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Doc's DIS-patch
February 10 --- New York (APJP) -- With the Grammys a little over two weeks away, Mayor Rudy Giuliani, "the mouth that roared," has fired off the latest and loudest shot in a feud with NARAS, the governing body that awards the Grammys, and its president, Michael Greene.For those of you outside of New York, our beloved Mayor Rudy would not be Rudy unless he were openly griping with someone - he looks antsy, nervous and uncomfortable when he isn't in some petty imbroglio with someone. He is so frequently full of bluster and meanness that I almost think that, as a child, he was the geeky little kid that the bullies always picked on, and has been busy overcompensating ever since.
But Rudy would also not be Rudy if he didn't believe the world of New York revolves around him. He's got a huge ego to match his gargantuan acid attitude. He demands that he be given credit for everything that's going right in New York - and as a result Rudy has lost the services of some of the most motivated and gifted civil servants in the nation.
There are dozens of people who have been dissed by Giuliani for some perceived slight or, worse yet, for deservedly taking credit for something that worked. Subsequently these people either quit or were dumped; the most shameful examples being William Bratton and Jack Maple, the twin architects of New York's successful anti-crime strategy. Typically, Rudy still takes all the credit for the drop in crime. New Yorkers with at least a fourth-grade education know better.
But I digress. Here's the gist of his latest feud.
Seems that some heated words were exchanged between the Mayor's people and NARAS officials over who would read the names of the top Grammy nominees back on January 6, the morning of the nominations announcement. Rudy being Rudy, he assumed that he would be announcing the nominees-- with him, everything has to be The Rudy Giuliani Show.
But anyone who follows the entertainment industry knows that it is a Grammy tradition that musical artists read the names of the nominees. The same is true of any awards ceremony, be it the Academy Awards, Emmys, American Music Awards, Adult Video Awards -- artists read the nominations at a "press event," usually broadcast on the morning news shows (except the Adult Video Awards, which end up on "public access" cable at about 2:30 AM). When one of Rudy's aides brought up the point of who would be reading the names with Greene on the phone -- literally on the way to the Radio City ceremony -- Giuliani's camp claims that heated words and profanity emanated from Michael Greene's end of the call. NARAS claims that the call was somewhat tense but polite.
It doesn't matter which is true -- all you need know is that the mighty Rudy's ego was bruised, even if ever so slightly.
On Monday, Rudy went public with some words for Michael Greene, NARAS president: New York doesn't want or need the Grammys -- go back to Los Angeles and don't come back, you scumbuckets.
But he looked like a fool with his so-called supporting arguments.
He claimed the Grammys only bring in $23 million. This looks to be a gross underestimation of the dollars pumped into the New York economy when every musical high roller from LA, Nashville, Chicago, London, Munich and Tokyo descends on New York for a week with their entourages, aides, managers, groupies and "massage therapists."
Rudy further claims that the awards generate less than $700,000 in "direct revenue" to the city. Again, the buzz is that he's underestimated by half - and anyone who would sneeze at well over a million bucks in city revenue is a fool, especially with New York's insatiable appetite for revenue.
Rudy further claimed he could replace the Grammys "with three other things." Yeah, sure, Rudy -- can you name any awards ceremony besides the Academy Awards more prestigious and grand-scale than the Grammys? And if you're talking about, say, a proctologist's convention, they're not the kind of guys who will rent out the entire Metropolitan Museum, Museum of Natural History and New York Public Library to throw gigantic post-awards ceremony parties -- for half a million bucks each!
Worse yet, Rudy isn't just "dissing" NARAS. NARAS is also an advocacy organization with strong ties not only to record labels in New York but the large media and entertainment companies that own them -- Time-Warner, Bertelsmann, Sony and others. A "dis" of NARAS is a "dis" aimed at the music industry, which already looks upon Rudy as a blowhard. With talk that a number of record labels are looking to move operations from New York to Los Angeles, Miami and Nashville, Rudy's words only serve as another piece of evidence that even though the city is making strides in the film and television industry, the city is hostile to its largest piece of the entertainment pie -- the music business.
The "get lost" attitude and empty supporting arguments play into a pattern of explosive, stupid behavior which will continue to shadow Rudy as he considers pursuing higher office, perhaps the Senate or even the Presidency.
So we offer a word of advice: the "in-you-face" thing works well in New York City, but upstate -- or Middle America?
As we say in New York, fuhgeddaboudit!
'Nuff said.
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