As celebrities take the red carpet, the spotlights make their extravagant outfits gleam. Excitement builds as awards are about to be announced. The first Grammy given captures the interest of viewers. However, as the show progresses excitement begins to die off with every advertisement and every undeserved award given. By the end of the two and a half hours of show, it feels like 10 have gone by without much to show for it.
The Grammys, which started at 8 p.m., Sunday, Feb. 2, were an event of great anticipation with many viewers playing games along with it or throwing watch parties. Unfortunately, the actual show did not live up to the hype. However there were a few good aspects of the show which saved it from being as bad as it could’ve been.
From when this year’s host, Trevor Noah, whose jokes were average, makes his introductions until he wraps up the last of the awards, it is made thoroughly clear that the show is dedicated to the Los Angeles fires. This includes running a collection for donations to fire relief through a QR code shown on screen, as well as honoring the Los Angeles firefighters and fire department. In addition, a portion of the advertisements shown during the show were of small businesses affected by the fires.
While the attention given to the tragedy that is the wildfires is highly admirable, it wasn’t quite executed as well as it should’ve. First of all, the fact that Noah urged viewers at home to donate while standing in a room with celebrities who could donate millions on their own, lacks perspective. During the show he did mention that the celebrities had their own QR codes on their tables and that larger companies were donating, but he never mentioned any celebrities who donated a significant amount.
Second of all, the advertisements, which were plentiful, felt as though less than 25% of them mentioned the small businesses promised. It is understandable that the Grammys need to make money through sponsorships but it felt insensitive to say that they would be trying to show many small businesses but few were acknowledged.
This leads to another issue which was the amount of advertisements shown in general. The time the actual show was shown felt about the same as the amount of time spent on advertisements. A viewer could go to the bathroom, grab a snack, check their social media and change into pajamas in the time that it took to get through a segment of advertisements. If a chunk of the advertisements that weren’t showcasing small businesses were cut out the Grammys wouldn’t have felt like they were two times the length they actually were.
This all goes without mentioning that due to a lack of time, a major portion of awards given weren’t even broadcasted. This includes awards in for the genres rock, R&B, alternative, metal, jazz, instrumental, blues, folk, gospel, classical and more. Most of the Grammys were spent on pop and rap which for some may seem understandable due to the fact that they are most popular but this isn’t quite true. Previous Grammy winner and widely popular artist SZA won best R&B performance and best R&B song but her win was not shown. Major bands, The Beatles and The Rolling Stones both won Grammys one for best rock performance and the other for best rock album. This is just the tip of the iceberg.
As for the categories that were shown, many awards which were given in turn gave fans mixed emotions. For a few categories, many fans feel as though an artist was robbed of their Grammy. There are many valid complaints being mentioned, a few being repeatedly seen throughout social media. An overall consensus from these complaints is that the robbery of these artists makes the show as a whole unenjoyable.
One majorly disappointing robbery is that of Billie Eilish. Eilish had seven nominations overall but did not win a single Grammy. Among the losses she experienced, the most disheartening one was Album of the Year, which she lost to Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter. For many, this loss was incredibly heartbreaking considering Eilish and her brother Finneas put their heart and souls into it. This album portrays an insane range of emotions and shares the truthful experiences of Eilish. It is even more upsetting to see that Beyoncé won best album for an album in a genre she is new to. Over social media, many Eilish fans have expressed how Beyoncé should’ve never won because her album was less popular and was subpar compared to Eilish. This loss concluded the awards and made it feel as though watching the whole show was a bit of a waste.
Though the awards were over, the people controlling the cameras at the Grammys felt the need to pan to Eilish after her final loss of the night. This is highly insensitive especially considering Eilish is still young and hasn’t been in the limelight as long as Beyoncé. Though drama is a major part of entertainment, it was heartbreaking to see Eilish tear up with the realization that all her hard work didn’t amount to any award at this ceremony. Ending the show with seeing Eilish so emotional felt like watching a movie with such high expectations only to be left with a terrible ending which left you questioning if you wasted the last few hours of your life.
This all goes without mentioning how many viewers were more upset about the wins of certain celebrities rather than the losses of others. One recurring argument is that Beyoncé shouldn’t have won Best Country Album since she isn’t a country singer. Another upsetting win is Kendrick Lamar’s four wins just for the song “Not Like Us”, which was created as a diss track rather than as a genuine song. It felt boring to see him accept so many awards for something so average.
On the other hand, while the Grammys were not up to a perfect standard, there were quite a few things which were enjoyable for viewers. A handful of singers performed their most popular song with dancers, backdrops and even special outfits. A few standout performances were those of Sabrina Carpenter, Chappell Roan, Benson Boone and Doechii.
Out of those, the most theatrical performance was done by Carpenter. Similar to Carpenter’s Short n’ Sweet tour, her Grammy performance was one of great spectacle. She starts her performance off descending a gorgeous, white staircase in a glittery, black tuxedo jacket, white collared button up, black tie, glittery black skirt and sparkly blue heels with red bottoms. She begins her singing of one of her top songs, “Espresso”, in a jazzy style. As her song progresses, she switches from her jazz style to the regular rendition of the song and strips her tuxedo outfit to reveal a magnificent blue mini dress with layers of blue jewels outlines a corset shape. Throughout her performance she inserts a few bits such as having an outfit malfunction, only to then reveal her new outfit as well as having her fake house walls fall down so she could be caught by one of her male dancers. Towards the end of “Espresso”, she transitions to “Please Please Please” to finish out her performance. This performance was remarkably refreshing compared to some of the more basic performances which preceded and succeeded her.
The other performances, which were less extravagant but almost equally extraordinary, were those of Chappell Roan, Benson Boone, Eilish and Doechii. Roan performed her song “Pink Pony Club” with her dancers who were dressed as cowboy clowns as well as a giant horse in the middle of her set. Boone’s performance was a surprise to audiences when he unexpectedly pulled a microphone out of his jacket. He then proceeded to take a page out of Carpenter’s book and pulled an outfit change with his suit tearing away to reveal a sparkly light blue jumpsuit which many claim, emulated Elton John vibes.
Though Eilish didn’t have much theatrics, her performance was incredibly gorgeous and her backdrop which included photos of young Eilish living in Los Angeles was heartwarming. Last but definitely not least, this year’s Top Rap Album Grammy winner, Doechii performed her increasingly popular song, “DENIAL IS A RIVER”. The energy produced by Doechii during this song is nearly non recreatable. This unique quality to her added with her impressive backup dancers is another reason she rose to popularity and why her win of Top Rap Album of the year made complete sense. It was refreshing to see her win this award because unlike with some other category winners, her win was deserved.
Along with Doechii’s win, there were a few other wins which were equally as satisfying. Roan won Best New Artist, which was a relief considering her biggest competition seemed to be Carpenter, who should’ve never been nominated. Furthermore, Bruno Mars and Lady Gaga’s win for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance was very much earned with their gorgeous vocals. Their dynamic duo was portrayed even further when they performed a cover of “California Dreamin”.
Overall, as the celebrities walk off the red carpet and out the door, many viewers are left feeling empty. As the spotlights turn off, viewers question what they just watched. It leaves many wondering if the Grammys were rigged or if in all, they just wasted a significant amount of their time. The biggest question looming though is whether viewers will put themselves through this whole situation again thinking “it has to be better next year”.
