Grammy Reflections

My Grammy-filled day started with the Pre-Tel Ceremony in the early afternoon where the bulk of the awards are given away before the main festivities happen at prime time. This is the first year ever that the Pre-Tel (Pre-Telecast) has been made available streaming live online so I was happy to to oblige.  A lot of the “lesser known” categories were recognized here (e.g. Instrumental, Classical, Latin, Jazz, Gospel, Choral, Technical/ Engineering, etc) along with some of the main categories as well (e.g. Pop, R&B, Country, Rock, Rap, Alternative, etc).

Carrie Underwood, Keith Urban, Michael Buble, Beyonce, Lady Antebellum, Lady Gaga all won hardware at the Pre-Tel but none of them were present to accept any of it– disappointing!  I’m sure there’s a lot to do in prepping performances or being on the red carpet, etc, but it would’ve been nice to see them accept in person.  So that’s why I especially appreciated the fact that Taylor Swift made a point to be there.  Good thing cos she won her first 2 Grammys at the Pre-Tel!  Best Country Song and Female Country Solo (both for “White Horse”).  It was heart-warming to see her label there cheering and taking photos in the audience, like proud parents.  Genuine and humble.

Then,  Red Carpet, dresses, short interviews– i love pre-show stuff!  Quickly, onto the main event!  My reflections:

Performances: Lady Gaga’s opening was super entertaining.  Beyonce can whip her hair ’round!  No idea where that Alanis Morrisette cover came from though.  Pink was crazy and awesome– hello hidden talents!  Bon Jovi was so fun, especially “Living on a Prayer” with Sugarland.  Taylor Swift’s delightful Butch Walker-inspired arrangement of “You Belong With Me” made up for her lesser vocals.  Stevie Nicks is legendary and banjolins are sexy, yes.  Mary J. Blige and Bocelli’s “Bridge Over Troubled Waters” for the Haiti Tribute was AMAZING.  Michael Jackson tribute- power singers!  It only lacked in 3D glasses on my end.  Btw, Prince and Paris Jackson’s words for their father was very sweet.  Well-spoken, bravo.  Drake, Eminem and Lil’ Wayne- and the beat goes down, ba doom.

Highlights:  Beyonce was fierce winning 6 of 10!  What a humble acceptance speech during Best Female Pop Vocal.  And, Song of the Year with “Single Ladies”– glad it got its recognition.  Kings of Leon snagging 3 of 4 nods is very commendable.  They look ‘calm, cool and collected’ and it’s very apparent that they are thankful.  Record of the Year, I didn’t expect that but I’m happy for them!  Lady Gaga winning the Dance categories was appropriate as her other 3 noms in Song, Record and Album were not going to happen with the Beyonce, Taylor, and KOL as competition.  Just too strong.

All in all, it was definitely Taylor’s ‘fearless’ night in taking home the most prestigious Album of the Year amongst her 4 of 8 gramophones!  Youngest artist ever to win that category.  I’m very happy for her, a much deserved win.  It was added fun being at Laura’s little Grammys party as we screamed and cheered at the screen during Taylor’s Album of the Year win.  YES!

Album of the Year? – Fearless

Back in December I started writing a lengthy blog post about “Why I Like Taylor Swift” but because January has been such a busy month i never got to re-visit it until a couple days ago. I was hoping to roll it out before the Grammys tonight but that’s not likely to happen so it should be soon after.

Until then though, I wanted to make a few comments on the biggest night in music. Taylor Swift has been nominated for 8 Grammys and it’s not out of the question that she sweeps the top 3 categories of Album, Record, and Song of the Year. If Taylor doesn’t win Song of the Year, it’ll be because of Beyonce’s “Single Ladies.” Beyonce is great and 10 nominations speak for itself.

I do think Taylor will win Record of the Year with “You Belong With Me” even with the stiff competition.  Beyonce would be even greater competition if “Single Ladies” was submitted in this category instead of “Halo.”  But my most confident prediction for Taylor is winning Album of the Year. It would be a darn shame if she didn’t as “Fearless” has been the highest selling album for 2009 with over 3.2 million copies in the calendar year alone. That brings “Fearless’” total to over 5 million–  5x platinum!  Not to mention it’s been on Billboard’s Top Ten for 54 weeks, the longest running country album on that chart, ever.

A couple more thoughts: kudos to Kings of Leon with “Use Somebody” being nominated in 4 categories! One song for 4 Grammys, crazy. And also, it’s too bad that Lady Gaga couldn’t qualify for the Best New Artist category (since she had a nomination last year for “Just Dance”) cos she deserves that one.  Many other thoughts but i’ll leave it at that.  Still choked I couldn’t be there in person but nevertheless I am looking forward to Grammy night!

We’re All Fans: The Grammy’s!

I’m super excited for the Grammy’s coming up on Jan 31st! I like watching award shows a lot and there’s nothing bigger than The Grammy’s when it comes to music. I’ve taken a liking to this website they’ve rolled out called, We’re All Fans. It’s a simple concept but visually superb.

The marketing and promo guys behind The Grammy’s have come up with a creative and fun way to reel in the fans by giving them a sense of empowerment… or, at least some acknowledgment. Regardless, smart move. I think it’s so neat that they’ve consolidated all those fan postings and covers. Check out this very short but delightful 30 second video promo: