Grammy Awards

Los Angeles -- On the whole, Grammy would rather have been on the Streets of Philadelphia.At least that's the way it seemed last night, when Bruce Springsteen's AIDS-inspired single, "Streets of Philadelphia," swept the 37th Annual Grammy Awards. Springsteen was up for four awards -- Record of the Year, Song of the Year, Best Male Rock Vocal Performance, Best Rock Song, and Best Original Song Written Specifically for a Motion Picture or Television -- and won all of them but Record of the Year, which went to Sheryl Crow for "All I Wanna Do."

The major choices on TV this evening are the Grammys on CBS, and a "National Geographic" special about sharks on NBC. Either way you go, your choice is pretty great, white?* "National Geographic: Great White Shark" (8 p.m.-9 p.m., Channel 11) -- Twenty years after Steven Spielberg directed "Jaws," the great white shark continues to be a big box-office draw -- so big that NBC is using the creature to go up against some pretty big fish on CBS (Bruce Springsteen, Sheryl Crow and Boyz II Men, for example)

Sheryl Crow, Bonnie Raitt and Bruce Springsteen are among the top Grammy contenders this year, with each artist nominated yesterday for five awards. Maryland natives Mary Chapin Carpenter and Me'Shell NdegeOcello are up for four awards each, as are Green Day, Soundgarden and Seal.But the lion's share of nominations went to Disney's "The Lion King" and its spin-offs, which snagged a total of nine nominations in seven categories -- including two shots at Song of the Year (for "Can You Feel the Love Tonight" and "Circle of Life," both written by Elton John and Tim Rice)

Here are this year's Grammy winners.Best Rock Song: "Runaway Train," David Pirner, songwriter.ALTERNATIVEBest Alternative Music Album: "Zooropa," U2.R&BBest R&B Performance, Female: "Another Sad Love Song," Toni Braxton.Best R&B Performance, Male: "A Song for You," Ray Charles.Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal: "No Ordinary Love," Sade.Best R&B Song: "That's the Way Love Goes," Janet Jackson,James Harris III and Terry Lewis, songwriters.RAPBest Rap Solo Performance: "Let Me Ride," Dr. Dre.Best Rap Performance By a Duo or Group: "Rebirth of Slick (Cool Like Dat)

Stir up a controversy, set up a "duel" between one side and another, and watch the ratings pour in when the results of the overhyped showdown finally are televised. Olympics redux? Well, I was thinking of tonight's "Roseanne," in which the "lesbian kiss" episode supposedly "censored" by ABC, leading to a brief brouhaha just as Roseanne Arnold's autobiography was released, comes to TV intact. Will we never learn? Apparently not.* "Ancient Prophecies" (8 p.m.-10 p.m., WMAR, Channel 2) -- I, too, am eagerly awaiting the millennium.

Let's face it: People don't tune in to the annual Grammy Awards broadcast simply to see who wins what. Really, how much general interest can there be in categories like Best Arrangement on an Instrumental or Best Album Package?For many viewers, what makes the Grammy broadcast worth watching is as much the live music as any suspense involving who will win Record of the Year. So when the presentation of the 36th Annual Grammy Awards gets under way tonight (carried live on CBS, beginning at 8 p.m.)

When the late Andrew Schenck won a Grammy Wednesday night, it was typical that scarcely anyone noticed his name.Schenck, who died of cancer a year ago, won for his world premiere recording on the Koch label of Samuel Barber's "The Lovers." The prize was awarded for Contemporary Composition. Good as it is and deserving as it is, however, "The Lovers" is hardly a new work. That anyone knows about it -- that it got recorded at all -- is what Schenck was all about."The Lovers" was written 23 years ago and Barber, by that point, had been written off by most of the classical music establishment.

DURING the Grammy awards ceremony Tuesday evening, one of moderator Whoopi Goldberg's not-quite-successful attempts at humor involved greetings to the peoples of the former Soviet Union, to whom the broadcast was beamed live for the first time."

Unless you're the kind of music fan who enjoys reading the fine print, odds are that you've never heard of Michael Kamen. That's not to say you haven't heard him; between his film scores and the orchestral arrangements he has written for rockers ranging from Kate Bush to Eric Clapton to Metallica, Kamen definitely gets around.Tonight, in fact, Kamen is likely to be all over the 34th annual Grammy Awards broadcast (8 p.m. on CBS, Channel 11). Not only is his score for the Kevin Costner film "Robin Hood"' up for three Grammys -- Best Pop Instrumental, Best Instrumental Composition Written for a Motion Picture or Television, and Best Arrangement on an Instrumental -- but "(Everything I Do)

If it weren't enough that rap sensation M.C. Hammer already had a mantel full of Grammy Awards, a stack of hit records and a fashion sense beyond the borders of originality, now he has something that'll really make the folks back home proud his own Simplicity Pattern.That inimitable Hammer style is can now be imitated with a $7.50, genuine Simplicity Pattern (No. 0693).The package includes three variations of his harem-style pants, his tuxedo jacket, two official M.C. Hammer iron-on transfers, his autograph and the logo from his award-winning album.