My Grammys Review

I look forward to the Grammys every year, and I'm almost always disappointed. This year was no exception. Although there were some really great parts, there were even more incredibly lame or awkward parts.

Maybe I'm asking for too much, but I feel like the Grammys should be mostly about, I dunno, THE MUSIC! As in people who actually have musical talent, not people who are, at most, only tangentially related to music. A lot of the people presenting the awards had absolutely nothing to do with music. They were only on there because they are in some random show on CBS. I couldn't figure out why Paris Hilton was in the audience, until I realized that Hilton was one of the sponsors. I feel like its gotten so commercial that its not really about the music anymore. There are plenty of great musicians, or even mediocre ones, who it would make MUCH more sense to give air time to. They're the Grammys, I'm sure they could get almost anyone they ask!

Another complaint I have is the quality of some of the nominees/performers. Why on earth Katy Perry needed to be at the Grammys I have no idea. Yes, she may put out music, but when it comes to live performances she can't really sing OR dance! She's only really popular because "I Kissed A Girl" is racy and she dresses in cutesy/racy costumes. And I'll admit theres a place for that in popular culture, but not at the Grammys.

I feel similarly about Miley Cyrus and the Jonas Brothers. Yes, they have catchy music and yes, they're really popular (mostly among tweens), but their music is not at all up to the quality of what SHOULD be performed at the Grammys. Once again, they can have almost anyone they asked, but they often choose bands who have commercial success over ones whose music is real art, and THEY are the ones who should truly be honored on a night like the Grammys.

Kings of Leon were there, they could have performed! Jason Mraz could've played "I'm Yours" or Duffy could've played "Mercy." And why make a great musician like Stevie Wonder perform with the Jonas Brothers? I mean, thats almost insulting! I think he's earned the right to his own performance, don't you? Why were Boys II Men stuck doing backing vocals? Why didn't John Mayer get any real air time? And when they did get really great musicians, they often made them perform together in ways that didn't really work (i.e. Adele/Sugarland, Coldplay/Jay-Z).

Sugarland's "Stay" and Adele's "Chasing Pavements"


Sugarland's performance was amazing by itself, and really, so was Adele's, but I don't understand why Jennifer Nettles needed to sing with her. I think she'd sound even better on her own.

U2's performance opening the Grammy's was good, but they needed to turn Bono's mic up. Also, who opens an awards show with a song that nobody knows? It was great, but couldn't they have saved it for later and had M.I.A. open with "Paper Planes," or have some other performace that everyone would know?

When I heard that MIA was going to perform on her due date, I thought that was really cool. Its really awesome of her to come to the Grammys and perform when she is 9 months pregnant. I was hoping to see her do "Paper Planes," so I was disappointed to see that she was instead relegated to being behind the "Rap Pack" doing "Swagga Like Us," which was mediocre at best. Something about making a very pregnant woman stand in the back while the men do all the performing just doesn't sit right with me, but maybe I'm a bit too sensitive.

T.I. & Justin Timberlake doing "Dead and Gone" was fairly good. It's a really good song, and I think Justin's part was great, but T.I. rapping over a recording of himself just made it sound really muddled.

And in case you think I'm going to complain about everything, here are two performances that I really have no complaints about:

Jennifer Hudson -- "You Pulled Me Through"



Radiohead -- "15 Step"



And lastly, to the winners:

-- I think Adele should've gotten Record of the Year for "Chasing Pavements," not Robert Plant & Alison Krauss.

-- For album of the year, I would've preferred it if Coldplay or Radiohead had won.

-- I'm pretty happy with song of the year, because all of the songs that were up for it are great, especially "Viva La Vida." Also, I'm really glad that Coldplay won Best Pop Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocals.

-- I'm REALLY CHUFFED about Adele winning Best New Artist (and also for her getting Best Female Pop Vocal Performance). She definately deserves it. She's incredibly talented and very down to earth. I think I would've gone on a murderous rampage if the Jonas Brothers had won, but I would've been ok with Duffy.

-- For Best Male Pop Vocal Performance, I'm happy that John Mayer won, but I think that, as much as I love Mr. Mayer, "I'm Yours" by Jason Mraz is a better song.

-- I'm fine with Duffy winning Best Pop Vocal Album, although I don't understand why Adele wasn't up for it...Does she not count as pop?

-- I really feel like for Best Dance Recording, Hot Chip or Sam Sparro should've won, but I love Daft Punk, too, so I'm fine with that.

-- I'm really really excited about Kings of Leon winning Best Rock Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocals for "Sex On Fire," because that song is AMAZING! They've been a great band for a really long time, and between the Grammy and the show they just did at Madison Square Garden, they're finally starting to get the recognition they deserve. That being said, they should've won Best Rock Song as well, but I suppose it wasn't very likely that they were going to beat Springsteen. (Coldplay's "Violet Hill" would've been another good choice.)

-- For Best Rock Album, I think its great that Coldplay won, but it would've been really awesome for Kings of Leon to get it.

-- Radiohead getting Best Alternative Music Album is awesome.

-- "American Boy" definately deserved Best Rap/Sung Collaboration, as did Sugarland's "Stay" for Best Country Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocals & Best Country Song.

-- Al Gore winning Best Spoken Word Album is awesome, but Stephen Colbert is gonna be pissed! ("GOOOORRRRREEEEE!!!")

-- It would've been awesome for Flight of the Conchords to win Best Comedy Album, but oh well, George Carlin seems to win everything he's up for.

-- Sweeny Todd should've won Best Composition Soundtrack, because that soundtrack is AMAZING! (And I don't usually like musicals!)

-- It's awesome that Justice got Best Remixed Recording for their remix of MGMT's "Electric Feel." I love that remix.


Okay...thats enough of my ranting and rambling for one day :O)

***UPDATE 2.11.09*** Aaaand all of the videos have been taken down because of copyright claims from the Grammys. Hopefully you got a chance to see them! I think its really dumb of them to take the videos down, since as far as I know they don't really have another way to make money off of the performances. Its not like they're gonna release a "Grammys 2009" DVD or anything, and if anything it gives them free publicity. Oh well, some people are just idiots.