Polka which hosts/produces the Grammy Awards, announced that it was eliminating the polka category. The Academy's official reason for eliminating the polka award was “to ensure the awards process remains representative of the current musical landscape.” The Academy's decision stems from the declining number of popular polka albums considered for an award in recent years. For example, out of the five polka albums nominated for an award in 2006, only one album was widely distributed in the mainstream. Polka The polka is originally a Czech dance and genre of dance music familiar throughout Europe and the Americas. It originated in the
Polka polka op. 45 and other examples. Earlier, Johann Strauss I and Josef Lanner wrote polkas designated as a "galop" (quick tempo) or as a regular polka that may not fall into any of the categories above. The polka was a further source of inspiration for the Strauss family in Vienna when Johann II and Josef Strauss wrote one for plucked string instruments (pizzicato) only, the well-known 'Pizzicato polka'. Johann II later wrote a 'New pizzicato polka' (Neu pizzicato-polka), opus 449, culled from music of his operetta 'Fürstin Ninetta'. Much earlier, he also wrote a 'joke-polka' (German "scherz-polka") entitled 'Champagne-polka', opus