Best: Kendrick Lamar and Imagine Dragons
The Grammys are known for their unlikely collaborations, and this particular one worked wonderfully. Audience members like Taylor Swift and Steven Tyler were seen rocking out as Imagine Dragons frontman Dan Reynolds belted out “Radioactive” and as Kendrick Lamar rapped his mile-a-minute “m.A.A.d city.” The performance peaked with the blaring and passionate drumming accompanied by colorful eruptions of smoke and paint.
Worst: When Queens of the Stone Age, Nine Inch Nails, Dave Grohl and Lindsey Buckngham’s performance got cut off
I’m not much of a rocker, but I do recognize the epic-ness of this legendary collaboration. My jaw couldn’t help but drop when the credits started rolling mid-song. “Frankly, I just don’t know how you can cut off Trent Reznor and Co.,” Kelly Bakas, senior at UIUC, said. Reznor wasn’t happy about it either and let his 1.6 million Twitter followers know, tweeting “Music’s biggest night…to be disrespected. A heartfelt F—K YOU guys.”
Best: The “Same Love” mass wedding
There wasn’t a dry eye in the Grammy-watching community after Macklemore & Ryan Lewis’ performance of their hit song, “Same Love,” featuring Mary Lambert and Madonna. Oh, and not to mention that Queen Latifah officiated 33 weddings amidst the performance. If that doesn’t just melt your heart, then I don’t know what does.
Worst: When Taylor Swift thought she won “Album of the Year”
Taylor is known for her “surprised face” when she wins big awards. However, when presenter Alicia Keys dragged out the “R” in Daft Punk’s “Random Access Memories” as the winner of the category, Swift couldn’t help but think that her album “Red” was the winner. Oops.
Best: “Drunk in Love”
If Beyoncé can open the show with only a chair, a surfboard and her hubby Jay-Z and still kill it, then this just proves the fact that she is the most perfect person and performer on the planet. “It was so refreshing to see Jay-Z and Beyoncé still so connected and in love after all of these years,” Samantha Plotnick, senior at UIUC, said. “The performance was nothing less than perfect.”
Worst: The length
I love a great concert, but a three-and-a-half hour-long award show is just too long, in my opinion. At times during the show, it was hard to even remember that it was an award show because you couldn’t even remember the last award that was presented.
Best: Pink’s aerial acrobatics
Although this isn’t her first time showing us her acrobatic skills at an award show, it doesn’t get any less stunning or beautiful each time she does it. I just don’t get how she can do ALL of those tricks in the air while sounding great at the same time.
Worst: Missing stars
Although the Grammys this year was attended by great musicians like Paul McCartney, Beyoncé and Pharrell Williams, it was hard to ignore the fact that many of the years’ biggest stars were MIA. Among the noteworthy missing artists included Rihanna, Justin Timberlake, Lady Gaga and Miley Cyrus.
Photo Sources:
http://www.glamour.com/weddings/blogs/save-the-date/2014/01/34-couples-were-just-married-d.html
http://www.peoplestylewatch.com/people/stylewatch/package/article/0,,20768375_20780110,00.html