It was another music awards night dominated by Beyonce and Taylor Swift, it seems. Amongst her 6 Grammy wins (and performance, below), Beyonce took home the Best Female Vocal Performance Grammy, and in her speech she thanked: “I’d love to thank my family for all of their support, including my husband. I love you.” Us Weekly noted that Jay-Z looked “stunned”. Meanwhile, Taylor Swift ended up with four Grammy wins, including one of the big ones, Album of the Year. When she won, Swift said: “Oh wow! Thank you so much. I just hope that you know how much this means to me – that we get to take this back to Nashville. This is for my dad. Thank you for all those times you said I could do whatever I wanted in life. And to my mom, you’re my best friend.”
Here’s a list of winners in some of the major categories (compiled by People Magazine):
Album of the year: Fearless, Taylor Swift
Record of the year: “Use Somebody” King of Leon
Song of the Year: “Single Ladies (Put a Ring on it)”
Best New Artist: Zac Brown Band
Pop Vocal Album: The E.N.D. The Black-Eyed Peas
Best Female Pop Vocal Performance: “Halo” Beyonce
Best Male Pop Vocal: “Make It Mine” Jason Mraz
Best Pop Performance: “I Gotta Feeling” The Black Eyed Peas
Best Rock Perfromance: Use Somebody, King od Leon
Rap Album: Relapse, Eminem
Rock Album: 21st Century Breakdown, Green Day
Country Album: Fearless, Taylor Swift
As far as the performances went, I’ll admit I didn’t watch the whole show. There was this book I wanted to read… and the second part of the PBS miniseries Emma was on, so yeah. That’s how cool I am. PBS over the Grammys. However, there are five Grammy performances on You Tube, and I’m happy to see that I saw many of the most-talked about pieces. For my money, Pink’s performance of “Glitter In the Air” was the biggest “WTF?” moment. Her voice is strong, yes, and the song itself was good. But the set piece with the Cirque du Soleil stuff, and her Cher-like outfit… well. Yeah. I don’t hate Pink or anything, but that performance irritated me.
People also talked about the Lady Gaga & Elton John performance, but I thought it was one of Gaga’s weakest performances ever. Elton sounded good though:
All in all, it seemed like a pretty boring night, didn’t it? Unless we’re talking about fashion. Which I will get to in a minute! Oh, one of my other highlights? Seeing Stephen Colbert at the Grammys! He’s so lovely. Anyway, I’m glad I didn’t watch the whole thing. My book was really good.
One last performance… Green Day and the Broadway cast of their Green Day-based musical. I liked this performance:
I thought Pink had the best performance of the night (I thought she was even better than Beyonce.)
(Are you going to write another post about the Jackson children?) 🙂
Which book is that, Kaiser?
Don’t critique a show if you only watch 5 youtube videos. I watched from start to finish and it was one of the Grammy’s strongest telecasts EVER. Swift/ Nicks performance fell flat, but Pink was fantastic!! As well as the MJ tribute, and Beyonce’s performance.The fashions were fun and Grammy appropriate.
I didn’t watch I also watched Emma (i love knightly) But I just watched the clip of Pink and I thought it was really interesting. It didn’t fit with the song IMO but I thought it was entertaining!
I only watched parts of it but I thought Taylor sounded awful, especially during the number w/Stevie Nicks. Talk about murdering a classic song. Also irked me they kept the camera on Taylor the entire time. You could barely see Stevie with Taylor’s arms flying everywhere. Not sure I see the big tadoo with this one. She has some talent but I dont think she would be getting half of these awards if it wasnt for the Kanye incident.
I’m shocked that Taylor won AOTY. I like her but it’s not rememberable or different. I feel like a lot of artists could have done this album. I thought it would go to Gaga or Beyonce. Taylor never performs well live. She and Stevie sounded a mess. I hated Beyonce’s performance. I guess she wanted to do something different since she’s done Single Ladies and Halo a lot. Doing You Otta Know seemed kind of random.
Loved Pink’s performance (even though my heart was in my throat when I realized she didn’t have a safety wire!)
Beyonce’s performance was over the top – she over-sang If I Were A Boy and positively butchered Alanis’ You Oughtta Know!
Loved Lady GaGa and Sir Elton’s performance.
Taylor’s duet with Stevie Nicks was cringeworthy; I felt embarrassed for Stevie!
I could listen to Jennifer Hudson sing the phonebook; that woman has a big pure voice.
Love Andrea Boccelli!
Lastly, Taylor Swift’s label needs to face the fact that she CANNOT SING LIVE and get her a vocal coach, STAT!
I never quite understand what the Grammys are supposed to award. If you award commercial success, then Fearless should have won. No album (by a living artist) sold more this year. For a country artist, that is an extraordinary achievment.
This Taylor Swift backlash is so predictable. We build them up just so we can take them down.
i thought the pink performance was very good. it was graceful and beautiful. it fit the elegance of the song. I watched the whole show and i think this was the most thought out and entertaining performances of the evening. all beyonce did was stand around with an army of guys. even gaga failed to bring it. but pink looked like she put thought into her performance.
I want to know the book too!
Taylor’s performance wasn’t that great. I liked Beyonce and Pinks performances. And I am so glad Kings of Leon won for that amazing song!!!
I do not get taylor swift’s appeal. she can’t sing live. She and stevie nicks should never ever share the stage together because it just highlighted how much taylor cannot sing if she isnt being fixed digitally in a studio. nicks was strong, on key, and the legend she is. Taylor looked woefully lightweight by comparison and I just thought it was WAY below Nicks to have to share the stage with an untalented interloper singing songs about stupid 16 year olds and boyfriends calling on the phone or whatever sophomoric lyrics were in her song. yuck.
kelbear, if you like that song (which I do too) you should check out Pixie Lott’s cover of it on youtube. its very beautiful and shows what a versatile song it is.
There’s so much better in the world of music than what’s presented on the Grammys. That being said, Taylor seems like a nice girl, but she’s a weak singer that often sings out of tune. Her strength is songwriting. She’s received too many awards, where does she go from here? Beyonce is tiresome, nothing new. Pink has been doing high-wire lately, strong vocals. Agree about Gaga, think she’s physically tired, not as strong as she’s been previously. Tired of Black Eyed Peas but they do have a thing about them and Fergie is a strong singer. I actually liked the rappers, Lil Wayne, Drake and Eminem. They had energy and rapport with each other though much of what they rapped had the sound muted out. There was the obligatory Michael Jackson tribute, J. Hudson sounded strong here. Smoky Robinson looks good and sounds OK but he’s always been a charmer to me…not one of my favorites. Overall, a lacklustre affair of the same old stuff and people, too long.This show needs genre diversity. Grammys are more about top sellers to promote, the more interesting categories aren’t part of the telecast.
The book was ‘The Girl Who Played With Fire’. I finished ‘The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo’ this weekend (I was snowed in), and I started the sequel right after.
watched the whole thing….and yes, Taylor’s performance was a mess…yikes, though I love her style and album…best performance? IMO that would go to Mary J. Blige and Andrea Bocelli “Bridge over troubled Waters” brought the house down….also MJ tribute was awesome. I had higher expectations for Elton and Gaga; and Beyonce…well, I thought it was terrible! She butchered Alanis’ song….
I honestly think Pink proved last night that she is more talented than any of the women in music today. She showed that she not only has class, but that a performance does not have to be ‘fierce,’ it can be subtle and still knock everyone off their feet. Plus, she sings amazingly well live. Beyonce, Lady Gaga, Taylor Swift: take note.
Okay I forgot to watch the Grammy’s. How uncool am I?
And I agree Pink sounds great live. Lady Gaga usually does too. Did she not sound good last night?
Pink is very talented and very brave. Wow!
Green day? really? that’s the best rock album of the year? Bush is longer in office, how are they relevant anymore?
On the whole, I thought the Grammys were surprisingly good. I’m not a big Pink fan, but I absolutely LOVED Pink’s performance…It gave me chills! Judging from the rapt expressions on the celebrities’ faces, it was magical in person.
Pink was absolutely amazing… pure entertainment. Beyonce looked stunning prancing around and shaking that blond cascade but she sounds the same in most of her songs. Taylor is a sweet roll model and a playful performer but four Grammys was a bit thick.
Gaga got robbed last night!
If you did not WATCH the show how on earth can you say anything… pbs!
Pink rocked it and got everyone wet!
😛
Taylor Swift is talented and deserves some recognition. But her albut was not, not, not the top album of the year. Someone above mentioned backlash. I don’t think it is so much backlash as people waking up to the fact that she is more hype than talent. Just listen to Beyonce and then to Taylor Swift. No comparison. Beyonce rocked the roof off the building; Taylor Swift scared cats away. She was terrible with Stevie Nicks.
Totally agree Gaga got robbed last night, would have loved to have seen her win one. Thought her opening performance was really good – dualing piano bar with Elton John in Gaga-face…love. Thought Pink was amazing (though am tiring of the outfits that are basically strategically placed duct tape). Andrea Bocelli was amazing, Mary J was after the band got their timing right.
As for Taylor, Stevie Nicks is one of the hardest people to duet with. She has such an unusual voice. And Rihanna has some of the weirdest, highest notes that are not in Taylor’s range. That said…agree that live performances are not Taylor’s forte. I did like the folksy version of You Belong With Me…though you could almost hear Stevie saying “seriously, I’m one of the biggest music legends in history and I’m singing this??”
Question: what is the difference between record of the year and song of the year…???
I also didn’t get to watch the whole thing, damn cold season, but from what I caught and these videos it was what it was suppose to be. Fun!
I loved Elton and Gaga, loved the M.J. tribute and Pink was fearless. I like Swift a lot but she blew last night. I’m always in awe when Carrie Underwood and Jennifer Huson sing. I still can not believe such talented ppl were found on a tv show. And it was nice to be reminded of how strong Celine is. I often tune her out because of song choice but she was a great addition to the group.
And as someone who has been listening to Green Day since their begining I found their preformance Epic IMO considering they’ve gone from a little garage band to this powerful message sung with such power and passion. Congrats to them, I hope to one day catch their show.
I didn’t watch, never had much interest in the Grammys, but I’ve always liked Pink. Really good voice, good songs. Glad she’s finding more and more success.
I like Taylor and that she’s a songwriter and musician not just a manufactured pop star, but I do have to agree that she does not have the strongest singing voice and isn’t a great performer.
you have got to be kidding me with kings of leon?!?!!?!? god they suck.
pink was amazing, as was gaga (how was that one of her weakest performances???). beyonce was a bit much imo.
the grammy awards bother me though, becuase they only award mainstream artists, then include like 2 indie bands in the nominations to make it seem like they’ve got their eyes open. MGMT and silversun pickups are not “new” bands. oracular spectacular came out in 2007, carnavas in 2006.
I also thought Pink’s performance was THE BEST followed by the Michael Jackson tribute. I could have done with out Taylor Swift- although it was great to see Stevie Nicks again. Beyonce I’ve never been a fan of her live performances she oversings all the time and she totally butchered Alanis which pissed me off. The Green Day thing was ok, but I got the feeling Green Day wasn’t really into the whole idea of the Broadway cast singing with them.
Gaga was decent and you can’t really go wrong playing with Elton, I just wish she did less of the piano duo and a little bit more of any of her other songs. I forgot she had even opened with Poker Face…
More Taylor Swift shoved down our throats. Showed her real talent in duet with poor Stevie Nicks. Stevie deserved better
I watched for some dumb reason, then went on youtube and watched just about video I could find of The Cranberries, fantasizing they showed up on the Grammys and kicked serious butt. Dolores O’Riordan still rules!
Even tho I didn’t agree with the method that Kanye West chose…it became painfully clear last night that Taylor Swift sounds like a hot mess live!
How does she win 4 awards while Gaga did not get 1??? Fuckery at its finest. Beyonce was great to look at but she had the wrong song choice. No one can sing You outta Know like Alanis can 🙂
Pink is SO underrated, her performance was amazing as was her singing
@ D – LOL. I love them too! *sigh*
I like Beyonce’s songs but for the most part I think she’s starting to get overexposed to the point of making me NOT like her. Same thing happened with JLo. But good for Bey for winning those two categories.
I’m so happy for Taylor though. But as someone mentioned earlier – I don’t feel her whole album was great enough for AOTY.
Gaga and her piano are all kinds of “win” with me. Love her as an artist. Her face is starting to morph into Madonna though. I slowly see it happening. Her facial features look different now and I can’t pin point why exactly.
OMG pink’s performance was amazing. Her current tour is circus themed, so she’s being doing pieces like that pretty solidly for about a year now.
Although I thought her trapeeze bit at the MTV awards was cooler.
@d: ITA with you on the Cranberries; it gives me chills when Dolores sings Linger or Zombie.
*Remembers all the talented singers/musicians that came to the forefront in the 90s; SMDH at what currently passes for music*
Pink and Lady GaGa’s performances knocked my socks off! Incredible, moving, just beautiful!
I thought Pink had the performance of the night. I also loved the Dave Matthews Band performance. Thought Beyonce was over the top. Maxwell has a beautiful voice. Rap performance with Lil Wayne and Eminem was unintelligible. Why censor the performance when you could not understand them to begin with.
Taylor’s only 20, I give her lots of breaks for that. She’s got time to improve how she sounds live. I feel sorry for her having to top herself with her next album or be labeled a “failure.”
Pink’s thing was cool, but adding the water in, while visually being awesome, was really stupid, especially for all those nicely dressed audience members who got drenched.
The show was awful. I can’t believe people actually listen to this garbage. Taylor Swift has an awful voice. I don’t care how old she is, she is a “professional” and should sound as such…i feel this way about all singers, not just her. I just don’t get it… They should give at least a little bit of time to some other categories that include classical music or something. I mean the Grammy’s have turned into the MTV awards as far as I’m concerned.
Last evening’s Grammy Awards was a joke!
I mean, really; Taylor Swift? Who? That little girl is an amateur compared to Beyonce, Mary J. Blige, Pink, Nicks, Flack, Dion, Hudson, Underwood, and Lady Gaga!
These women must have been terribly insulted… especially after giving show stopping performances.
Taylor Swift was unbelievably bad and I can’t believe she won one grammy let alone FOUR. Her performance showed that she is clearly a studio driven/enhanced performer in the same field as Britney Spears.
Taylor’s publicist needs to move on and stop playing the sympathy card. I’m becoming very annoyed. Okay, okay, Kanye started this, but it is what it is he spoke the truth when no one else had the guts to. I think we are all catching on. Taylor Swift has no talent. My kitten could have purred Taylor’s song better than she sang it last night! I am very disappointed with the Grammy’s. It’s a music/singing awards show isn’t it? In that case Taylor shouldn’t have won a single award. She cannot sing.
Pink’s performance was my favorite of the night. I loved it. Taylor was out of tune. Beyonce bores me.
haibibic.britni,
I watched the show on and off because I really didn’t want to watch Beyonce and I too was watching Emma.
I really don’t know what the big F deal with Beonce is just because she comes out half dressed all the time just like JLO people really don’t pay attention to the way they sing. Singers like Pink and Jennifer Hudson deserve more recognition than some former girl group pop singer
Lady Gaga is a great performer and she can pull off almost anything
I’m just happy that KoL won a few Grammys, YAY! (I LOVE them)
Beyonce, enough with the tights and the attitude. You are just a product designed and programmed by your creepy dad. For the love of God, what father encourages his daughter to marry Jay-Z? Couldn’t you just put on a gown and sing “if I were a Boy” straight without all the yowling? And what is up with Jay-Z looking shocked when she called him her husband? SHADY.
Taylor Swift embarrassed herself. It goes to show that the Grammys are now a sham. What a disgrace that Lady Gaga sings great live and plays strong piano and has 4-5 strong hits and gets beat by this girl and her juvenile songs about teenage crushes? I am totally baffled by this. Who knew such mediocre writing and singing could win 4 Grammys?
Lady Gaga should have swept.
Good review, Just bought the book!
Amazing. such unique information on the subject!