(Bloomberg) -- The Grammy Awards will be held for the first time in Las Vegas on April 3, after a previously scheduled ceremony in Los Angeles was postponed indefinitely due to the pandemic.
The music industry's top honors, originally set for Jan. 31, will be given at the 17,000-seat MGM Grand Garden Arena near the Las Vegas Strip. The CMT Music Awards, previously set for April 3, will be rescheduled for later in the month.
The entertainment industry is moving quickly to adjust its annual awards season to the surge of the omicron variant. The Oscars have been postponed by one month until late March. The Palm Springs International Film Festival was canceled, while the Sundance Film Festival switched from in-person to online-only later this week.
Although this will be the Grammys first appearance in Las Vegas, the Latin Grammys were held at the same venue in November. The April ceremony will take place before a live audience, a spokesperson for the Recording Academy said Tuesday, airing on CBS and the Paramount+ streaming service. Nominees include Billie Eilish's “Happier Than Ever” for album of the year and Olivia Rodrigo for best new artist.
“We are excited to take the Grammys to Las Vegas for the very first time, and to put on a world-class show,” Harvey Mason Jr., chief executive officer of the Recording Academy, said in a release Tuesday.
Covid-19 infections have been rising in Nevada. On Tuesday, the state's health response unit said all counties are listed as “high risk of transmission.” Masks are required indoors, regardless of vaccination status. Los Angeles County began requiring all employees working indoors to wear medical-grade face coverings this week.
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