Grammy ratings in three-year high

Grammy winner Justin Timberlake apologised for his Super Bowl duet

The Grammy Awards has drawn its biggest audience in three years, attracting 26.4m viewers on Sunday.

Ratings for the three-and-a-half-hour Los Angeles music ceremony were up 6% from 2003, Nielsen Media Research said.

US television network CBS intended to broadcast the ceremony live, but it imposed a five-minute delay after Janet Jackson's Super Bowl performance.

The singer had provoked a record 200,000 complaints after her breast was exposed during a live dance routine.

It prompted a Federal Communications Commission investigation and CBS, which broadcast both events, faced possible sanctions.

Apology

Justin Timberlake, who joined Jackson in the Super Bowl duet, conceded to a CBS demand that he issue an apology during the Grammys as a condition for appearing on the show.

Jackson had been due to take part in a Grammy tribute to singer Luther Vandross but she declined to attend.

Ceremony organisers said none of the broadcast had to be edited for potentially offensive content.

Viewers saw R&B singer Beyonce Knowles take five Grammys and hip-hop duo OutKast win the coveted album of the year title, with only occasional references to the Super Bowl incident.

Christina Aguilera, receiving a female pop vocalist Grammy, held the straps of her gown in place during her acceptance speech and said: "I don't want to have the same thing happen that Janet had done... if I can keep it together."

Sunday's ceremony drew the highest Grammy ratings since 2001, when the best album award went to veteran jazz rockers Steely Dan instead of the controversial favourite - rapper Eminem.