I Will Always Love You

The Grammys had quite a task to accomplish on Sunday night. Not only put on a decent show, but address and honor the memory of Whitney Houston who had passed just the day before. LL Cool J was an excellent host, in my opinion, giving a very heartfelt speech at the top of the show including a prayer for Whitney.

The rest of the night was a balancing act between what's supposed to be a fun night and the heaviness in the room. Most of the performances were good. I really enjoyed Bruno Mars' number, which was upbeat and entertaining. It made me want to catch him live someday.

Of course, the night belonged to Adele, who racked up all six awards she was nominated for. Her performance of the hit song "Rolling In The Deep" was one of the major highlights of the show.

Etta James was given a tribute by Alicia Keys and one of my all time favorite ladies, Bonnie Raitt.

Jennifer Hudson sang "I Will Always Love You" in a tribute to Whitney and brought the house down. I was disappointed that Chaka Khan didn't join her as I had read earlier on Sunday morning. I felt like a bigger tribute with more artists would have really special. But I understand the time constraint. Maybe there will be a more elaborate tribute later on this month, who knows.

Nicki Minaj confused everyone with her "Exorcism of Roman" performance - complete with Catholic references and dancers in religious garb. This was a serious lapse in judgement for Nicki. If I were her, I would have scrapped the whole concept as soon as news of Whitney's death broke. I'm not even Catholic and I found it disrespectful. She would have been better off doing a more subdued number, for sure. This isn't a "normal" Grammy awards situation. You can't just do some shocking performance and expect that everyone's going to jump up and love it when it doesn't even match the tone of the show. It really wasn't even that shocking. It was just uncomfortable and perplexing. Why, Nicki, why?

For once, I didn't totally hate Taylor Swift's performance. I won't say I enjoyed it. I just didn't hate it.

The Foo Fighters gave us two awesome performances, one with Deadmau5, and one on their own. I loved both.

Chris Brown also gave two performances, but honestly, I ignored them both.

Rihanna performed with Coldplay and I am not totally digging her shaggy blonde 'do.

Lady Gaga, that I know of, did not win anything, which is disappointing to me, as a fan. I did like her outfit, a black gown complete with a black latticed veil over her face and her hair pulled back in a classic updo.

The whole show was just ok for me. But like I said, I think it had to do with the unbalanced feel of the room at the time, which is totally understandable.

What did you think of the show? Tweet me.

2012 is HERE!

I hope everyone is having a great year so far! I really enjoyed all of the NYE programming this year. To be fair, I have a special place in my heart for CNN's coverage with Anderson Cooper and Kathy Griffin, so of course, that's always my favorite. And it was even better this year, because Kathy strutted around in her bra for us - but didn't swear AT ALL - which made for a very giggly Anderson, just like I like him. Lady Gaga's performance on ABC's Rockin' Eve (can they come up with a better name, please?!) was AMAZING! We got Heavy Metal Lover, Marry The Night, and Born This Way. I loved it. And her outfit for the ball drop??? OMG ... 2012 will be another year of Gaga domination. I'm telling you. CeeLo Green doing "Imagine" was oddly touching. I was impressed. I even checked out MTV's NYE special, and Demi Lovato's performance was the highlight for me. On NBC, The Roots killed it, not once, but twice. Those guys are ridiculously talented.

I guess I should tell you what my "resolution" is - although it's not much of a resolution, it's more of a declaration. I plan to take every single opportunity and do something with it. I plan to put myself out there with everything I have and let people see what I have to offer. I plan to team up with the best and the brightest I can find to make something truly magical happen. It's really up to me to change my life, and starting this blog almost a year ago was the first step. I want to thank every single person who has ever read my blog, because each of you gave me the encouragement to keep on writing.

Let's make 2012 an amazing year. Oh yeah, and screw the Mayan calendar. This year, it's not the end. It's just gettin' started!

Make Room for Gaga

I know Thanksgiving is officially over and done with, but I finally watched A Very Gaga Thanksgiving, and so I must share some thoughts with you ...

The look of the special was really classic and beautiful. I love it when Gaga goes glam. She performed The Lady is a Tramp with Tony Bennett, complete with scatting and jazzy flair. I love them performing together. Such an odd couple on paper, but once the music starts, it works.

Gaga doing arts and crafts with the kids is probably one of the cutest things I've ever seen.

She performed Born This Way and You and I - the latter was really intense at one point, which was a little weird, but that's what I love about Gaga. No matter what she's going to look like, or how uncomfortable it may make some people feel, she's going to perform the hell out of her song, and more than likely, you'll end up loving it.

Her performance of The Edge of Glory was very poignant, given that it was dedicated to her late grandfather. The love story between her grandparents is sweet and innocent, the kind of love story we just don't have enough of anymore. Gaga has a cooking segment, which is just an amusing concept in and of itself. Apparently, she loves to cook. One of the many personal details we didn't know about her before this special.

In all white, Gaga performs a jazz rendition of White Christmas, and adds her own second verse. Her makeup is flawless, and this look may just be my favorite of the entire show. The next song is Orange Colored Sky, another jazzy tune, and her voice is mesmerizing. I love that she gets to show her range - hopefully kids will see it's cool to be multitalented.

For her performance of Hair, Gaga sits at a piano in what looks like an empty parlor surrounded by candles. It's all very Beethoven-ish. Gaga shouts out her fans, and thanks them for making her brave, urging them to remember that when they feel bullied, she's fighting for them. The song is so beautiful and reminds me of how I used to feel in high school. "I just want to be me" ...

Gaga turns it out for the Bad Romance number, and this for me was the highlight of the special - performance-wise. The dancing along with her killer vocals - while eating! - just made it super satisfying. I love that there are people eating their dinners while Gaga is doin' the damn thing.

Now, for the interview with Katie Couric. I have to say, there wasn't much in this interview that I didn't know before, except that Gaga's dad is opening a restaurant. I did love it when Gaga talked about keeping her love life private and then immediately jumped up to say hi to Sister Bayo, a former teacher of hers. I also enjoyed when she talked about where Marry the Night came from - the moment when she decided to be totally devoted to her musical career. We got a sneak peek of the video, and although the full video premiered tonight on E!, I still haven't seen it. I'm sure it's wonderful, though.

Gaga is an inspiration to me - and for that, I'm thankful.

2011 VMAs - Introducing Jo Calderone

I just wanted to blog a little bit about the VMAs, since I watched and tweeted about it. Check out my tweets at: http://twitter.com/humorandspice

First, I love how people are hating on Lady Gaga's new character, Jo Calderone. I'm sure they're all pissed off because they wanted another meat-dress-type of costume for them to make fun of. Well, Gaga kind of pissed on their parade, didn't she! LOL! I LOVE that she did something TOTALLY unexpected. At first, it was like a play, this guy giving his soliloquy for this audience of somewhat stunned stars. (Did you see the look on Bieber's face?! Total confusion. Loved it.) As the performance went on, I just couldn't help but be proud of Gaga. She doesn't HAVE to dress sexy. She doesn't HAVE to wear designer gowns. She CAN. But she doesn't HAVE to in order to give an amazing performance. She was in character throughout the entire show. Some celebs can't even master one character and this broad has 2 alter egos: Lady Gaga and now, Jo Calderone. Whether you liked it or not, Jo/Gaga gave an amazing performance full of heart, passion, and pure talent. No wonder Biebs had that scared look on his face - he was probably reaching for his pacifier and his mommy! LOL! Seriously, though, if you're hating on Gaga for not being glam for the VMAs, just think of it this way: she gave you something different. And you gotta appreciate that.

Also at the VMAs, Beyonce's stunt, I mean pregnancy announcement. Now, I may be a little cynical. But popping out your baby bump at the VMAs just seemed a little ... stunt-ish to me. I don't know how else to describe it. Now, don't get me wrong, I'm happy for her and Jay, and I am a fan of theirs. It's just - it seemed SO calculated. Maybe that's what rubbed me the wrong way about it. Anyway, congrats to them! Oh and just so you know, I think the jokes about the baby looking like Jay are mean and unnecessary. Just so you know.

Adele gave a classy and lovely performance. I love that she is so old-school glam. From the hair to the wardrobe, even her nails are just so perfectly 60s soul diva. I love that. Her voice was on point and she showed that you don't have to booty pop or fly through the air to touch people with your performance. She is super amazing, and I love her.

I thought the rest of the performances were pretty good. Standard VMA stuff. Pitbull and NeYo killed it, and brought a lot of energy to the show. Jay Z and Kanye were great, as usual. Chris Brown gave us Cirque du Soleil realness. Lil Wayne was very energetic, to say the least. But I gotta give it up to my girl Jessie J who sang with the house band throughout the show. With a busted leg she still killed it. Her voice is crazy good!

Finally, I want to say how touched I was by the Amy Winehouse tribute. I was in tears, especially when they showed her in the studio with Tony Bennett in March of this year. I loved Russell Brand's speech. I loved Bruno Mars' performance of "Valerie". I thought it was appropriate and sweet. I understand why they didn't have female performers singing her songs - it would have been awkward, I think. Better to let someone like Bruno make it fun and festive, which is what it ended up being. Even though I was crying through the whole performance. I miss her so much.

All in all, it was a great show and I was pleasantly surprised. As you can see, I don't pay much attention to who won, because for me, it's not about that at all. These artists are all winners and the show is more fun if you focus on the performances anyway!

Tweet me @humorandspice and give me your take on the VMAs!!