is 38. Singer Pras Michel of The Fugees is 36. Actor Omar Gooding (“Hangin’ With Mr. Cooper”) is 32. Country singer Cyndi Thomson is 32. Actor Benjamin Salisbury (“The Nanny”) is 28.