I have become one of Those People who watch awards shows and live-tweet commentary. My twitter feed was full of updates with the hashtag #Grammys for the entire three-and-a-half hour ceremony. (Sidenote: What did people do before Twitter? Write down their snarky comments and take them to work to read off at the water cooler? Stay on the landline with their friends for three hours?)
In the grand-scheme of Grammy awards shows, this was not a spectacular one. There were no out-of-this-world amazing performances or scandalous acceptance speech interruptions. It was still a good show, nonetheless. And because I couldn't narrow my favorite moments down to five, and forgot to post a Top 5 last week, you get a list of my Top 10 moments from this year's Grammy's!
10. Dave Grohl was EVERYWHERE
The lead singer of Foo Fighters was like a bad penny during last night's awards. They performed out in the tent with Deadmau5, on stage, and Grohl was part of the closing jam session with Paul McCartney and Bruce Springsteen. I think the only person to get more airtime was the host.
9. Bruno Mars' Throwback Dance Moves
We all know Bruno Mars loves vintage pop music (his album is named Doo-Wops and Hooligans), and his performance last night channeled the early 1960s like no other. The matching costumes, synchronized dance moves, horn section, even his Elvis hair-do was a throwback. Did you know that guy could do the splits? And dance like James Brown?
8. Bon Iver for Best New Artist (not really new...?)
It makes me happy when somewhat unknown artists win big at the Grammy's. Last year, between Esperanza Spaulding and Arcade Fire, America was in a tizzy over having no idea who was onstage. I'm glad Bon Iver won (who doesn't like Skinny Love?) but their first album came out in 2007. I guess putting out a self-titled sophomore album is enough to confuse the Grammy voters?
7. Glen Campbell's Quote
The tribute to Glen Campbell for his farewell tour was very sweet. I understand he's old and is in the beginning stages of Alzheimer's, but I think the entire viewing audience laughed when he left his mic on and kept talking after his performance, saying: "Am I supposed to go somewhere or just shut up?"
6. Taylor Swift Being Adorable
Taylor isn't one of my favorite artists, but you have to admit that she is cute and talented. Her song Mean may not have been the most musically advanced song of the evening, but the majority of her fans are girls as young as 8 - and with that in mind, her performance was spot-on. It's nice to know that there are young women out there that can be good role models without any of the drama that usually comes with growing up in the spotlight. Plus they dressed like it was the early 30s and she played a banjo! Adorable.
5. Beach Boys/Foster the People/Maroon 5
Last year the performance I looked forward to was the Avett Brothers and Mumford & Sons playing with Bob Dylan (and it was fabulous). This year the trio of artists was just as good - Maroon 5 and Foster the People playing with the Beach Boys for their 50th anniversary. Adam Levine's falsetto was perfect for Little Surfer Girl and Foster the People had just the right sound to pull off Wouldn't It Be Nice even if they did look super nervous about being at the Grammy's.
4. The Civil Wars
It was really a shame that The Civil Wars were only able to play part of their hit song Barton Hollow. Their beautiful vocals - almost completely acapella - were one of the best performances of the evening. I could listen to them sing all day. Maybe next year they can be more than an opening number?
3. Betty White Won a Grammy???
This cracked me up when I heard it announced on the radio this morning. One of the Grammy's awarded off-screen last night was for the Best Spoken Word Album, which Betty won for the audio edition of her memoirs. Is she up for a Nobel Peace Prize yet? 'Cause I'm pretty sure it's the only award she hasn't yet won.
2. Adele Winning Every Award
Last night's show cemented my love for Adele. We watched her interview with Anderson Cooper on 60 Minutes just before the ceremony started, where she talked about how crazy it was for her to write songs to recover from a break up and accidentally take the world by storm. Did you know that after she won the Grammy for Best New Artist back in 2009 she took a part-time job at a record store to stay up on music trends? I can't see Katy Perry doing that anytime soon. Adele took home all six of the awards she was nominated for, sang live for the first time since her vocal surgery, and looked gorgeous in that black dress. I loved that she didn't use any gimmicks - where other people had loads of back-up dancers, stunts, and blacklight graffiti, Adele just had a microphone and her back up singers. Simple and beautiful.
1. Jennifer Hudson's Whitney Huston tribute
The music industry, and the nation in general, was surprised and devestated to hear of Whitney Huston's untimely passing on Saturday. Many kind words were said in her honor, including the lovely prayer by LL Cool J to open the program, but the most moving tribute of the night was
Jennifer Hudson's beautiful cover of Huston's song from The Bodyguard's soundtrack, I Will Always Love You. The entire audience was reverently silent and even social media was quiet for a brief moment. It's embedded below.
