From Texting Harry Styles to Begging Host Trevor Noah

Music’s Biggest Night is around the corner — and the team responsible for making the magic happen is spilling some major tea on this year’s show.

During a press day at Los Angeles’ Crypto Arena for the 68th Annual Grammy Awards, airing live on CBS Sunday, Feb. 1 at 8 p.m. ET, PEOPLE caught up with Recording Academy President Harvey Mason, Jr. as well as the show’s producers Jesse Collins, Ben Winston and Raj Kapoor about what all is in store for this year’s broadcast.

“A few days to go and it feels like it’s all coming together,” said Winston. “The set’s been built and now we’re just excited to get on with it. Grammy week’s finally here.”

It’s a similar sentiment from Mason, Jr. “A lot of the excitement is around just nervous energy because we’re still making sure things happen, rehearsals, figuring out all the intricacies of the show.”

And with 95 total categories (up two new ones, with Best Traditional Country Album and Best Album Cover added this year, though no more than 10 will be televised) they have their work cut out for them. That said, Winston revealed during the press conference that one exciting puzzle piece just fell into place.

“Breaking news, Harry Styles is going to give out an award so that’s exciting, he’s going to be here and we’re incredibly excited about that,” Winston shared with reporters of Styles agreeing to return to the show for the first time since his 2023 Album of the Year win to serve as a presenter. “I was very happy that we just got a text through that Harry’s up for it and going to be there.”

Winston knows all to well about waiting for important text messages. Following last year’s show long-time host Trevor Noah came to him and said “‘Look, I’ve done a great five years. It’s time to hand the microphone up to somebody else and move on,'” recalls Winston.

But after searching high and low for a suitable replacement for this year, “it got to December and we hadn’t found anybody that we absolutely love. I sent [Noah] a video and literally I was on my knees in this video and I said, ‘Please look at this incredible lineup we’ve got on the show. The only thing that’s missing is you, come back and do one final year.'”

Noah agreed to returning for his sixth and final year helming the broadcast, but not before making Winston sweat a bit: “It was the longest I’ve ever waited for a text to come back in my life!”

According to Mason Jr., Noah’s been the best man for the job. “Trevor has been so instrumental in the success or the recent growth of our show. He has set the tone for who we are and what we do on this night. So smart, so thoughtful, so funny. And he’s just a music guy.”

Mason, Jr., who came up in music producing for icons like Michael Jackson, Whitney Houston and Justin Timberlake, says one thing he’s looking forward to is K-Pop getting it’s time to shine at this year’s show, thanks to nominated stars like Rosé and of course the voices behind the hits from KPop Demon Hunters.

“K-Pop has been a part of my life since 2010. I started going to Korea to make music for all the different K-Pop labels as a songwriter producer. So I’ve seen it. I’ve seen the growth, the evolution, and it’s here in full effect.”

What won’t be making a splash this year: ever-controversial AI artists. Mason, Jr. told reporters, “We are not going to give a Grammy to an AI performer for performance. We’re not going to give AI an award for writing a song, but we will allow AI to not disqualify you. A lot of times there’s a human performing a song that might have been co-written or collaborated with AI. We’re going to honor the human part of that creativity. So it’s a little bit complicated.”

Speaking of complicated, Kapoor says he’s busy keeping tabs on all of this year’s human performers including Sabrina Carpenter, Pharrell Williams and all eight Best New Artist nominees who will be performing a highly anticipated medley like last year.

“There’s rehearsals happening all across the city and in different cities right now,” says Kapoor. “I’m just making sure that everybody’s taken care of, that they’re feeling the support from our team.”

Says Collins, “There’s a couple people that we just knew once they said yes, that this is going to be a viral moment, the minute they touch the stage. And so we’re really excited about breaking the internet.”

Meanwhile, special requests from said talent are rolling in, not that they’ll all be granted. “One artist came back and said, could they have 12 minutes [to perform],” Winston, who’s tasked with keeping the show’s schedule, said with a laugh. “We’d love that. It would be incredible. But sadly, we are on air for a limited amount of time. But those are the things giving us lack of sleep right now.”