Sunday night, once again, brought the infamous and widely watched Grammy’s awards show. Some people hate the show, some love it, but either way – it’s always a spectacle for music lovers, fashion fanatics, and celebrity mega-fans alike. And, as usual, it was filled with soaring highs and awkward lows – so here is a list for anyone might’ve missed the socially distanced spectacular.
Performances
Obviously, one of the best parts of the night is always watching the performances. There’s always surprise collaborations and debut songs throughout the night.
The first few minutes of the night were action-packed. The show started off with the one and only Harry Styles. The handsomely beautiful performer sang the hit single Watermelon Sugar. The song was good, but there are so many better songs off the album that a different one like Adore You or Golden. The no-frills performance was a great way to start off the night. Directly after Harry Styles was the one and only teen pop sensation Billie Eilish who was up for many awards for Everything I Wanted. The song was performed almost exactly the same as the album tone, which was awesome. Eilish and her brother Finneas had a super awesome set which looked like a car half-submersed in water and fog which gave off a solemn and seriously moody vibe. The third set in a row to open the show was from the HAIM sisters. They are definitely less known than Eilish or Styles, but they’ve collaborated with a ton of famous artists. The had a great rocking tune and showed off their talent by switching off on vocals, guitar, and drums. I wouldn’t be surprised if they gained a bunch more fans from this performance.
One of the surprisingly worst moments of the night for me was DaBaby’s rendition of Rockstar. The song was easily one of the best from the summer of 2020. Instead of just using his eerily-similar live vocals, he decided to do a strange rendition of the song which included a bunch of old people swaying and singing gospel in the background. DaBaby who was dressed in sparkling white gloves and a CC suit just came off as cheesy, and not great. Probably the worst performance of the night.
The best part of the night was likely from Megan Thee Stallion. She has had an incredible year, and gave an incredible medley performance and truly showed why she is just so badass. Megan, honey, you won this thing. Another standout of the night was Dua Lipa, who looked just as amazing as she sounded. Bringing back a retro disco vibe with a medley from Future Nostalgia, she owned the night with her looks and vocals. Another one of the best nights, musically, was the debut performance from Silk Sonic, AKA the collaborative duo of Bruno Mars and Anderson Paak. The two sang their hearts out with a 70’s slow jam R&B inspired song that was cheesy goodness. These artists no doubt had the best performances of the night.
History Being Made
The Grammy’s are known for being a controversial awards show. This year though, they did a much better job of including people of color and women. Beyonce broke a ton of records for the amount of Grammy’s won by a singer/artist, which was amazing to see! We also saw countless other women of color receiving tons of awards like Megan Thee Stallion who won countless records for her amazing year in 2020. I Can’t Breathe won song of the year. Fiona Apple won a Grammy but boycotted the show in a big statement as well. We also saw a night dominated by women. Compared to the CMA’s, who barely nominated any women at all, the Grammy’s were dominated by women –especially in the country category. There were also a lot of international performers like BTS and Bad Bunny.
One a bit of a more sad note – the section of the show that honors musicians who have passed away was much more devastating for this year than normal due to covid-19. This had to have been the most deaths ever recorded for the shows tribute segment.
The artists for lifetime achievement awards this year though were very prolific artists. Including the brainy new wave sounds of the Talking Heads, Hip-Hop from Grandmaster Flash, and artists like Selena, Lionel Hampton, and Salt-N-Pepa.
Summary
All in all this years show was so much more intimate than pervious years due to the precautions that had to have been taken due to covid. Hopefully next year will try to blend the in-depth features on artists and small venues, but be able to have more of an audience in 2022. I might be biased, but Megan Thee Stallion definitely won the night.