The Grammys came back in full swing this award season, entertaining audiences with the glitz and glam of Hollywood’s biggest musical stars. Viewers tuned in to watch their favorite artists in their Sunday best during the biggest night in music.
But, the night was not all positive. The 2023 Grammys had some problematic and downright disappointing moments. Let’s take a look at what worked, and what didn’t at this year’s awards –
Good – Beyoncé’s record-breaking win
Beyoncé broke records at this year’s Grammys.
Beyoncé’s newest album “RENAISSANCE” won four awards including Best Dance/Electronic Album and Best Dance/Electronic Music Recording for “Cuff It.” She now has 32 Grammy awards, the most out of any musician in the award show’s 65 year history.
The singer-songwriter humbly accepted her 32nd award stating, “I’m trying not to be too emotional. I’m trying to just receive this night.”
Bad – Bonnie Raitt wins Song of the Year
The most WTF moment of the night came when Bonnie Raitt won Song of the Year for her ballad “Just Like That.”
The category was jam-packed with chart-topping contenders like Beyoncé, Harry Styles and Adele. Even Raitt was surprised by her win, opening her acceptance speech by saying,”I’m so surprised, I don’t know what to say.”
Usually, the Song of the Year goes to a track that captures the energy of the year in which the Grammys are being held. Though Raitt is a well-respected singer, “Just Like That” is not a widely known song, making it a confusing choice for the winner of the category.
Good – 50 Years of Hip Hop Tribute
The Grammys celebrated 50 years of hip-hop with an elaborate, decade spanning performance. The mash-up, directed by musician Questlove, celebrated hip-hop’s rich history.
The almost 15 minute performance began with LL Cool J’s “Rump Shaker.” It then took viewers on a journey with multiple hip-hop artists like Queen Latifah, Busta Rhymes, Missy Elliot, Nelly and more. The segment concluded in modern day with Lil Uzi Vert’s “Just Wanna Rock.”
The performance seemed to be an attempt to mediate the rocky relationship between hip-hop and the Grammys. The award show did not recognize the genre until a decade after its creation, and even then it was met by boycotts from some of the genre’s biggest names.
Though the energetic performance did not completely solve the rocky relationship between hip-hop and the Grammys, it was certainly a step in the right direction.
Bad – Bad Bunny’s Captioning
Grammy viewers using captions were disappointed with CBS’ choice of captioning for Bad Bunny.
The Puerto Rican singer kicked off the broadcast with an energetic performance of his hit songs “El Apagón” and “Después de la Playa.” Rather than captioning the performance with its lyrics, the captions read “[SINGING IN NON-ENGLISH].” Later in the show, Bad Bunny accepted the award for Best Música Urbana Album. The parts of his speech that were in Spanish were captioned “[SPEAKING IN NON-ENGLISH].”
Fans were outraged by these insensitive captions. Twitter user @13thgenus tweeted,”Bad Bunny wins a Grammy, and when he speaks some Spanish during his acceptance speech the best you can do in the closed captioning is to type “NON-ENGLISH” ?!?!? Just a little racist. Do better. Be prepared with a multilingual captionist.”
CBS later added Spanish captions on its streaming services to combat the backlash. However, this does not hide the fact that the original captioning belittled Bad Bunny’s win.
Good – Diverse wins
Kim Petras became the first transgender woman to win for best pop group/duo performance for her song “Unholy” with Sam Smith. In an emotional acceptance speech, she said,“I want to thank all the incredible transgender legends before me who kicked these doors open for me so I could be here tonight.”
Lizzo took home the award for Record of the Year for her track “About Damn Time.” The singer took to Instagram after the awards to say, ”The last time a black woman won Record of the Year was Whitney Houston for ‘I Will Always Love You’… I don’t take this lightly. Thank you.”
Bad – Trevor Noah as host
Talk show host and comedian Trevor Noah returned as the host of the Grammys for the third year in a row.
Though his jokes were timely, Noah swung at low hanging fruit like the Chinese spy balloon and Donald Trump. Noah also made some inappropriate comments during the show. Upon introducing Harry Styles, Noah called the singer a ‘sex symbol’ stating, “women throw their panties at this man and then he puts them on and he looks better in them than they do.”
The Grammys should consider hiring a different host in its upcoming years.
Through the good and the bad, the 2023 Grammys were entertaining. Hopefully next year’s awards can take notes from its failures to make strides towards a more inclusive and timely show.