The Grammys also saw a Sennheiser 5200 wireless with Neumann KK 104-S capsule in use by one of the evening's top award winners, John Legend, as he performed his chart-topping song he wrote in collaboration with Kanye West, Ordinary People.
A highlight of the show, which was once again held at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, was the much-anticipated appearance of influential psychedelic soul and funk icon Sly Stone, who famously retired from performing live in 1987. The all-star line-up for the Sly and the Family Stone tribute segment of the telecast featured Joss Stone, John Legend, Devon Lima, Robert Randolph and American Idol season three winner, Fantasia Barrino - all using Sennheiser's new SKM 5200 handheld transmitters outfitted with Neumann KK 104-S vocal microphone capsules.
Earlier in the show, country music superstar Faith Hill and Keith Urban sang a duet using the new Sennheiser SKM 5200s with ME 5005E capsules. The two backing vocalists used the same combination mic and capsule.
The show's frequency coordinator, Dave Bellamy, of RF service company Soundtronics, oversaw a substantial number of Sennheiser SR300G2 personal monitor transmitters and Sennheiser EK300G2 personal monitoring system body-packs during the show. 24 channels of Sennheiser monitors were available at both the stage left and stage right monitor positions. A majority of the artists performing on the show, including U2, the night's big winner with five Grammy Awards, used the popular Sennheiser G2 monitors.
Over 50 Sennheiser and Neumann mics were used on backline instruments, including the popular Evolution 906s, 602s, and 604s for virtually every performance of the night. An additional 40 mics were used by seasoned broadcast mixer, Klaus Landsberg to enhance the show's 5.1 surround broadcast.
(Lee Baldock)
