This picture has very little to do with the post but I love Pauly D! Why the cast of Jersey Shore was at the Grammy Awards I'll never understand.
So the Grammy Awards were last night and from what I watched and what I saw on Twitter they were either GREAT or HORRIBLE depending on who you asked. Before I get into any real thoughts on the show I'd like to drop some knowledge about how Grammy voting works because I don't think people really get it. This is directly from Grammy website.
What's the difference between an entry and a nomination?
Entries are recordings submitted for GRAMMY consideration. Entries that meet all eligibility requirements are then voted on by The Academy's voting members and the results of that vote are the nominations.
What are the eligibility requirements?
For the 52nd Annual GRAMMY Awards, albums must be released between Oct. 1, 2008 and August 31, 2009. Recordings must be in general distribution in the United States, i.e. sales by label to a branch or recognized independent distributor, via the Internet, or mail order/retail sales for a nationally marketed product.
How are recordings entered?
The Academy accepts entries online from its members and from registered labels. Entrants are provided information on how to submit their recordings electronically for consideration.
Who can vote?
Recording Academy voting members only. Record companies do not vote.
Pay especially close attention to this part...
Who qualifies as a Voting Member?
Recording Academy voting members are professionals with creative or technical credits on six commercially released tracks (or their equivalent). These may include vocalists, conductors, songwriters, composers, engineers, producers, instrumentalists, arrangers, art directors, album notes writers, narrators, and music video artists and technicians.
You see a Grammy award is like an Oscar, they are voted on by a specific group of people and have very little to do with the opinion of the people. I mean the fact that Johnny Deep has never won an Oscar speaks volumes about what happens when a bunch of people that are a bit disconnected from what's really happening with fans etc... have control of voting. Where am I going with all of this you ask? Well the Best New Artist win from last night! Duh!!
Esperanza Spalding won the best new artist Grammy last night and I think there was a collective "WHO?" when her name was called. I myself was quite happy anyone but Justin Bieber won but I think everyone was thinking it would/should have been Drake. This is a perfect example of what happens when a committee gets together and decides who wins. They decided this artist was the best new artist of the year even though most people watching the Grammy's had NO idea who she was. To be honest with you, it is what it is. I mean if this were the VMAs Bieber would have won, Billboard awards, Drake would have won etc... but it's not and they didn't and it's time to STFU about it. I mean when you watch the Grammy Awards you know what you're getting into. It's not some kind of shock. That's why there are about 8-10 other music award shows for people to win their awards.
Lady Gaga
Lady Gaga arrived in an egg, an actual egg. The egg had no air inside of it so she was wearing an oxygen tank and mask so she could breathe. She then proceeded to hatch from her egg (Get it "Born This Way") on stage and then recreate Express Yourself from The Blonde Ambition tour. Let me take a moment to say I love Gaga. I think she's innovative, fashion forward, amusing, and a good artist. However, whoever did the music for that song COMPLETELY ripped off Express Yourself and that I cannot tolerate. Anyone who hears that song knows that's what she has done and the fact that no one stopped her from releasing that song baffles me. Below are two performances, one is a grainy video someone recorded of Gaga's performance, who knows how long it will be up on Youtube and the latter is from the Blonde Ambition tour. Watch them and compare!
vs.
Lady Gaga is no Madonna and she's getting dangerously close to trying too hard territory and it's becoming borderline pathetic. I also think she's been in my face way too much and it's time for her to take a timeout.
Performances
Let's start with Rihanna. Here's the deal. If the Grammy Awards are to be this fancy thing with a select group of voters and have all these fancy random artists win that no one has ever heard of then why on earth do you let people who can't sing perform?! Rihanna sounds really bad live. REALLY BAD. I'm sorry. I like the girl. She sounds great with the help of a studio but she can't fing sing live. My roommate kept repeating "my ears are bleeding" over and over again while she was on stage. I think the Grammy's should be reserved for real artists that sound good live and leave people like Bieber, Rihanna, etc... to the VMAs.
Some of the better performances
Jolene with Norah, Keith, and Johnny Depp (oops John Mayer!)
Aretha Franklin tribute. Kept waiting on Christina to mess up the words but she sounded great. She looked like a stuffed pig but sounded great! There was a moment when it seemed like they all were screaming all over each other to hit the highest notes.
Eminem and Dre!!!!! Dre's first performance in 10 years!!! I especially loved when he said "yall can kiss my indecisive ass" in the song!
Fashion
Kimmy K really bothered me with this recycled Jennifer Lopez dress. I mean really Kim?!
Nicki looked like a hot mess but was true to her own style so whatever. Bruno looks dashing! I hate him but damn he looked good.
Kelly's weave was ragged.
The stuff hot messes are made of.
Other observations I got from my Twitter feed.
1. Lady Antebellum should have just set up shop on the stage.
2. Miranda Lambert should have thanked her fiance and maybe practiced that second song some more.
3. Rihanna's vagina was almost exposed in her red carpet dress and mixed reactions to the performance dress.
4. Who was that girl that performed with Eminem and Dre?
5. Woohoo Arcade Fire!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
6. Usher should NEVER perform OMG again on TV. The world is sick of it.
7. Inappropriate relationships may or may not be taking place with Usher/Bieber.
8. Eminem is hot.
9. Drake should have won.
10. Bieber should have won (I can't believe people were actually saying that!)
11. CeeLo, Muppets, and Gwyneth had the best performance.
12. Christina Aguilera fell on stage.
13. Christina Auiglera's bottom eyelashes really bothered people.
All in all I suppose it was an OK show. I think the performances were better than they have been in quite a while and Arcade Fire winning album of the year is just plain cool. I don't watch the Grammy's because I don't care about the awards they hand out because of who is voting for them. I only watch when someone I like performs i.e. Eminem/Dre. For those of you that did watch the whole show I hope it was entertaining and at least some of the people you wanted to win won. I myself am waiting until the VMAs, as far as music awards go. I mean any show where the celebs walk the red carpet carrying bottles of liquor is OK by me!
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