In Los Angeles on Sunday, Jan. 26, the 56th Grammy Awards occurred for the world to see at the Staples Center. The Grammys has always been a night of partying, dancing and memorable outfits (remember Lady Gaga’s egg?), but the red carpet was quite boring this time around. Everyone dressed as if they were going to a musical version of a slightly less entertaining Golden Globes ceremony. To be fair, the Grammys are incredibly long; probably too long, and we only tune in for the performances. Opening the show was super sexy Beyonce, so after that, was anyone really paying attention to who got the golden music trophy? Well, besides when Jay-Z called it a sippy cup for his daughter, Blue Ivy. Adorable.
Beyonce opened the night with her song “Drunk in Love” about her relationship with Jay-Z, and if their private life is ANYTHING like this performance, then we all understand why they are still one of the hottest couples in the world. Before Jay-Z joined her onstage, Beyonce did a sexy chair dance that would put every other chair dance in the world to shame. There was smoke and damp hair. Then an awkward Jay-Z walked over because no one can walk out to that and still be functioning. Beyonce proved, from the moment she walked on the stage, that this was her night.
But the hype of Beyonce dampered a bit when LL Cool J and his name-dropping-too-long-of-a-speech came up, yet another piece of proof that this show is incredibly scripted. Was anyone actually paying attention to what he had to say? No, we were all pulling ourselves together and not remaining in a puddle on the floor.
Other acts throughout the night included Macklemore and Ryan Lewis’ performance of “Same Love,” featuring the female lead of the song, Mary Lambert, and also Queen Latifah and Madonna. During the song, 33 couples, same-sex and heterosexual, were married by Queen Latifah. It was ground-breaking and amazing to see this happen at the award show, but did anyone else notice that the camera avoided the couples as they kissed? As expected, this moment did spark some controversy on the Internet, especially Twitter. It’s 2014, people!
Another performance was the collaboration of Kendrick Lamar and Imagine Dragons, who brought together their songs, “m.A.A.d. City” and “Radioactive.” They brought more smoke and fire to the stage and filled the Staples Center with their voices. I’m not sure if anyone was more entertained than Taylor Swift (but that may be true of her for the entire show).
Speaking of Taylor Swift, during her performance of “All Too Well,” she showed everyone that she could make head banging look even more painful than it already may be. While playing the piano, Taylor whipped her hair back and forth and looked like she may break her neck, but she still brought a lot to her performance. She almost thought she won Album of the Year, which made for an awkward moment of live TV, but she recovered from it quickly and supported the album that actually won, Daft Punk’s Random Access Memories.
Closing the night was Nine Inch Nails’ Trent Reznor singing his 2013 song “Copy of a,” off of the album, Hesitation Marks. He teamed up with Fleetwood Mac’s Lindsey Buckingham in addition to Dave Grohl and Josh Homme. This was the perfect way to end the night and reminded everyone of what the Grammys used to showcase: pure, raw talent.
Aside from these acts, there was an acrobatic performance from Pink. Although I do like her and she’s incredibly talented (and we’re both from the same part of Pennsylvania), I have to say that we’ve seen all of this before. She did a similar routine at previous Grammy Awards. She’s strong and a great singer and probably wants nothing to do with Katy Perry’s witchy-broom-stick-pole-dancing performance, but she needs to think of a new routine.
Also, Stevie Wonder teamed up with Daft Punk for “Get Lucky,” Yoko Ono danced with her son in the audience, and Lorde pretended to not be impressed by her two Grammy wins but freaked out like everyone else when she got to the stage. Lorde also graced the screen with more of her signature strange dancing, but this time paired it with her fingers dipped in black paint. Whatever floats your strange boat, Lorde. You’re good.
As for the red carpet, Beyonce wore a dress that was basically setting up her sexy appearance on the show, and Pharrell wore the Harry Potter sorting hat.
Overall, the Grammys dragged on for way too long. They take forever and we only watch for the performances, which we can get on YouTube the next day. Just like the Golden Globes did with Tina Fey and Amy Poehler, the Grammys needs to revamp its image and make itself more entertaining and not just a conveyer belt of performances from this year – and past years – musical highlights.