I’m not going to complain about the Grammys
It’s too easy, for one. For another, I’m going to blow all my credibility and standing amongst my fellow bloggers (like I had any capital to spend there) and say that I actually enjoyed this year’s celebrations. Parts of it, anyway. It was still full of just as many bad jokes, ill-conceived duets and excessive Kanye West appearances as in years past, but there was enough entertainment to keep me from beating my head into the table. Come on, it really could have been much, much worse.
In that spirit of optimism, I’d like to talk about the things I actually enjoyed about last night’s show.
1)M.I.A. and her massive stomach. Yeah. She was actually due last night, but thankfully her water didn’t break on television. I know we like to know all about the happenings in celebrities’ lives, but that’s going several steps too far.
2)Adele and her gum-chewing. She actually continued to chew it as she accepted her award. Maybe I’m easily entertained, but that gave me a kick. She was also great in her performance (albeit visibly nervous).
3)Thom Yorke dancing like a madmen in front of a marching band. I have no doubt millions of Grammy-watchers at home suffered simultaneous head implosions during that performance. Why didn’t they open instead of U2?
4)Robert Plant, Allison Krauss & T Bone Burnett being introduced by Zooey Deschanel. ‘Nuff said.
5)Whoever was playing guitar for Carrie Underwood. CU has a good voice but I find her songs endlessly boring. That guitar player made an otherwise by-the-numbers performance really memorable.
6)Estelle and ‘American Boy’. I forgot to mention Kanye, you say? No, I didn’t forget, no matter how hard I tried.
7)Macca & Dave Grohl. I felt like I wasn’t supposed to like this, but I couldn’t help it. Paul sounded great and Dave Grohl is one hell of a drummer.
8)Justin Timberlake. Crap, he’s a good singer. There’s a reason no one remembers he was in NSYNC anymore. T.I. redeemed his fellow rap performers by – *gasp!* – sounding good.
9)Jamie Foxx, Ne-Yo, Smokey Robinson and Abdul “Duke” Fakir, the last living member of the wonderful Four Tops. Smokey’s botoxified face kind of scared me, but he sang his heart out. I don’t care much for Jamie Foxx’s musical career, but he seems suited to Motown hits.
Things I wasn’t crazy about:
1)That Rap Pack thing was awful. I would have preferred to have simply heard M.I.A. do ‘Paper Planes’, but I’m sure with the impending birth and all, the Grammy planners probably figured a medley would save them having to cobble together a last-minute stand-in had she gone into labor. This way they could still do the same performance minus 1. Still, boo on this idea.
2)Sugarland trying to steal Adele’s thunder. Not that it was her idea, I’m sure, but come on guys! You gave her new artist of the year and you won’t even let the girl sing one song alone! Thankfully, Adele still outsang her.
3)Stevie Wonder with The Jonas Brothers. Look, I know tween girls love TJB and I’m not going to fault them for it. I do have to admire the fact that those boys actually play instruments, but this was an awful idea. At least Taylor Swift and Miley Cyrus are contemporaries, thus the pairing made sense (even if Taylor Swift’s sole role seemed to be showing us how much Miley really can’t sing). Then to add insult to injury, you finally let Stevie have the stage to himself, and you cut him off! Not only that, but people were getting up, talking and leaving the auditorium WHILE HE WAS STILL PLAYING. Respect people! What, he can’t see you so it’s okay to leave?
4)Breaking with the ‘they’re waiting backstage so they’re winning this thing’ tradition for M.I.A. Whenever you see someone waiting backstage while nominees are being announced at these things, they are about to win. This is an almost 99% accurate way of predicting the winner. It held true last night, *except* for M.I.A. I cry foul Grammys!
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YSI
Radiohead – 15 Step (Live From The Basement)
Adele – Chasing Pavements
From 19
M.I.A. – 10 Dollar
From Arular
Smokey Robinson & The Miracles – My Girl Has Gone
From The Ultimate Collection
