The Grammys this year were a glistening bright showcase of music over the past year, with legendary performances by Beyoncé, Lady Gaga and Metallica and touching tributes to both George Michael and Prince. A big event every year, and this year the Grammys definitely did not fall short nor disappoint, here are a few highlights.
As it was my first time watching the Grammys I went in with much expectation, the largest of which that this program would just be an hour and a half long exercise of celebrating popular music. While at many points during the program this was shown to be true, I was still proved wrong. One of these more surprising moments was the ever interesting and beautiful performance that Northern Cree provided. Not something I expected to see when I watched the Grammys. While talking about performances, there is one that must be spoken about, that is of course Lady Gaga and Metallica. This was crazy in every way you’d expect, flames erupted from the stage and James Hetfield screamed through the technical difficulties to deliver an amazing performance alongside a predictably unpredictable Gaga who seemed to have endless energy as she danced throughout the performance, climbing over the drummer and even hurling herself into the crowd at one point.
Chance The Rapper had a great evening winning both best rap performance, best rap album and best new artist. However, Chance… did not manage to clinch the award for best rap song, rather unsurprisingly this went to Drake’s monumental hit of last year: Hotline Bling. Twenty One Pilots aptly won best pop duo, an award which they, obviously, accepted with no trousers.
There were many heartwarming moments during the Grammys this year, the most notable of which were the George Michael and Prince tributes. Sadly we lost many great musical icons last year, something which is still reverberating with us today. Bruno Mars led a Prince tribute which saw the audience dance around and Mars perform a blistering guitar solo in a performance Prince would be proud of.
The awards for record of the year, album of the year, song of the year, best pop solo performance and best pop vocal album, were all won by Adele in what is another amazing landslide of an evening for her. Her win of record of the year came as a shock to many however as it was expected Beyoncé would win. Adele even takes time out in her acceptance speech for album of the year to praise ‘Lemonade’, Beyoncé’s latest album.
It’s by mentioning Beyoncé that we move on to talk about what was the best and most talked about moment of the evening. Beyoncé delivered a live performance that will undoubtedly be remembered for years to come, in this performance Beyoncé effortlessly delivered a rendition of Love Drought from ‘Lemonade’. The performance was really a showcase of Beyoncé’s unbeatable ability to deliver an amazing vocal performance with memorable and otherworldly choreography, all whilst pregnant with twins, is truly the feat of a musical athlete.
This year the Grammys easily proved they are worth a watch. Even though the awards given during the evening may not provide large surprises for most of the audience, it is easily compensated for by the performances given during the evening. These are always interesting, varied and enlightening and make the Grammys truly a treat to watch.
