Random Thoughts On The Grammys

So the Grammys are over for another year. It's been years since I watched with anything other than mild interest, but because of this blog I decided to make the effort. About 1/2 hour into the show I realised that this was my chance to really discover what the rest of the world is listening to. My favorite bands don't get nominated. Well, sometimes they do, but not very often, and seldom for any televised awards. So here are my thoughts as I scribbled them down during the broadcast. Apologies to my brother for stealing this format.

-Opening: Okay but too long. Turned out to be less a tribute to Aretha and more an excuse to show off. It has been remarked that this was Christina Aguilera's chance to redeem herself after last Sunday's fiasco. She did a good job, but if she wanted to redeem herself she should have sang the National Anthem to kick off the show. That would have been great.

-Stop rewarding Train please.

-Dear Lady Ga-Ga, I don't care what kind of crazy crap you wear, nothing beats Elton John in his Central Park concert appearance dressed like Donald Duck. Nothing. Also, why does your "Born This Way" song sound so much like Madonna's "Express Yourself?"

-Kinda liked Miranda Lambert's song. Liked her better-she looked exactly like a Southern woman should when she gets dressed up. Big hair, dress a touch too small and no attempt to hide the accent or her southern roots. Bless her.

-Muse was pretty cool. Never paid them much attention before but now I'm interested. There will be those tomorrow who say that the revolution based visuals were in poor taste with what's gone on in Egypt and all. I say good show. It's rock and roll, no political correctness allowed.

-Surprisingly, I dug Bruno Mars. Had kind of a hard edged Smokey Robinson vibe. Not technically perfect note to note, but a full on performance and that's the kind of soul music I like.

-Every time I see Usher I like to pretend he's actually Webster. Made the whole Justin Beiber thing kinda weird. And funny.

-The Avett Brothers and Mumford And Sons were both very good and entertaining. High quality stuff. But then Bob Dylan came out. I know he's getting up there, but what happened to his voice? Sounds like Lemmy doing a Dylan impersonation.

-Jeff Beck looks like Alice Cooper after a punch in the nose. Yikes.

-Jamey Johnson deserved the Country award. Lady Antebellum winning was a joke...but not as bad as Zac Brown winning.

-Um, Cee Lo...um, what the hell was that? Elton John meets George Clinton...with Gwyneth Paltrow. Okay. Didn't need the puppets-I think Cee Lo might be a puppet. The most entertaining song all night.

-"Jolene" is a great song. So good even Norah Jones and John Mayer couldn't screw it up and make it boring...like the rest of their songs.

-Seth Rogen's joke better than Neil Patrick Harris. Meaner though.

-All right, reluctantly, Katy Perry is kinda hot. I feel bad about that.

-Still don't get the Eminem thing.

-Until tonight I'd never heard of Esperanza Spalding. Best New Artist, huh? Good for her I guess.

-Nice to see a Solomon Burke tribute. Too bad Belushi's dead, he would have been better than Jagger, and Mick hit it out of the park!

-Jennifer Lopez looked pissed off all night like she didn't want to be there.

-Okay, you're wrong Academy. "Need You Now" officially sucks. Officially. Sentimental and insipid.

-Arcade Fire made a lot of noise. Not a fan, but that was pretty good. Also it's nice to see the broadcast go out with a rock song.

There was more but I think that's enough. Oh, except for one thing. Isn't this supposed to be an awards show first? I mean, there used to be a lot more awards given out and now they seem like an afterthought to the performances. Don't get me wrong, it's entertaining. I just think that by televising fewer awards some artists aren't getting their due respect. The fun parts of these shows are the spontaneous moments and the very human emotions of the winners and sometimes the losers too. It might make for a more well rounded and satisfying show. Just sayin'.

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