The Grammy Awards is the largest ceremony of the year for music fans across the world. The event aired live and CBS kept viewers up to speed from the red carpet to the inside of the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California. The show presented us with not only today’s fashion trends, but most importantly, it presented the awards to the best recordings and artists of this year.
With nominees such as Taylor Swift, The Weeknd, Bruno Mars and many more, the show also presented underdog artists such as James Bay and Tori Kelly for Best New Artist. The highly anticipated event was hosted by none other than the legendary LL Cool J himself, who has now hosted the Grammys for five years in a row.
The show began with an opening performance by Swift who sang her new hit “Out of the Woods,” which is from her album “1989.” After her performance, the first award was presented for Best Rap Album for which Kendrick Lamar’s “To Pimp a Butterfly” took home the gold.
In following, The Weeknd, who was also nominated for a Grammy, performed his hit “Can’t Feel My Face.” To top it off, he closed the performance with an a cappella version of “In The Night,” showing off his amazing vocals, which the crowd gave him a standing ovation for.
Ed Sheeran’s song, “Thinking Out Loud”, was named Song of the Year.
Photo courtesy of Wikipedia.
One of the highlights of the show was the tribute to Lionel Richie, the legendary R&B singer. Performing all his greatest hits were John Legend, Demi Lovato, Luke Bryan, Megan Trainor, Tyrese and the honoree himself, who concluded his own tribute. This was an outstanding performance, because it demonstrated the respect Richie has earned from the entire music industry. Lovers of rock, rap, country and pop all began singing along to his music in the audience and at home.
Later in the night, Ed Sheeran won Song of the Year for “Thinking Out Loud,” but the man that presented his award was none other than Stevie Wonder. He opened the envelope, rubbed his fingers against the brail and announced the man he told his kids would win: Ed Sheeran.
Shortly after, the critically acclaimed cast of Broadway smash “Hamilton” performed in a televised performance for the very first time. Following the routine, they took the Grammy home for Best Theatrical Performance. Actor Lin-Manuel Miranda stayed in character as he rapped his speech and thanked everyone that made his dream come true.
One of the most highly anticipated performers of the night, Adele, performed her song “All I Ask” and persevered through audio difficulties. After the performance, the issue quickly spread through social media, with users criticizing the mistake the technical directors had made.
Trainor later won the award for Best New Artist. Although nominee Bay didn’t win, in my opinion, I still believe Bay and Kelly gave some of the best performances of the night. Collaborating on both of their hit singles and performing marvelously really made a huge impact as newcomers.
Golden Globe Award winner Lady Gaga paid a memorable tribute to David Bowie as well. In the performance, she wore an outfit similar to what Bowie himself was known to wear, painted her face and sang most of his greatest hits. For a split second, you thought you saw Bowie performing onstage.
Closing the 58th Grammy awards was none other than Pitbull, who ended the show with a bang. Who knows what the Grammys will have in store for us next year, but, as always, we will be anticipating another exciting night. Although there are over 80 categories, only about 10 are actually presented during the ceremony. So, we should all give the other nominees and winners our gratitude for the music they allow us to enjoy everyday.
