SHE'D LIKE TO THANK THE ACADEMY

"Country is part of the very texture of the extraordinary quilt that is American music," intoned Recording Academy chief Neil Portnow to Arista Nashville/RCA's Cam during her visit to the Academy's Santa Monica offices. "Hey, you don't have to sell me, Neil—I'm a Nashville artist," chuckled the Grammy-nominated breakout before realizing that she was addressing a life-sized animatronic figure from the organization's "Great Moments With Mr. Portnow" exhibit (now part of the permanent collection). The axe in Cam's hands, incidentally, is a flea-market ukulele from the Portnow collection; later Randy Goodman Skyped in with his tenor uke for a duet on "Tiptoe Through the Tulips."