The
67-year-old presenter will be taking on hosting duties again for the
29th year in a row when the prize-giving ceremony for songwriters from
the UK and around the world takes place on May 19 at the Grosvenor House
Hotel in London.
Gambaccini has been staggered by the number of
deaths in the music world this year with legends such as David Bowie,
Motorhead's Lemmy, Earth, Wind & Fire founder Maurice White and The
Beatles' long-time producer Martin all passing away in 2016.
The
pop expert admits it will be difficult to include a tribute to all the
late icons at the ceremony but is sure Martin - who was dubbed the
'Fifth Beatle' - will get a special moment of recognition following his
death at the age of 90 in March.
Speaking
at the nominations announcement at the Arts Club in London on Tuesday
(19.04.16), he told: "George was special. "There is
the annual memorial reel, as it used to be called, but it will be
difficult to choose who has to be left out because this has been an
extraordinary year for loss. There was a (BBC) Radio 4 feature on it
incidentally where they actually counted the number of obituaries that
the BBC website had run in the first three months of the year in the
past half dozen years and this year there have been twice as many as in
other previous years. Everyone who has the impression that this has been
a terrible year for death, they're right."
The Ivor Novellos are
considered by many artists to be one of the most prestigious awards
ceremonies in the world because the nominees are selected by a panel of
other songwriters.
Gambaccini insists the awards show - which has
honoured stars like Nile Rodgers, Sir Paul McCartney and John Lennon,
Noel Gallagher and Boy George among others - deserves that status
because unlike events such as the BRITs or the Grammys it has no
external pressure from TV or record companies to recognise certain
artists.
No comments:
Post a Comment