The Grammy Awards: How I Saw It

So let's talk Grammy Awards.

Yesterday, there were 81 Grammy Awards presented. And do you know how many were presented during the three and a half hour broadcast? Eleven. I'm sorry but it was called the Grammy Awards was it not? And yet they present eleven awards. If you were interested in anything remotely listed as Rock, Blues, Bluegrass or Classical, you were shit out of luck. Virtually all of these awards were handed out before air time.

So what did we get on the live show? Well, it started with the really annoying Taylor Swift complaining about another ex-boyfriend. Dancing and posturing onstage while surrounded by what looked to be the bastard children of Alice in Wonderland and the Ringling Brothers Circus. The bright spot... the show had to get better, didn't it?

Then it was time for some Fun. Yes. So why not let them sing and then drench them with indoor rain. All over the stage. Why? So raise your hand if you thought this was a good idea. Yeah, thought so.

Now about the boob ban. Well I've already talked about that on a post over at sprocketink.com, but there are a few comments to be made. Here's my initial thought. Holy shit, did the Grammys become a Miss Prude Contest? I have never seen so many smokin' hot women so covered up. Beyonce, Nicole Kidman, J-Lo...freakin' J-Lo was only showing a leg. The woman who made headlines with a dress that was scotch taped to her breasts a few years ago and yesterday she shows a leg? At least Katy Perry and Kelly Rowland said HA in the face of rules and regulations. One bit of skin we could have done without was Miranda Lambert's hemline or lack thereof, and the cameraman who was determined to find out if the carpet matched the drapes.

Back to the music. Ok, so yes JT has talent. Was he nominated for anything? Was he hosting the show? NO. Note to CBS. Give him a special and let the Awards show be an Awards show. Alicia Keys & Adam Levine were real, Rhianna's ballad was boring and the Black Keys/Dr. John/Preservation Jazz Band were the best thing up to that point.

Proving that you don't need to bounce all over the stage to steal the show, I give you Kelly Clarkson with her tribute to Patti Page and Carole King. Elegant and tasteful.

The announcement of the tribute to Bob Marley is where I started to get confused. Bruno Mars came out singing one of his songs, Sting came out singing one of his. What the hell did that have to do with Bob Marley? And why this year Bob Marley? Love Marley, but it was no anniversary pertaining to him. His birthday was just past, but weren't there other names who died this year who would have been more relevant? That being said, once we actually got to the tribute with Rhianna and Ziggy and Damien Marley, it was wonderful.

The Lumineers, Jack White and Carrie Underwood were all great, that is until Underwood's dress developed a life of its own. The light show which appeared on her dress was so distracting that it just trashed her performance. My fear is that this light show will soon be used to display advertisements in some form or another. And won't the world be a better place for that.

And speaking of distraction, the Frank Ocean thing with the Forrest Gump song...huh? This is the song they use to showcase his talent...with that stupid screen making him appear to be running. A joke, and not a funny one. A very small tip of the hat to Adam Yauch seemed an afterthought and I think LL has used up his 15 minutes as an awards show host.

So what was the best moment of the night? For me, no question it was the tribute to Levon Helm, with Elton also giving a salute to the victims of Sandy Hook. Nicely done Sir Elton. Take Zac Brown, T-Bone Burnett, Mavis Staples...MAVIS STAPLES, the Mumfords, Brittney Howard, among others and let them sing 'The Weight." Levon must have been smiling.

And that's how you do it son.

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