Sofia Carson appears at the 22nd annual Latin Grammy Awards in Las Vegas. File/AFP

Gulf Today Report

The Recording Academy has announced that the 64th annual Grammy Awards will now take place in Las Vegas in April.

The music awards ceremony was postponed from its 31 January date due to the US surge of the Omicron variant of Covid-19. The Grammys will now take place on 3 April at the MGM Grand Garden Arena.

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Comedian and The Daily Show host Trevor Noah will return as host.

Organisers said they looked forward to holding the “world class event” in Nevada for the first time and were “humbled” by the support they had received following its postponement.

Recording Academy CEO Harvey Mason Jr said: “We are excited to take the Grammys to Las Vegas for the very first time, and to put on a world-class show.

“From the moment we announced the postponement of the original show date, we have been inundated with heartfelt messages of support and solidarity from the artist community.

“We are humbled by their generosity and grateful for their unwavering commitment to the Grammy Awards and the Academy's mission.

CBS, who will air the 2022 ceremony, tweeted: “New date, new location, still Music's Biggest Night.”

Oscar-winning musician Jon Batiste leads this year’s nominations, with 11 nods including for Album of the Year and Record of the Year.

Other nominated artists include Lil Nas X, Billie Eilish, Olivia Rodrigo, Justin Bieber, Doja Cat and HER.

This year’s ceremony will also see the introduction of two new categories, for Best Global Music Performance in the “Global Music” field, and Best Musica Urbana Album, in the Latin field.

Last year, Canadian pop artist The Weeknd said he would no longer submit his music for consideration to the awards, due to the “secret committees” that helped decide the nominations.

The Recording Academy made several major changes to the awards process earlier this year, including the removal of the controversial review committees, following criticism from stars including the Canadian artist.

The body said nominations for the general and genre fields would now be voted on by a majority of members rather than anonymous groups of experts from within the academy.