HOLLYWOOD—I’m over it, I cannot take another virtual ceremony. The 2021 Grammy Awards were held on Sunday, March 14 and while the Recording Academy is facing plenty of backlash there is no way in the world that a ceremony of this sorts should go over 3 and a1/2 hours and ONLY 10 awards are handed out. That is ridiculous America. I say it every year, but for 2022 I mean it. I have no intention of watching the Grammy Awards because they are just boring as hell.
I mean it was virtual, Trevor Noah was hosting, not as funny as he thought he was, there were lackluster musical performances and not enough awards passed out. Hell, when the most nominated contender, Beyoncé doesn’t even perform, what does that tell you? I’ve said it before and I will say it again: the Grammy Awards are about performances, it is NOT an actual awards show. The ceremony kicked off with Harry Styles. I must admit the guy has a voice. I will admit not having the extravagant set pieces helped to put the focus on the actual vocals that many artists sometimes hide behind.
Soon after Billie Eilish performed her hit “Everything I Wanted,” but it was very difficult to hear her vocals. I don’t know if that was an audio glitch or what. The ladies of Haim performed before we offered our first award of the night for Best New Artist presented by Lizzo to Megan Thee Stallion, who was literally frozen when her name was announced, and in tears as she took to the stage. The audience was then treated to a performance by Black Pumas singing their hit “Colors.”
Da Baby took the stage to perform his inescapable hit “Rockstar” on a slower tempo. Then there was a performance by Bad Bunny; I’m sorry, but only an hour in and I’m NOT wowed by any of the performances up to this point. It just felt like performance after performance back to back people. I mean 1 whole hour and only 1 award has been given out from a 3 hour plus ceremony, where we’ve already had at least 10 performances, in case I forgot to mention Dua Lipa and Silk Sonic (Bruno Mars and Anderson.Paak). Will admit Mars continues to showcase his vocal range which is impressive.
Just when you mention how lackluster the awards ceremony has been, a second awards is handed out people for Best Country Album to Miranda Lambert for “Wildcard.” Taylor Swift who could actually win Album of the Year for the third time took to the stage to perform a medley of her hits. Ok, we are starting to get a groove a bit as the awards are being handed out with Harry Styles winning Best Pop Solo Performance for “Watermelon Sugar.”
We witnessed a tribute to Rock n’ Roll legend Little Richard courtesy of Bruno Mars. Another tribute was paid to Kenny Rogers courtesy of his pal Lionel Richie. Man we lost some titans in the last year America, Eddie Van Halen, Mary Wilson, Kenny Rogers and so many more. Now that is what you call a damn performance; whew the vocal range on country star Mickey Guyton. It’s a rarity in the country genre, but it’s nice to see America. I felt sorry for Miranda Lambert taking the stage after that performance; solid performance, but nothing to blow one away.
Keeping the country train going, Maren Morris took to the stage to collaborate with John Mayer. A big award of the night Song of the Year went to “I Can’t Breathe” by H.E.R. and she was absolutely static with the victory to share with Tiara Harris who earlier in the day announced how happy they would be if they won the trophy. I will admit I was waiting to see this performance of “WAP” by Megan Thee Stallion and Cardi B, and it did NOT disappoint one bit.
To say it was a performance was an understatement because I didn’t really think such a song would be performed on national TV. The ladies dazzled and delivered a memorable performance of the night to say the least. Post Malone loved the performance and so did Trevor Noah people. The Grammy for Best Rap Song went to “Savage” with Megan Thee Stallion feat. Beyonce, who ACTUALLY showed up to the ceremony! I thought Queen Bee was going to be absent from the event.
Post Malone took the stage to perform his hit “Hollywood is Bleeding.” When it comes to Best Pop Vocal Album it was Dua Lipa for “Future Nostalgia.” Wow, that was a bit of a surprise because I thought Taylor Swift was a lock to win the prize for “Folklore.” Lil Baby had a powerful performance highlighting issues of racism and police brutality in America.
Music legends Baby Face and Jimmy Jam presented the Grammy for Best R&B Performance to Beyoncé for “Black Parade.” Beyoncé made history earning the most awards for a female artist and any artist ever with a total of 28 wins taking the previous record held by Alison Krauss who had 27 wins. Doja Cat delivered an electric performance, as did the boy band BTS with their ubiquitous hit “Dynamite” which I do have to admit is pretty damn catchy people.
I’ll never understand how Album of the Year is NOT presented as the last award of the night. I mean it is indeed the biggest prize. However for some reason, Record of the Year seems to be the big one, at least that is what the Recording Academy seems to think. With that said, this was a big one and it was Taylor Swift won picked up her third victor this time for “Folklore.” I’m sorry, but it is an amazing feat. I mean she hasn’t even reached 35 and has won this huge accolade three times for “Fearless,” “1989” and now “Folklore.” Name another musician who has accomplished the same thing people.
After more than 220 minutes, the final prize that was being handed out for the night, Record of the Year was given to Billie Eilish for “Everything I Wanted” courtesy of Beatles alum of Ringo Starr. Bit of a headscratcher, but ok.
The Recording Academy seriously needs to figure something out, because when the Grammy Awards goes LONGER than the Oscars we have a problem. You don’t need nearly 4 hours to hand out 10 prizes, yet its an awards show where you have over 75 plus categories. There is a way to condense things done and you need to figure it out. Gosh this ceremony is the biggest drag of all awards shows EVERY SINGLE YEAR and it never seems to change.
Written By LaDale Anderson
