The 2014 Grammy Awards were held this past Sunday, bringing together artists from all dimensions of the music world. The show was hosted by LL Cool who, despite his position in the show, made few appearances. He was looking dapper, made respectful comments about his peers, and made way for what the audience really wanted to see: the award presentations and performances. There were not many surprise winners; Macklemore and Ryan Lewis swept the show, winning four Grammys, including “Best New Artist”. Daft Punk won five awards, including “Record of the Year” with Pharrell Williams and “Album of the Year”. Some other winning artists included Lorde, Jay-Z, and Justin Timberlake.
The Grammys always brings discussion over what performances the audience enjoyed or did not enjoy, who deserved certain awards and who did not, and interesting outfit choices. Listed below are the top five best and top five worst moments of this year’s Grammy Awards.
BEST:
1. The show opened with a sultry performance from the Queen Bey herself – Beyoncé Knowles. She performed a new hit titled “Drunk in Love” from her latest album. After a couple minutes of her smooth and sexy singing and dancing that no one can ever seem to replicate, Jay-Z entered stage left to make for an unforgettably romantic and talent-filled show. The two spent the evening sitting front row, beautifully representing themselves as the viewers’ favorite couple in the music industry.
2. Imagine Dragons and Kendrick Lamar collaborated for a memorable performance, which included their songs “Radioactive” and “M. A. A. D. City”, respectively. The crowd went wild with this epic mash-up from two of this year’s most popular and upcoming performers. The combination of rock and hip-hop/rap made for a true crowd-pleaser that surely set the bar high for next year’s show.
3. Pink is an artist who is sure to always give a performance unlike the rest. She is more than just a singer; she shared her acrobatic skills with the audience during her song “Try” and created a show filled with talent, drama, emotion, and astonishment. When she finally reached the ground, the performance transformed into a powerful duet between Nate Ruess and her of their hit “Just Give Me a Reason” that was surely unforgettable.
4. After winning the Grammy for “Best Rap/Sung Collaboration” for Justin Timberlake and his song “Holy Grail”, Jay-Z gave a speech with one of the greatest lines of the entire show: “I also want to tell Blue, ‘Look — Daddy got a gold sippy cup!’” (www.allhiphop.com). He held up his Grammy and pretended to drink out of it, making viewers love him even more for the affection that he showed for his daughter.
5. Arguably the best performance of the night was “Same Love” by Macklemore and Ryan Lewis. What made this so special and powerful was the application of the meaning behind the song. Madonna entered to create a mash-up with her song “Open Your Heart”, and Queen Latifah came out to formally officiate the marriage of thirty-four gay couples during the performance. It was magical, inspiring, and a groundbreaking moment that will surely be remembered as more than just a Grammy performance.
WORST:
1. Imagine Dragons and Kendrick Lamar could not have given a more incredible collaborative performance. The entire audience seemed to enjoy it, including Taylor Swift. She was dancing with herself and seemed to be having a great time, but the general consensus was that maybe it is best for her to stick to singing. Everyone loves Taylor, but dancing has never really been her forté. Keep singing, Taylor, and work on those dance moves!
2. While it has been under debate about what exactly Lorde was doing during her performance of “Royals”, the general agreement seems to be that it was less than entertaining and crowd-pleasing. No one seemed too keen on the uncomfortable hand motions and gyrations coming from the seventeen year old pop star. Despite the awkward performance, Lorde was able to score two Grammys.
3. While Taylor Swift did give a beautiful and emotional ballad performance of “All Too Well” from her latest album “Red”, I couldn’t help but lose focus due to her constant backwards head banging. She played the piano beautifully but failed to deliver a moving performance due to these odd movements. Despite Taylor being a bit “off” during her song, she looked stunning as always.
4. Watching celebrities on the Red Carpet is always a favorite, especially when we come across a truly ridiculous outifit. This year, while there were surely several unfavorable dresses, the talk seemed to be about Pharrell Williams. He was dressed quite casually, unlike his colleagues in black-tie apparel. He also was wearing a hat comparable to that of Smokey the Bear. Jokes were being made all over social media about Pharrell looking like a park ranger or the Arby’s mascot. Despite his choice of outfit, Pharrell left the Grammys taking away three awards.
5. Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler was a presenter at this year’s Grammys. His slight change in appearance was more noticeable than usual, because he was mustachioed, and he not so inconspicuously tried to fix the zipper on his pants. Despite the ‘stache, the entire audience was well aware of the minor wardrobe malfunction that Steven tried to repair while on stage with Smokey Robinson. He is forgiven; the legendary classic rocker always knows how to laugh at himself.