tastebuds & earbuds

A Few (Snarky) Notes About Last Night’s Grammys

OK…so I love award shows…and the Grammys are no exception. I’ve been several times in the past (once as a guest of a client and a few times as a VIP seat filler…it was pretty awesome…I sat next to Beyonce and Jay- Z, John Mayer, Green Day, Will I Am, Jamie Foxx, Kris Kristopherson…and way back when I actually sat in front of Justin and Britney when they were a couple). The great part about the Grammys is they are much more focused on putting on a good show…most of the awards are actually given out in the pre-show.

With the sad untimely death of Whitney Houston on Saturday afternoon I was sure they’d scramble to add something to honor her. The tone of the red carpet was more somber and LL Cool J started the show with a prayer for her. Many of the artists made mention of her talent and her too-soon passing while on stage. It was expected, but nice.

Here in no particular order are a few of the highlights (and many more lowlights) for last night’s show.

1. Adele…definitely a highlight. I’m not a huge Adele fan (which isn’t to say I don’t like her…I’m just not obsessed) but her voice is so beautiful and it was nice to see her back after her throat surgery late last year. I was also happy to see her take home all those awards (even though it meant Mumford and Sons turned up empty-handed). Sadly for everyone else with a great record/song/album this year, Adele just knocked everyone out. And her live performance was amazing.

2. Jennifer Hudson’s rendition of Whitney’s “I Will Always Love you” was beautiful and touching. She held it together, sounded great and looked even better.

3. Seriously Chris Brown? Not only did he get a VERY long time on stage to lip sync and dance all around, he actually performed in a medley later in the show. I’d say Chris Brown probably got about 7-8 minutes of screen time performing. Just three short years after he was arrested for beating Rhianna after the Grammys. Seriously?

4. The Civil Wars only got 60 seconds to sing a verse and the chorus of one of their songs…while introducing Taylor Swift? They won two Grammys last night (awesome!)…they should have been given a full performance time slot.

5. Too much lip syncing. I much prefer the straightforward music performances with live singing to these dumb over-acted lip synced numbers. (I’m looking at you, Nicki Minaj.)

6. What the fuck Nicki Minaj? Gaga called and she wants her crazy back.

7. What the fuck Gaga? Thank god you weren’t performing, but seriously with the outfit? I read on some other blog that someone referred to it as canned ham. Is that hot? You know what would be provocative and original? Wear a lovely dress with normal hair and makeup. That would get people talking.

8. Foo Fighters. As always, Dave Grohl and crew put on a great, real live show. And his speech after winning one of their Grammys about making real music and not using autotune was spot on…especially in light of all the lip syncing and autotune from some of the other artists.

9. What the fuck DJ with the digital mouse head? Is that really like seeing live music? I don’t get DJs, but I especially don’t get ones that you can’t even see who they are or what they are doing.

10. Skewer me if you want…but I have a soft spot for Taylor Swift. I don’t think she’s the best singer, but I really respect her for keeping her shit together through all this fame and for writing her own songs, playing her own instruments, and just being pretty mature for her age. (And while her voice isn’t strong and amazing…her songs are cute and catchy…I can see why millions of teenage girls love her.) Oh, and my brother’s friend from childhood plays bass in her band so I like seeing him up on stage. Question: was that song she was singing about Kanye West (“you’re just mean…”) or was it about John Mayer? Jake G? Inquiring minds want to know. (Update: read somewhere else that it’s about some music industry bigwig who said she can’t sing.)

11. I loved Fergie’s dress. Really. I didn’t think it was tacky or slutty…I actually thought it was sexy and cool.

12. LL Cool J did a good job hosting. And he was preaching at the beginning about Whitney…I see a future career for him…Reverend LL?

13. The Beach Boys gave me weird vibrations…wow Brian Wilson looked completely out of it, Mike Love was barely singing…and it was kind of a hot mess. Adam Levine did a good job, but that other indie band (Foster the People?) did not.

14. Paul McCartney, Foo Fighters, Chris Brown…all got to perform twice…where were Mumford? Avetts? More Civil Wars? Grrrrrrrr.

15. Sir Paul and his guitar buddies, including Bruce Springstein and Dave Grohl (wait…that makes three times onstage for Dave) brought it down at the end of the show.

16. Coldplay and Rhianna? Meh.

17. Katy Perry? Barf.

18. Kanye West was a no-show…despite winning two Grammys. Was he pre-pouting because he knew Adele was going to make a clean sweep? Why is he such a freaking puss?

19. Cute little Marcus Mumford and crew got a few camera shots for the awards they were nominated for, but sadly, they really didn’t stand a chance against Adele. I really just wished they had been allowed to play live. I reiterate: CHRIS fucking BROWN? TWICE?

20. Rest in Peace Whitney.