The air was a little heavier than usual at last night’s Grammy Awards. The sudden and tragic passing of Whitney Houston brought about an aura that wasn’t planned for the festivities. LL Cool J hosted the show and had a special prayer for her to start it off. It was a heart-wrenching moment but he quickly lightened the mood afterward, praising music and what the Grammy’s are all about.
British singer Adele was easily the biggest talk of the night besides Whitney Houston. She was scheduled to perform for the first time since having vocal chord surgery back in November. Her performance of “Rolling In The Deep” was, for lack of a better word, perfection. She looked simply stunning and her voice was as strong as it’s ever been. The procedure obviously didn’t hold her back one bit.
Adele took six Grammy’s home with her when all was said and done, including Song and Record of the Year for “Rolling In The Deep” and (the big kahuna) Album of the Year for 21. She also nabbed Best Pop Vocal Album for 21.
The Foo Fighters were next in line behind Adele for awards won with five. They took home Best Rock Album for Wasting Light and Best Rock Song for “Walk.” Kanye West wasn’t far behind with four wins, including Best Rap Performance for “Otis” with Jay-Z and Otis Redding.
Let’s not forget about Country starlet Taylor Swift. She’s won big at the Grammy’s before and she took home two more yesterday for Best Country Song and Best Country Solo Performance (both for her song “Mean”). Also worth noting is the Best New Artist category, won by Bon Iver.
While the show went on without much controversy, every award ceremony has its fair share of eyebrow raisers. Nicki Minaj supplied the ammo this time as soon as she stepped on the red carpet. One might’ve actually mistaken her for Lady Gaga before seeing her face underneath a large red hood. To top off the bizarre look, she was arm-in-arm with “The Pope.”
Her performance later didn’t help matters. Minaj did “Roman Holiday,” complete with The Exorcist theme. It was the only performance of the night that was leaning toward weird…and scary.
But there were great performances besides Adele. Chris Brown did his thing with “Beautiful People” and “Turn Up the Music” before accepting his first Grammy ever for Best R&B Album (F.A.M.E.). His former flame Rihanna didn’t disappoint either, breaking the stage open solo first with her new hit “We Found Love” and then welcoming Coldplay on to join her.
We can’t forget about Katy Perry’s performance of “E.T.” and “Part of Me.” I’m sure I wasn’t the only one who panicked when it looked like the power went out on her, but she was only switching songs. Whew! Speaking of Perry, she lost both of her nominations (Record of the Year and Best Pop Solo Performance, both for “Firework”) to Adele.
Obviously the Grammy committee would’ve had a hard time putting together a tribute to Whitney Houston in such little time, but R&B songstress Jennifer Hudson sand an amazing dedication version of “I Will Always Love You” toward the end of the show. It was one of those moments that would make you tear up if you hadn’t already.
A legend was honored on music’s biggest night. Performers sang their heart out, stars came out in their best and artists were rewarded for their talent, hard work and bravery. Once you become a Grammy Award-winning musician you are part of an elite core. We can only hope that next year’s awards will be just as entertaining.
The LG Blog 