LOS ANGELES — The woman who created the most popular album in the U.S. last year had a trying Grammy Awards.
Recording Academy president Neil Portnow said there was a "technical glitch" after a microphone inside a piano fell onto the instrument's strings during British superstar Adele's performance Monday night of the tender "All I Ask."
The result was that the hitmaker sounded very mortal — TV audiences heard a pitchy song and saw an unsettled Adele, who appeared disconcerted when the song ended. The singer later consoled herself by getting a burger from a popular local joint.
"Something like that can easily be distracting or off-putting," Portnow said. "To her credit, she killed it. She did a fantastic job. That was an issue on our behalf."
Portnow said the mic fell when the piano was lifted onto a satellite stage located in the audience at Staples Center.
"It means when the hammer of the piano hits the strings it sounds like something is in there," he said backstage after the CBS telecast ended.
Portnow said the sound was switched to a backup system, but that involved cutting off the original system.
"You had a couple seconds where you did not have audio in the house," he said. "It was fixed in a matter of seconds, but we've never happy when something like that happens."
