Fans only care about the outfits and misfits so why are the Grammy Awards still a thing?

Awards shows have become the dinosaur in the music room. Here’s what the 2019 Grammy Awards need to do to become relevant again.

Childish Gambino in This is America. Picture: Supplied

Can you remember who won the Album of the Year at the 2018 Grammys?

A search quickly reminds us Bruno Mars was the shock winner with his 24K Magic record against the favourite Kendrick Lamar, Jay-Z, Childish Gambino and Lorde.

Awards shows have become the dinosaur in the music room since the streaming and social media era swept disrupted the tune-touting industry.

What the record labels and gatekeepers consider successful continually fails to completely match up to what fans deem popular with their consumption of songs, albums and videos via the prevailing platforms of Spotify, Apple Music and YouTube.

Taylor Swift has been notably snubbed by this year’s Grammys. Picture: Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images.

When the nominations are posted each December, the ubiquitous initial reaction is to spotlight the annual members of the snub club.

The 2019 “We Wuz Robbed” roll call included Taylor Swift, whose Reputation album was the biggest selling record in America last year. She scored just one nomination.

Beyonce and Jay-Z, whose Everything Is Love collaboration as The Carters was shut-out of the major awards to pick up three nods in the “minor” music video, urban and r&b categories.

And the Arianators were incensed when their Queen Ariana Grande scored just two opportunities to win her first Grammy with her Sweetener album. And she reportedly told producers she was kicking the Grammys to the kerb after they tried to dictate which songs she would perform at the awards. Like they did to Lorde last year.

MORE: ‘Insulted’ Ariana Grande pulls out of Grammys

Ariana Grande drops a new record on the same weekend The Grammys decide the fate of her Sweetener album. Picture: Angela Weiss/AFP.

The snubs may keep the star power of these pop culture titans from the Grammys this week, with none of them officially scheduled to perform or present.,

After a controversial year where female representation in the nominations reached an inexplicable low and the Record Academy boss Neil Portnow responded to the criticism by suggesting women should “step up” if they wanted recognition in the top categories, the Grammys tried to retool the playing field.

To promote diversity, they extended the number of nominations in the prestige categories of Album, Record and Song of the Year from five to eight.

Queen Scene-Stealer Cardi B is one of this year’s leading nominees. Picture: Ethan Miller/Getty Images.

That experiment worked on paper with stream kings Drake and Post Malone, make-a-scene queen Cardi B, pop collaborators Kendrick Lamar and SZA and Zedd, Maren Morris and Grey, power balladeer Brandi Carlile, and Hollywood-assisted Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper, country pop breakthrough artist Kacey Musgraves and political pop provocateur Childish Gambino among the nominees across the three awards.

But the unexpected consequence of opening up the field to a wider selection of artists will be to split the votes across genres and give the Grammys academy even more chance of getting it wrong.

Gaga now brings the glamour to the Grammys when she used to bring the egg. Picture: Danny Moloshok/Invision/AP.

Despite Drake’s God Plan breaking Spotify and Apple Music records on its release in early 2018 and finishing the year as the most streamed song of the year, the majority of crystal ballgazers in America suggest Carlile’s emotive anthem The Joke or A Star Is Born chart-topper Shallow are the frontrunners for Song or Record of the Year.

As for album of the year, again Drake’s Scorpion and Cardi B’s Invasion of Privacy were among the blockbuster records of 2018 but Musgraves will galvanise the powerful country music voting block to threaten their claim on the coveted award.

Not that Drake really cares. He hasn’t been a regular Grammys attendee and has only won three awards from a mammoth 42 nominations.

Drake wins all of the Billboard awards but only a few of the Grammys. Picture: AFP/MARK RALSTON

He skipped the 2017 gongs where he won two trophies for his Hotline Bling mega-hit, “because they don’t air the other rap awards on TV”.

“I am apparently a rapper, even though ‘Hotline Bling’ is not a rap song,” he said at the time. “The only category they can manage to fit me in is a rap category.”

But the greatest disconnect between the Grammys — and pretty much every award show — and its audience is that the majority of their dwindling viewership don’t care who wins.

The record labels and artists might enjoy a spike in sales post the awards but in the streaming era, a Grammy-assisted bump up the charts is far less significant than it was when CDs were still a thing.

Fans — and critics — “watch” the awards via social media, with commentary universally focused on who wore what and just how fab or sad it was, who hit a dud note during the performances, the inevitable sweary bear bombs in acceptance speeches, which artist kept their seat during a standing ovation and the happy/sad/eye-rolling reactions of non-winning nominees.

Multiple nominee Post Malone will perform with the Red Hot Chili Peppers, which will be... interesting. Picture: Frazer Harrison/Getty Images.

For the Grammys to be relevant, they need Rihanna in the audience slow-clapping whoever wins the major awards and yawning for the rest of the show.

They really need Cher. Doing anything.

Gaga and Cooper should skip the slow-burn of Shallow to perform Don’t Go Breaking My Heart.

Host Alicia Keys should be saved from bad script segues.

And Cardi B must be given multiple opportunities in front of a mic whether it is to rap, make an acceptance speech or officially announce her reunion with husband Offset. The Grammys hasn’t had a good love story in years.

Thank the music gods Miley Cyrus will be singing at the Grammys. Picture: Kevin Winter/Getty Images.

Performers this year include Post Malone (preferably with beer in hand) with the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Miley Cyrus, Camila Cabello, Janelle Monae, Jennifer Lopez, Shawn Mendes and legends Dolly Parton and Diana Ross.

There are several Australian artists and writers in the running for Grammys including breakthrough dance producer Fisher for his track Losing It, hit maker Sarah Aarons who co-wrote the Zedd, Maren Morris and Grey hit The Middle, our regular nominees Sia and Keith Urban and revered composer Lisa Gerrard.

**Fox8 will broadcast the Grammys live from noon on Monday.