The Grammys

I didn't watch the Grammy's live.  I rarely do.  I usually tape them & watch them as soon as they are done.  The point of this is two fold; one, I can skip the speeches which usually only serve to annoy me & two, I don't have to watch the performances if I don't want to.  This year was a bit different.
I got home after the show had started, watched until 9 then switched over to Desperate Housewives, went back to the awards until 11 then watched Once Upon A Time.  After OUAT I  rewound (yes I'm old school, no PVR for this chick) & watched the Grammys.

Here are my thoughts . . .

Far be it from me to be against the grain but Bruce Springsteen bores the living daylights out of me.  I'm sorry, I know he is an American treasure, a nom de plum of the great wide music scene but I just don't feel it.  I enjoyed his music in the 80's for what little I knew of it (from my dad).  That's all I can say about him though.  He's not my taste.

I liked LL Cool J as the host.  He is so freakin' charming!  Now, not being a relgious person, I was uncomfortable when he said he would say a prayer for the recently departed Ms. Houston but I found it touching as well (more of my thoughts on Whitney later).  Thankfully it picked up thereafter which is not easy to do.  You try saying a prayer for someone who died mere hours earlier & then getting the party started without being disrespectful . . . I'm guessing it isn't nearly as easy as he made it seem.

Bruno Mars, I love him.  His performance was fun, energetic, & it sounded great.  I suppose it doesn't hurt that I love that song.

Chris Brown -- I don't understand the backlash on Chris Brown as an artist.  The Grammy's are about artistic talent not about what kind of human being said person is.  We all agree that as a human being Mr. Brown leaves a lot to be desired.  I doubt we'll ever hear about him getting a humanitarian award but the man is talented, there's no getting around that.  I don't know that I agree with the idea that he deserves a Grammy at this point but I can find no reason why he ought to be shunned from an award ceremony where his talent is praised so I think all the haters should back off.  You don't see other artists regarded as unworthy of their awards due to their personal behaviour.  Think about all the other stars who acted poorly in the past . . . do they all deserve to have their Grammy's taken away b/c of who they are as people as opposed to who they are as artists?  That said, I could have done with ONE performance from Mr. Brown, I didn't need to see him perform twice.

Foo fighters were great!  They deserved their awards & Dave Grohl's speech was far & away the best of the night.  Cutting off his speech was stupid but I loved that even after they played the music, switched the cameras away from him, & started to show other people you could hear him talking & could tell he was thrilled to be there!  "Rock & Roll" indeed, Sir.

Rihanna & Coldplay? I could have done without that.  I'm sick of Rihanna & I think I may be sick of Coldplay too.

The Etta James tribute -- Bonnie Raitt & Alicia Keys was a greatly unexpected duo.  I liked it.  However, did I miss something or did they leave out the Amy Whinehouse tribute I'd been hearing so much about all week leading up to the show?

The Beach Boys reunion:  I thought Maroon 5's Little Surfer Girl was great!  Nuts to those of you who hate on Adam Levine.  I even liked Foster The People's performance.  Ahh the old guys known as the Beach Boys still have a magic about them even after all the drugs & drinking.  Alas, where was John Stamos???

Taylor Swift -- LOVE HER! "Mean" isn't my fave song on her latest album but it is a fun song.  She performs it well and she is by far the cutest gal in the world.  Her reaction to the standing ovation she got was priceless & made me love her even more.  Why is it that no one wants to go see her in concert with me????

Katy Perry was good.  Not great but good.

Adele -- by & far one of my favourite artists at the moment.  Her doctor's must have done an amazing job fixing her vocal chords because she sounded incredible!  I'm thrilled that she won all 6 of her Grammy noms & yet I'm devistated that it'll be 3 or 4 years before we hear any new material from this woman.

Jennifer Hudson's Whitney tribute -- understated & beautiful.  I was ALMOST in tears.  Very well done & great salute to an immense talent.

Nicki Minaj -- What the heck was that?  I'm so confused & unimpressed.

The Chris Brown, Deadmau5, Foo Fighters, Lil' Wayne, David Guetta weirdness -- why couldn't it JUST be Foo Fighters again?  I would have enjoyed it much better if Deadmau5 hadn't interrupted the Foo.

Paul McCartney -- legendary as always.  All I could think about during his performance was that his youngest daughter probably has no idea of the incredible artist her father was/is.  Can you imagine growing up with that man???  And when Dave Grohl & Bruce Springsteen got on stage I thought, wow I wonder what thoughts go through your head when you're playing on stage with one of the Beatles?!?!

Overall, I think the gramophones went to, mostly, the right artists.

Addendum:  Poor Whitney Houston.  I'm so sorry she's gone.  I admire her talent in a way that I can't even being to put into words.  Addiction is a scary thing & it derails more lives than it should be allowed to.  I wish she had been able to pull it together & get back to sharing the incredible gift she had.