I have to give credit to the Grammys for one big thing: they tried this year. They really tried to make a fun and exciting ceremony for television. The telecast played like a concert, not an awards ceremony, and the approach mostly worked. I would be lying if I said I wasn't disappointed with the lack of awards on the broadcast. If you told me they handed out more than ten awards last night in three and a half hours, I would be shocked. Only two prizes were awarded in the first hour and a pair of the winners--Kanye West and Jay-Z--did not show up to the ceremony. Otherwise, it felt like a tribute contest to Adele and Whitney Houston.
There were some interesting events before the 54th Annual Grammy Awards telecast began. For example, even without being invited to the massive electronic dance music tribute, Skrillex was still the big winner for those styles. He actually won more Grammys than any other Best New Artist nominee, taking home Best Dance Recording, Best Dance/Electronica Album, and Best Remixed Recording, Non-Classical. Skrillex already racked up more Grammys than most nominees before the red carpet broadcasts started.
Alison Kraus also made Grammy history last night. She became the most awarded female artist, the most awarded singer, and the second most awarded Grammy winner of all time. There is a bit of misinformation going about today. Kraus herself has only won twenty-seven Grammys. What's being miscounted as her twenty-eighth is actually a prize that went to her album engineers Mike Shipley and Brad Blackwood. It's an amazing achievement either way. She'll surely wind up being the overall record holder in another few years.
Trey Parker and Matt Stone are now Grammy Award winners for the Original Broadway Cast Recording of The Book of Mormon. Betty White took home her first Grammy award for Best Spoken Word recording. And Kathy Griffin still has not won a Grammy award, despite her best efforts to campaign for all the prizes ever invented.
The 54th Annual Grammy Awards had a three point agenda last night that came across remarkably well considering the circumstances. Everyone knew going in that Adele would win everything. We also had an inclination that the Grammys were aiming for massive combined performances split by genre and theme. We did not know until the night before that the ceremony would choose to put so much focus on the sudden passing of Whitney Houston.
The Grammys opened with a somber prayer ceremony for Whitney Houston. The artists in attendance all bowed their heads and held hands as LL Cool J spoke about her life and influence on the music industry. From there, it was rare to see a segment go by without anyone referencing the late singer.
I honestly think the whole thing came across with an understated sincerity that betrayed expectations. With more time, there would have been an overproduced tribute that was more about which labels' were fighting for artist exposure. This is, after all, one of the ceremonies where the In Memoriam montage turns into an applause competition for which dead musicians are the most important. Everything is competitive at the Grammys, even death.
There were a number of standout Grammy performances last night. One of the best was a well-performed tribute to country icon Glen Campbell. The Band Perry, Blake Shelton, and the man himself outclassed much of the ceremony by performing as musicians. Anyone who was confused by the Best New Artist nomination for The Band Perry should have walked away knowing why the country music scene has embraced them. It was a classy tribute that made for great television.
Nicki Minaj did not betray my expectations. She went for spectacle. She started with a few lines from "Roman's Revenge" before transitioning into an insane homage to The Exorcist set to her new single "Roman Holiday." The stage was filled with people dressed as priests, altar boys, and monks. People on Twitter were confused and frightened. That was the point. Nicki Minaj did not set out to do a pleasant performance. She set out to be remembered. Mission accomplished.
My favorite performance of the night, however, was the tribute to Electronica and Dance. Even with the presence of my least favorite Grammy Award winner (who, inexplicably, was given a standing ovation by everyone in the front center section every time he walked onstage), it was great entertainment. It kicked off with David Guetta performing with that guy and Lil Wayne. Then they introduced The Foo Fighters. They performed with Deadmau5, who then got to do what he does best: entertain. It's worth pointing out that this is the first time Electronica musicians have been invited to perform during the actual ceremony. You can watch the whole thing here.
The night belonged to Adele. The non-Whitney narrative of the evening was paying tribute to a strong new artist and welcoming her back after vocal surgery. Would she still be able to sing? How would she sound? Would she still be grinding her vocal cords and screaming her way through songs like "Rolling in the Deep" even though that (plus chain smoking) is what blew out her voice anyway? The answers are yes, just dandy, and no. Get thee to a good vocal teacher, Adele, lest you want to be a professional songwriter who can't sing at all in three years.
Due to logistics, you knew at most that a single artist would be chosen to perform in honor of Whitney Houston. The Grammy producers had less than twenty-four hours to choose a singer, teach the song, arrange the music, and stage/tech the song for the ceremony. Jennifer Hudson was selected to sing "I Will Always Love You." The performance started a cappella. Hudson had to pause before the band joined her on the chorus to compose herself for the rest of the performance. It worked. If nothing else, it showed how hard it will be to fill Whitney's shoes. She was an original artist, master vocalist, and strong performer. She will be missed.
What will surely not get as much fanfare today was the excellent tribute to Etta James. Alicia Keys and Bonnie Raitt sang "Sunday Kind of Love" at the front of the stage. There were no fireworks. There was no stage magic. It was just too talented musicians paying tribute to one of the greats.
The only surprise of the night was finding out that the Grammy voters didn't care about fairness this year. Normally, an artist like Adele almost sweeps. Maybe they lose Song of the Year but win Album of the Year and Record of the Year. Sometimes, someone else will take the genre Vocal Performance award but the star of the night will win for the genre of the album.
Not last night. Adele went six for six, even winning for her music video to "Rolling in the Deep." The only nominee connected to Adele who lost was Ryan Tedder. He was beaten for Producer of the Year, Non-Classical by Paul Epworth. Epworth was nominated for producing Adele tracks, as well.
All in all, the 54th Annual Grammy Awards were strong. The whole thing still dragged on far too long. This was a significant improvement over the ceremonies that typically go over by twenty or more minutes.
What the Grammy foundation could do in the future is make the live telecast a concert event for the industry. Choose stories and artists that represent the eligible year in music and plan for spectacle. Hand out the majority of the awards at an earlier ceremony and save the big four--Album, Record, Song, and New Artist--for the live telecast. Edit together nice packages dedicated to the winners and keep the show under three hours.
Thoughts? Love to hear them.