The great thing about music is, like all art forms, it’s left to interpretation. One-hundred people could each have their own understanding of a song or performance and no one idea is right. Music is about evoking emotion and so, in turn, a show that revolves around music like the Grammys should do the same thing. A lot of people were disappointed with the Grammys this year for so many different reasons. But whether you loved them or hated them, you still felt something.
Here is a recap of the grammy’s in less than five minutes for those of you who missed it because your live stream wasn’t “lit” (I read a lot of message boards for entertainment on commercial breaks). This is just my rendition so you may not agree with it. In fact, if you do agree with everything I say something is probably chemically bonding us and that’d be weird.
So let’s agree to disagree here as L.L. Cool J said when he opened the show, “With all that divides us today, our shared love of music unites us, all of us.”
Andra Day killed it! Ellie Goulding tried to keep up: I’ve been a fan of Andra for quite some time now. I actually saw her not too long ago at a small venue in Nashville where she gave me goosebumps with her crystal clear vocals and old-school vibe. Reminiscent of Ella Fitzgerald and Billie Holiday, I think the industry needs more of Andra.
A few awards were given…
John Legend, Demi Lovato, Meghan Trainor and Luke Bryan paid tribute to Lionel Richie: while I think that someone had the task of putting a bunch of names into a hat and randomly drawing four for this tribute, I have to say it was done nicely and showcased the best of Lionel. I think he thought so too…
And Chrissy Tiegan was supporting her man like always – even with a fast-approaching due date.
Side note: is it just me or do we all think that baby Legend is going to be amazingly adorable?
James Bay performed with Tori Kelly: James Bay is a English singer-songwriter force to be reckoned with. His album Chaos And The Calm is a complete work of art and his live performance was nothing short of incredible. But why pair his unique styling with Tori Kelly who strives to sound like every 90’s Pop singer to exist? Because they’re both “new” artists? James Bay has been making people stop and listen for quite some time now and just because he’s finally recognized in the U.S. doesn’t mean he should be looped into the same category as a YouTube artist known for her covers of other people’s music. It’s almost impossible to find a non-resting-bitch-face picture of Tori anywhere online, in fact, she chose one as her album cover. So it’s no surprise that this was happening a lot last night (especially when Meghan Trainor deservingly won Best New Artist).
Kendrick Lamar had a powerful medley performance: that brought the house down. Even if you aren’t a fan of hip-hop you have to love Kendrick and what he stands for. In the media lately there has been a lot of hype about Beyonce’s latest video and Super Bowl performance and I think Kendrick made the decision to support her and ride that wave. All I’m going to say is that if you aren’t affected by the issues of inequality, you can’t speak on other’s right to protest it. I fully and whole-heartedly support powerful African American artists using their large fanbase to touch on not-so-easy-to-talk-about issues and spread a message against violence in general (of any kind). Kendrick is and always will be incredible.
Stevie Wonder and Pentatonix paid tribute to late Earth,Wind & Fire member, Maurice White: the acapella performance was jaw dropping and clearly well received by the audience. Some people were up in arms about the length of the tribute saying more time should have been dedicated to Maurice and while I agree, I think fellow Earth, Wind & Fire members were honored by it. They came out in tears to say a bit about their friend and brother. And Stevie still managed to keep things light like he always does…
The Eagles also had an emotional tribute to Glenn Frey:
While we’re on the topic of tributes. Let’s talk Lady Gaga and hers for David Bowie: I should start by saying I’m a huge Bowie fan and a not-so-huge Gaga fan. I understand individually, uniqueness and even plain weird, but sometimes I think there’s a fine line between trying to be different and wanting to be laughed at for fame. While she originally gained attention for her meat dress on the red carpet, the idea of Gaga paying tribute to Bowie had a lot of people upset. Classic artists who were friends with Bowie throughout the years were yearning to cover tracks that they had seen him do from backstage at his concerts and somehow Gaga won the Twizzler pull (you know when there’s one short Twizzler and everyone draws one… okay, never mind). Either way, the performance was amazing and Gaga had Bowie’s actions and performance traits down 100%, but is that really a tribute? It was sort of scary to me that she became him… And I fear that with her, she’ll now believe she is him. There will only be one David Bowie.
Adele sang her heart out: and it was still amazing. In her acoustic version of “All I Ask” co-written by Bruno Mars who introduced her performance, “something went wrong.” Adele explained it as the piano microphones falling onto the strings during the performance. All I heard was her get pitchy in the last belt of the chorus but who cares? No one is on their game all the time & that woman has one incredible voice…
Taylor Swift won album of the year: and it’s almost becoming ridiculous how much we expect it. Even as a fan of Taylor and her incredible songwriting, part of me was pretty upset about someone more deserving not getting that award last night. Taylor on the other hand, was pumped…
I wish she had a different outfit on. Maybe more clothes perhaps. But her speech of empowerment to women was welcomed and while I love Kanye (yes, I said it), I think her comeback was just as justified as his lyric, “I feel like me and Taylor might still have sex/Why? Because I made that bitch famous.” The two are on totally different playing fields yes their strong “competition” still exists. Either way, it brings attention and neither one of them want that to stop.
Full list of nominees & winners
Well Worth It 