Generally, I am pretty terrible at keeping up with news in the music and movie industries. Actually, my general pop culture IQ ranks somewhere in the “they let her outside, don’t they?” range. However, about once every two years I take a sudden and intense, albeit brief, interest in the Grammy Awards. This year was one of those years.
Luckily for you, my loyal readers and all of Twitter, I broadcast my opinions of the first 90 minutes of the 56th Grammys on Sunday evening. The show was three hours long. I told you it was a brief interest. Should you require a so-called factual roundup of the winners, losers and performances of the star-studded event, please stop reading now. This is not that column.
Winner of the New Artist Grammy Lorde sounded great but looked like a hot mess. But maybe that’s her thing, so go for it. I’m still confused as to if “Royals” is racist or not. There are pretty strong arguments both ways, so I see it best not to rally for her one way or another. Although, I absolutely wish her song had been introduced on the CW’s acclaimed television show “Gossip Girl,” because those sassy Upper East-siders really were all about the Cristal, Maybach, diamonds on their timepiece, jet planes, islands and tigers on a gold leash. And they didn’t care.
The last act I watched and, in my opinion, the biggest snub of the night, was the international and cross-genre superstar Taylor Swift. Nominated for four awards, Swift went home without any additional statues from The Recording Academy to add to her current collection of seven Grammy awards. However, the night was not a complete loss. Swift contributed an emotional, top-notch performance of her soulful ballad “All Too Well” from a grand piano that was completed with a passionate round of headbanging. Let the internet memes begin.
Her performance was adapted from her “Red” world tour in which she gave similar performances of the same song, written, most likely, about Swift’s past heartthrob Jake Gyllenhaal. Sunday’s performance was technically strong, sentimental and greatly anticipated by her huge fan base. A job well done, Swift, a job well done.
Beyoncé and Jay-Z evidenced that they are, clearly, the most talented couple ever in the show’s opening number. I am pretty sure that Queen B could pick almost anyone to be her sidekick, I mean partner, and they would still earn this designation. That woman can sing. And compose, dance, write, direct, promote and generally be fierce in all things. As the HBO television show “Girls” star and producer Lena Dunham aptly tweeted: “When Beyoncé giggles unselfconsciously in front of the whole music industry it’s pretty clear she’s surpassed the earthly plane.”
Carter and her husband were pitch perfect, powerful and passionate as they owned every inch of that stage. (I expect that Jay-Z’s next world tour will be called “The Mr. Knowles Show World Tour.”) I know that Beyoncé’s secret album didn’t make the cut-off date for consideration for this year’s awards, but I think we could have saved a lot of time and money by just giving Beyoncé all of the 2015 Grammys directly following that performance. Yes, all of them.
Even as someone who has, literally, not removed Swift’s “Red” album from my car CD player since its October 2012 release, the fact of the matter is that Swift’s voice doesn’t hold a candle to the outstanding talent of Beyoncé. But really, who does? In conclusion, even though Beyoncé wasn’t nominated for any awards, she won the Grammys.
Michelle Fuentes is a Ph.D. candidate in political theory. Her column runs weekly on Tuesdays.
