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.
