Nothing beats a Grammys ceremony that is full of both surprises and unforgettable performances. Last night (February 13) delivered both.
Unlike the film industry, which has a whole slew of other award shows leading up to the Big One (the Oscars) so that you already pretty much know who the winners will be, the music industry’s big night always manages to bring the unexpected and keep everyone guessing.
Here are some of the highlights from the 53rd Annual Grammy Awards:
- Lady Antebellum proved to be the big winner of the night, collecting 5 wins out of their 6 nominations, including both Record of the Year and Song of the Year (for those wondering about the difference between those two categories, Record of the Year recognizes the performer and production team and often goes to the more heavily-played and popular single of the year, while Song of the Year honors the writer[s] of the single). Their ubiquitous radio hit, “Need You Now”, blew all other competition out of the water, including Eminem’s “Love the Way You Lie”, Alicia Keys’s “Empire State of Mind”, and Cee Lo Green’s “F*** You”.
- The other big story, naturally, was: What did Lady Gaga do this year? Well, for starters, she “walked” the red carpet in a giant egg carried by scantily-clad supermodels, who explained that the Lady was “incubating” before her performance. In a move reminiscent of Spinal Tap’s giant pod gag from back in the day, Gaga was “birthed” toward the beginning of the show, emerging from her cocoon with prosthetic horns and channeling early-‘90s Madonna with a performance of her brand new single, “Born This Way.” A Phantom of the Opera-esque organ solo later, Gaga had us salivating for what the rest of the show had in store for us.
An "egg"-cellent attention-grabber indeed, Ms. G!
- The ceremony opened with a rousing tribute to the Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin, with some of the most powerful voices in the biz right now belting out the diva’s greatest hits. Christina Aguilera, redeeming herself in a big way after her Super Bowl flub, carried the performance, supported byJennifer Hudson, Florence Welch, Martina McBride, and Yolanda Adams. Chills!
- Country darling Miranda Lambert received possibly the best Valentine’s Day present ever when her performance was introduced by none other than her fiancé Blake Shelton. Immediately after crooning her lovely hit, “The House That Built Me”, she was handed her Best Female Country Vocal Performance award.
- Katy Perry kept the romance alive later in the show when she performed a heartwarming medley of her songs “Not Like the Movies” and “Teenage Dream”, the former of which had her sitting on a gilded swing in front of huge white drapes, onto which was projected never-before-seen footage from her wedding video with Russell Brand. Altogether now: AWWWW!
- The two fiercest pompadours in town came together when Janelle Monae joined Bruno Mars on stage, joined by B.o.B. Bruno got his old school Motown on with a re-imagined arrangement of his hit “Grenade”, while Janelle killed it when she performed her song “Cold War”, with Bruno on drums and B.o.B on guitar. Epic!
How can you NOT love her?
- Brit rockers Muse brought some good old fashioned anarchy to the stage, rocking the building with their hit “Uprising”. An LED slideshow behind them featured some on-point images, such as Prince Charles and Camilla Parker-Bowles being ambushed in London by protesting students. The band was later rewarded for their efforts with a Best Rock Album Grammy.
- Bieber Fever infected the building when Justin Bieber and Usher both did their best MJ, accompanied by pint-sized rapper Jaden Smith. The best part of this performance were the cutaways to proud parents Will and Jada Smith, who beamed while watching their 12-year-old son rock his first Grammys.
- Gaga picked up her (expected) award for Best Pop Vocal Album, and in her emotional acceptance speech, she sent a shout-out to Whitney Houston, whom she claimed she pictured singing her song “Born This Way” when she first wrote it.
- Cee Lo Green brought some signature whimsy to the proceedings, enlisting the help of the Muppets – and a colorful chicken suit – to perform his smash single “F*** You” (adjusted to “Forget You” for the delicate network TV masses). Gwyneth Paltrow joined him on stage, hopping and writhing on his piano in a black catsuit and neon pink feather earrings. At this point, Gaga’s egg stunt seemed like months ago…
- In a harmonious joining of three amazing voices, Norah Jones, John Mayer, and Keith Urbanoffered a simple acoustic tribute to Lifetime Achievement Award recipient, Dolly Parton, singing a goosebump-inducing version of her classic “Jolene.” It’s these types of impromptu collabos that make Grammy night so special!
- Rihanna pulled double-duty last night, performing with both Eminem and Dr. Dre and, later, withDrake, proving her range as an artist from emotional and introspective to fun and sexy!
Love the Way You Wear Christmas Garland
- Eminem, who had come into the evening with the most nominations (10), had a rather disappointing night when it came to the major awards. He did, at least, pick up a Grammy for Best Rap Album – which he has won four times before. His amazingly intense “Love The Way You Lie” was completely shut out.
- Mick Jagger put folks half his age (and beyond!) to shame when he took the stage immediately after the In Memoriam tribute (which was sort of a weird and awkward juxtaposition, by the way…). No one commands a stage quite like the legendary Rolling Stone, and he brought the house to its feet!
- The biggest shocker of the evening, without question, had to be when the Best New Artist winner was announced. All odds were on Justin Bieber; or, if the voters were feeling particularly out-of-the-box, Florence + the Machine. But in a stunning upset, little-known jazz musician Esperanza Spaldingclaimed the title! Even the Biebs looked shocked when the name was read. In all fairness, though, this category is sort of notorious for delivering the most shocks and upsets in any given year, as if this category is the one where Grammy voters deliberately decide to shake things up and throw all caution to the wind. In any case, congrats to Ms. Spalding!
- Aretha wasn’t the only diva on the premises. Barbra Streisand showed all the young’uns how it’s done, slowing things down with a performance of “Evergreen” backed by a full orchestra (natch!)
- Indie rock group Arcade Fire rounded out the night with a frenetic and seizure-inducing performance of their song “Month of May”. Moments later, they were back on stage to collect the biggest award of the night – Album of the Year. In another amazing upset, the Montreal-based band beat out the likes of Gaga, Katy Perry, and Eminem. They celebrated their victory with an impromptu encore, strapping on the instruments once more to play “Ready to Start” as the ceremony came to an end.
- And, oh yeah, Nicki Minaj was there, doing what Nicki Minaj does best.
me-OW!
Thus endeth another wild and raucous night for the music industry. Congratulations to all the winners, and also to all the performers who brought their A-games to the Staples Center last night!
Until next year…!