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Starting from:
Carrie Underwood's Broadway-ish (ala Les Miserables) setup of "Before He Cheats", to Alicia Keys' R&B grammy and speech, to Rihanna's performance. Then Tom Hanks introducing The Band and the Beatles.
If you're like me who grew up in the 60's and 70's, tonight's Grammys is indeed special. the Beatles are honored. How can anyone ignore the grammys? Cirque du Soleil exhibition on the tunes of the Beatles. Then it turns into a touching tribute by a choir. It's just half past 8, more to come.
Kanye West's "Hey Mama" tribute is so warm and so touching.
Fergie is so good, wow, my jaw dropped as she belted into John Legend's piano music. They presented the best compilation but a notable performance indeed.
Hang on, Beyonce, Aretha, Alicia, and Foo Fighters are coming up, into the next hour. Hope someone is capping these. Amy Winehouse is the Best New Artist. Amy is in London and will perform via satellite.
CHER introduced BEYONCE and Beyonce sang a tribute to the many artists before this one and only---
Yes, TINA TURNER with "What's Love Gotta Do With it" and Better Be Good To Me. Wow! PROUD MARY with Beyonce. This is very good! I'm just having a swell time. Hope you are too.
More great performances:
Keely Smith (age 75) and Kid Rock performance with Dave Koz.
Aretha Franklin (age 65) with Bebe Winans performance.
R&B: Alicia Keys' performance of "No One" with John Mayer.
Classics: Lang-lang and Herbie Hancock's (age 67) performance of "Rhapsody in Blue. (piano duet)
Amy Winehouse performance of Rehab from London.
Opera: Andrea Bocelli and Josh Groban's performance of "The Prayer". (male duet)
I thought I was already blown enough until Bonnie Raitt came on and introduced----
Rock Revival -- John Fogerty (age 62) with Jerry Lee Lewis (age 72) and little Richard (age 75) Performances of Great Balls of Fire and Good Golly Miss Molly.
Congratulations to all winners, including Carrie Underwood, Alicia Keys, and Rihanna, and others, and the Album of the Year awardee: Herbie Hancock for "River- The Joni Letters"
Amy Winehouse is the winner of 5 grammy awards: Best New Artist, Best Female Pop Vocal Performance (Rehab), Best Pop Vocal Album (Back to Black), Song of the Year (Rehab), and Record of the Year (Rehab)
Kanye West won 4 grammys. Bruce Springsteen and Karen Clark-Sheard won 3 grammys each.
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Short Review: This year's grammys show is rather smooth, polished, professional, and on the subdued side with a number of yesteryears presenters and performances. It kind of felt like a tribute to great music. I thought it was brilliant in the way that Herbie Hancock and Lang-Lang performed Rhapsody in Blue on the piano, and in the way that Andrea Bocelli and Josh Groban performed a male duet with The Prayer. It catered more to the classically trained person. Alicia Keys' performance on both the piano and stage was wonderful. Of course the Cirque du Soleil performance to the tunes of the Beatles added action and finesse to the show. Great musican presenters and performers were in the staples center last night. The Foo Fighters rocked the house and British Amy Winehouse gathered 5 grammy awards (via satellite). What can I say, I had a blast last night with Aretha Franklin, Tina Turner, Keely Smith, John Fogerty, Jerry Lee Lewis and Little Richard. From a folk like me, that was wonderful to see, although they sounded kind of worn, their presence and music knowledge were elegant and marvelously intact. Sorry, but there were not much presenters of possible future legends except for Miley Cyrus and Taylor Swift. From where I'm sitting right now, I have to think it twice if there's really a performance that's unforgettable. Yes, it has to be Alicia Keys, Herbie Hancock and Lang-lang (because I love to see virtuosos)Then I could add Fergie and John Legend easily. Maybe, if a couple of my nominees probably performed, maybe they could have added luster, but they didn't. Nobody went crazy and nobody kissed someone unusually. It was a rather tamed night from my or a youthful person's standpoint. Nonetheless, it was still brilliant in the stricktest essence of the word.
I was floored by most of the performances last night--though it was probably the longest Grammy Awards in history--beat out only by the Oscars that are still going from last year...
Some critics didn't like the nods to the past--but I loved most of them. That Sinatra duet with Alicia Keys was probably the beginning of Warner Music getting the Sinatra brand re-marketed (through the deal made last November with the Sinatra family to spiff up his Reprise media). But the clip they used appeared to be taken from his old TV series in the late 50's.
Being a pianist--seeing all those performing nods to the piano held my attention. If there aren't a dozen performers now who sit at the piano and sing--there must be a hundred. But that's fine with me, because most of those are the best artists around today. That Herbie Hancock/Lang Lang performance on Gershwin's "Rhapsody in Blue" was a real highlight, of course, for those just wanting to hear the piano. A lot of people criticized it (well, yeah, they cut out more than half of the work for time reasons)--but it was an amazing tribute to George Gershwin (dead 70 years now) who managed to consolidate a musical sound that represents all races.
More bullet point impressions :
--The Beyonce/Tina Turner duet was better than I thought it would be. Tina finally has normal-looking hair!
--Kanye West was impressive--though I was freaked out by his glow-in-the-dark sunglasses during "Stronger." His tribute to his mom was expectedly palpable in emotion. I almost applauded when he told the music to can it while he honored his mother...
--Cher is back for her farewell to the farewell to the farewell to the welcome back to the farewell tour. But it was great to see her again--even if she didn't sing.
--Whoever decided to pair Keely Smith and Kid Rock together should get a raise. However, probably only a quarter of the audience remembered who Keely Smith was...and she still sounds amazingly good.
--Jerry Lee Lewis refused to sing along to Little Richard's "Good Golly Miss Molly" during the finale. JLL is looking elderly--and we'll assume that's why he wasn't singing along.
--How come the camera didn't traditionally pan to Tony Bennett in the front row to gauge how bad or good the show was?
--Amy Winehouse was impressive (I thought she was lip-synching on "I'm No Good")--though sadly appeared to still be under the influence. I was happy to see her win a bunch of Grammys, however, because she is a major talent who happens to be the Billie Holiday of today.
--Andrea Bocelli and Josh Groban had a better blend vocally than I ever thought they would on "The Prayer." I guess I won't suggest the idea Kat should have been there to duet with Andrea...but honeymoons can sometimes take quick detours.
--I have a lot more respect for the Grammys for having the balls to give Herbie Hancock the Best Album award. It was a big year for Jazz finally creeping into the mainstream--and I wrote an article about that aspect last week...with my predictions for what Amy Winehouse was going to do. Fortunately, my predictions didn't become entirely true...
www.associatedcontent.com/article/556167/2008_grammy_award_nominations_a_to.html
For those interested in Grammy history--you might want to know that the first one 50 years ago in 1959 shunned Rock n' Roll and just about every other genre other than the Pop sound of the time (that we consider to be standards today). NARAS was reportedly created specifically in 1957 as a counterattack against Rock n' Roll that many older members of the Academy thought was a threat to the quality of the music industry.
Of course, that all changed later when The Beatles won Best Album of the Year for "Sgt. Pepper" exactly forty years ago (that the Grammys obviously recognized last night)...
Hi Greg, thanks for that quick and excellent comment, and thanks also for the grammy history. I knew you watched it too. I missed the Alicia Keys duet with Frank Sinatra. I got tied with trying to setup the dvr to record as fast as I could and I forgot to look up, I only heard it. But it was beautiful. I must agree to some extent that Carrie's performance was kind of "not her" in a sense and the whole staging was overwrought perhaps. I guess you could sense that someone is trying to work a country song to blend with pop-rock-broadway theme. I forgot to mention the rest of the presenters.
PRINCE was there. He looked good and just the usual best dresser that he is. CINDY LAUPER and MILEY CYRUS presented the first (of 5) Winehouse award of the evening for Best New Artist.
STEVIE WONDER introduced Alicia Keys with her performance of "No One". TAYLOR SWIFT went on the stage to present an award with a handsome fellow (I didn't get the name).
RINGO STARR and JOHN STEWART presented the Country Album award to one American Vince Gill. TONY BENNETT (81) and NATALIE COLE were presenters too. I think they returned the favor with the presentation of an award to one British Amy Winehouse. Is it the other way around? Fair is fair! Natalie is really tall and Tony looked good and strong. QUINCY JONES presented the album of the year to Herbie Hancock. I might have missed a name or two again but I already mentioned several presenters earlier.
There was a time in the 90's when I really enjoyed the Grammys. Twenty years ago, Bonnie Raitt was a younger performer and/or recipient along with Stevie Wonder, Whitney Houston, Luther Vandross, Prince, etc. Now they are either not in the grammys, not here with us, or luckily they are presenters. New artists come and we would rely on their kind of music what we will have to watch and enjoy. But it's sweet when a tribute is done, like this one.
Feb. 10th, 2008 was a grammy night to sort of honor those who have graced the music industry before and they came to be presenters and/or honorees. I am touched with the theme that the organizers of grammy came up with. From a 15 year old Miley Cyrus up to the 81 year old Tony Bennett, the 50th Grammys looked and sounded brilliant, indeed. I have to acknowledge the ever beautiful presence of Beyonce on stage in this event. She looked younger, fresher, and really down to earth, and, she and Tina Turner went for it!!
The Grammys are bringing back the jazz era, so, it seems. With the recognition of a veteran jazz pianist Herbie Hancock, the re-introduction of the prodigious Alicia Keys with her vocal and piano talent with John Mayer, Fergie and John Legend on the piano. Wow. I was really enjoying it. Keely Smith's and Kid Rock's duet was heart-warming. I've never seen Kid Rock this TAMED! ! And, whoa, here comes a smooth jazz saxophonist, KOZ, blending with KEELY and KID. What's wit