The Grammy Awards are really more of a three-hour concert than an actual awards show. Sure there are some 200-plus nominees in 83 categories, but only nine awards were handed out during the actual telecast on CBS Sunday night.
Instead of seeing your favorite artists walk up, thank their agents, and say they didn’t expect to win, viewers got 23 performances. This makes a lot of sense because music is a performance art, and most of us would rather see our favorite artists perform instead of just accepting a shiny trophy.
Unfortunately, when you have such a long show, it can lead to some interesting and awkward moments. Also, if you’re not a fan of pop music then you’ll most likely hate most of what appeared on CBS last night. Not to worry, though, because I watched the entire three hours and 35 minutes of the show, and have compiled some of the highlights and lowlights from last night just for you. You’re welcome.
PRINCE
What is it about Prince that makes everyone go crazy? He did it at the Golden Globes, and again last night when he presented the Album of the Year to Beck for Morning Phase. Beck, who was almost the latest “Imma Let You Finish” victim of Kanye West, looked like he was more excited to meet Prince than actually accept the ALBUM OF THE YEAR AWARD.
UH, SO KANYE WASN’T JOKING?
It appeared during the show that Kanye West was joking when he rushed the stage after Beck’s win for Album of the Year, but in a post-Grammy interview with E! Television West said, “Beck should respect artistry and he should’ve given his award to Beyonce.” Maybe Jay-Z should get upset again.
WEIRDEST TRANSITION
The show went over an hour without giving out a single award, and during this time featured nine performances. Of course, this many performances in a row will lead to some odd transitions in music, but the oddest one of the night was going from country artists Brandy Clark and Dwight Yoakam to Kanye West, Rihanna, and Paul McCartney. Even Paul seemed confused by the whole thing.
ONE IS THE LONELIEST NUMBER
During a pretty great performance from Jeff Lynne and Ed Sheeran, the camera caught Kanye West collaborator Paul McCartney dancing by himself. I’m pretty sure it is some sort of Grammy law that if one Beatle stands up everyone stands up. Thankfully Grantland’s Rembert Browne agreed:
IF YOU SEE SIR PAUL DANCING TO ELO, YOU STAND UP AND DANCE SEND EVERYONE IN THAT CROWD TO PRISON — Rembert Browne (@rembert) February 9, 2015
PENTATONIX
If you were wondering who was standing behind Barry Gibb as co-presenter for Best Pop Vocal Performance that was Pentatonix. The a cappella group was the third season winner of The Sing-Off on NBC, and won a Grammy for Best Arrangement, Instrumental or A Cappella yesterday.
TONIGHT’S BIG WINNER? TOM PETTY
Last month Tom Petty was awarded 12.5 percent of the writing credit for Sam Smith’s “Stay With Me” because of some apparent similarities to Petty’s hit “I Won’t Back Down.” With Smith the (actual) big winner of the night, earning four Grammys, this means a bump in sales and some extra cash for Petty and “I Won’t Back Down” co-writer Jeff Lynne.
ANNIE LENNOX GOTTA ANNIE LENNOX
When Annie Lennox walks onto the stage, you know something interesting is going to happen and she did not disappoint during her performance with Hozier. First, she decided to play “mouth horn,” and then she did a pretty intense rendition of Screamin’ Jay Hawkins’ “I Put a Spell on You.” Classic Annie.
START WITH HELL, END WITH HEAVEN
I’m not sure the Grammys did this on purpose, but they started the show with AC (lightning bolt) DC performing a medley which included “Highway to Hell,” and ended with Beyonce singing the gospel song, “Take My Hand, Precious Lord” before introducing Common and John Legend who finished the night by performing their Oscar-nominated song from Selma, “Glory.”
WHO IS JOHN MAYER?
Buddy Holly? Elvis Costello? Clark Kent? Phil Dunphy?
YEP, THAT WAS KRISTEN WIIG
After being introduced by a poem reading Shia LaBeouf, Sia performed “Chandelier” with Maddie Ziegler and Kristen Wiig dancing around a very messy room. Yes, Kristen Wiig. She wasn’t terrible, Sia performed with her back to the crowd and without her giant wig, and…OH! Wiig, wig, Wiig, wig. Haha. Good one, Sia.
For a complete list of all of the Grammy winners and losers head to the Grammy website. Thanks to CBS, IdolXMuzic, and C. Blanche for the videos above.
