byby Randy Lewis

If you go to the movies this week, before you settle in to watch a potential
Academy Award winner, odds are good that you'll hear music or see a video
from a potential Grammy winner.

The recording academy has partnered with Movie Tunes, an L.A.-based
company that supplies movie theaters across the country with pre-movie
entertainment, for a new program highlighting Grammy-nominated acts.

"Not only will it bring more attention to the awards show and the nominees, but
also to the contributions the recording academy makes to communities
everywhere," said David Forman, founder of Forman Bros. Recordings, who
masterminded the campaign with the academy and Movie Tunes.

So how much more attention is needed for an event that's broadcast in 166
countries to a worldwide audience of nearly 700 million? Evidently, every little
bit helps. So ahead of this year's Feb. 13 awards show from Staples Center, the
movie campaign, which runs through February, may help reach segments of the
populace that remain TV-less.

The promos will be seen in theaters in the top 200 markets across the country
that are Movie Tunes clients. The company estimates that it reaches more than
1 billion moviegoers a year with the music it puts in theaters.

Starting Tuesday, film fans who like what they hear before the lights go down in
their local multiplex will have the added option of heading to the record store
for a copy of the 11th "Grammy Nominees" CD, which includes 21 of the
performances from the highest-profile categories.

The genres represented include rap, rock, punk, pop and country, and artists
such as Kanye West, Usher, Maroon 5, Joss Stone, Ray Charles and Norah
Jones. Some choices for the CD are obvious (Charles and Jones' duet "Here We
Go Again," nominated for record of the year; new artist nominee Gretchen
Wilson's breakthrough single, "Redneck Woman"), others less so (West's
"Through the Wire" from his album "The College Dropout" rather than his song
of the year nominee, "Jesus Walks").

Five-time Grammy winner Jones holds the distinction of being the only
performer with two cuts, with "Sunrise" from her "Feels Like Home" album as
well as the duet from Charles' "Genius Loves Company" collection.

A portion of the proceeds will be donated to charity.