For starters, I need to vent about CBS’ decision to tape delay the show for those of us on the west coast. WHY? Well, I know why. God forbid they should shelve their money-maker, “60 Minutes,” for a week or air it after the Grammys. Somehow, the Oscars, Globes and Super Bowl always manage to broadcast their events in real time for us Left Coasters.
On to the good stuff.
* LL Cool J did a nice job as host. He transitioned smoothly from the prayer for Whitney Houston to a celebration of the year’s best in music.
* I hated the Foo Fighters and had to leave the room when they were performing. They “made my ears bleed,” as the saying goes.
* Excellent duet by Alicia Keys and Bonnie Raitt in tribute to Etta James. Well done, ladies.
* Not-so-excellent duet (or whatever it was) by Rihanna and Coldplay’s Chris Martin. What I did enjoy was Rihanna, period. She’s electric and I couldn’t take my eyes off her. Chris Martin, on the other hand, sounded like a cat in heat.
* Bruno Mars’ number was great. I was on my feet dancing the whole time.
* Why does Tony Bennett still look the same? Isn’t he like 90 years old?
* I loved the Civil Wars! Their “Hunger Games” soundtrack intro of Taylor Swift made me want to see the movie.
* Speaking of Taylor Swift, she’s flat out adorable. My only quibble was with the staging. I can’t stand when the microphone blocks a singer’s face/mouth.
* The Beach Boys’ reunion was…odd. I wasn’t sure if Brian Wilson knew what was going on, except for his occasional “Bop Bop Bop”s.
* I’m thrilled for Sir Paul McCartney that he’s found love again, but his Valentine song was something I could have written….when I was 10. Luckily, he came back with a winning closing number to the show with lyrics that had special meaning because of Whitney Houston’s death.
* Jennifer Hudson’s own nod to Houston was very moving in its simplicity. She’s seen her own heartbreak and loss, so I found her rendition of “I Will Always Love You” poignant and memorable.
* Adele is so refreshing. She doesn’t look or act or sing like every other young female pop artist, and deserves all the awards she got. Talk about a sweep.
* I wish Glen Campbell well. He doesn’t have an easy road ahead of him.
Thanks for this detailed but succinct wrap-up. We don’t normally watch award shows all the way thru (too looong, and we get up by/before 5 a.m.), so this is very informative. But we saw the first hour or so.
Agree about LL Cool J. Even Andy was very impressed.
She had never heard of Adele — well, she’s never heard of 95% of these people — so she was not very impressed. I’m delighted to see that you don’t have to be a supermodel to sweep Grammys anymore.
We’ll never see eye-to-eye on rock, sadly. I’ve always liked The Foo Fighters, and admire Dave Grohl for how he’s climbed totally out of Kurt Cobain’s long shadow. And I thought their song was melodic! For a driving hard rock tune, that is…
Bruno Mars was a mini-revelation. Didn’t know it was basically one guy, and that he had funky soul (and moves to boot). A certain guy we know named Steve S. probably loved the horns.
Tuned out b4 Jennifer, Taylor, the Beach Boys, and all the real oddities. Good for Jennifer. Happy for Taylor (and Paul, and Old Tony too; Andy still adores ’em). I was such a Beach Boy Lover back in the day that I’m sure it woulda been painful to watch. But only Brian, Mike Love and Al Jardine remain…the other Wilson brothers are long gone…RIP, fellas, and make sweet harmonies with Whitney when you see her…
Agreed.
I loved this side of Bruno Mars! Hubby and I were a toe tappin’
I adore Adele. Her personality, her look and her music.
I love that when asked about her weight she said it had nothing to do with her voice and her music.
She is not a super model so her weight is a non issue.
That shut the interviewer up. I love a broad with cogliones!
I saw an interview on CBS This Morning with Charles Osgood with Glen Campbell and his family.
I do not understand why they are going on tour. When Alzeheimers came up he asked who had that. When told it was him he laughed and said something about his wife being a jokster. I am not sure I would do that to my husband publically. But I realize that is just me. On stage his daughter and son are in his band to watch over him. During a concert he had just finished a song and then began to play it again. His daughter said into the mic- Dad we just finished that song. Everyone laughed. He handled it very well.
I understand how awful this disease is and I am not sure the reason for putting him on one last tour when he doesn’t know where he is or what he is doing all the time. I assume for one last round of money.
His show here at the Birchmere was sold out in record time so they added a 2nd show. I hope the tour helps him in some way because it is so very obvious he is not well. His own daughter stated how she watches Youtube videos of her father when he could really play the guitar and play some awesome licks which he has lost. It’s so sad. It made us begin a discussion of how we would want our loved one to handle this if it were one of us.
I thought the show for the most part was fantastic, except for the Beach Boys….I thought that was just….sad. We have to worry about Glen Campbell, for sure, but I’m not sure the Beach Boys are all there, either. Bruno Mars was FANTASTIC!! I agree with you, Jane, LL did a good job handling the circumstances. He was one cool cat. I could have used a little more Whitney tribute. I’m glad they didn’t go overboard, but I could have used a little more. I thought it would be difficult to pull off something ‘wow’ in that short of a time, but I still thought they’d surprise us with something. I was really impressed with some of the arrangements they put together..you might not have liked the FooFighters, Jane, but did you see Dave Grohl’s acceptance speech when they won…something? Very inspiring! He is from where I grew up – Springfield, VA. Anyway….great, entertaining show!
Does your wife ever turn on the radio, Dave? LOL. Adele has been the most omnipresent voice of the past couple of years – a bona fide sensation.
You raise great questions about Glen Campbell and his family, Peg. I can understand why they’re doing the farewell concerts, whether it’s for the money (they’ll be in for a long, costly road of caregiving) or because they want a positive experience for themselves before it’s too late (there won’t be much fun after this). So many people with Alzheimer’s are squirreled away, never to be seen or heard from again, so in a way I find Campbell’s final journey a reminder that patients often need to feel useful and do meaningful things. And yes, it does make us think about what we’d want in that situation. Michael and I have discussions like that a lot.
I thought the handling of Whitney’s death was spot on, Ruth. It was such a fine line for them to walk. If they spent more time on her, it would have dragged the show down and spoiled it for those who earned their night to celebrate. If they gave her less time, it would have felt like a slight. So hard to find a happy medium. Which is why I was glad they began with a prayer to her and showed her clip and then saved Jennifer Hudson until near the end. I missed Grohl’s acceptance speech. I must have fled the room at the mention of the Foo Fighters. Haha.
I have to say dear Jane that I agree with all your comments on the Grammies especially the Foo Fighters .
You stayed up for the whole thing, Sue? It went really long!