Should Justin Timberlake and Janet Jackson be allowed to perform in or appear at the 46th Grammy Awards (7 p.m. Sunday, CBS)? As everybody knows, Jackson and Timberlake engaged in a rather vulgar act of showmanship during the halftime of last week’s Super Bowl. I’ll let others decide if this event represents the end of Western civilization or merely a media tempest in a D-cup.

But the fact that a lewd prank can overshadow a song speaks volumes about the state of popular music. Can anyone even remember the duet being sung when Jackson lost her “composure”? When the music matters less than the video, choreography and costumes, all you have is crude Las Vegas glitz.

For what it’s worth, here are the tunes nominated for song of the year: “Beautiful” (Christina Aguilera), “Dance with My Father” (Luther Vandross), “I’m With You” (Avril Lavinge), “Keep Me in Your Heart” (Warren Zevon) and “Lose Yourself” (Eminem).

Tonight’s other highlights

• Arsenio Hall is host of “Star Search” (7 p.m., CBS).
• The voices of Matthew Broderick and Jeremy Irons are featured in the 1994 animated musical “The Lion King” (7 p.m., ABC).
• A key witness to a mob crime doesn’t live to testify on “The District” (9 p.m., CBS).
• A commuter’s last subway ride on “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” (9 p.m., NBC).

Sunday’s other highlights

• Scheduled on “60 Minutes” (6 p.m., CBS): Evangelical Christians; guerrilla war in Iraq.
• Marge animates a history lesson on “The Simpsons” (7 p.m., Fox).
• The beloved preschool cartoon “Blue’s Clues” (7 p.m., Nickelodeon) moves into primetime with “The Legend of the Blue Puppy.”