Place a big order for statuettes

Should R&B; heartthrob Usher’s “Confessions” take album of the year honors tonight, it could be the first time the shiny gold gramophone statues are delivered to winners by dump truck.

Since the Recording Academy started in 1998 awarding statues in the album category not just to the artists and producer but also to recording engineers, mixers and mastering engineers, the number of names eligible for Grammys has ballooned like Simon Cowell’s ego.

That’s especially true in R&B; and hip-hop, where it’s almost de rigueur for albums to have a different production team for every track.

For Usher, 40 individuals (if we counted right) are eligible in the various roles that went into the making of “Confessions.”

A little perspective: At the first Grammy Awards ceremony in 1959, it took just 38 Grammys to cover the winners in all 28 categories.

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-- Randy Lewis