The Grammys were, as predicted, a hot mess. For a three and a half hour show, only nine awards were handed out, leaving a whopping 85 awards to be shafted and handed out in the preshow. The show read more as a concert, with numerous live performances, instead of getting to the meat of the awards ceremony.
While I believe it important that there are some performances, an award show should be about just that; awards. While Dua Lipa’s heavily choreographed “Training Season,” Fantasia Barrino’s rendition of “Proud Mary” in memory of Tina Turner and SZA’s medley of her biggest hits of the year that involved group of katana wielders play stabbing each other were certainly highlights, there were much more filler performances than there were awards this year.
Focusing on the actual awards themselves, they were dominated by women, which is fitting since superstars like Beyoncé and Taylor Swift single-handedly carried the global economy. It’s especially satisfying after former head of the Recording Academy, Neil Portnow, wrongly said that women needed to “step up,” if they wanted to be nominated and win more Grammys; he rightfully stepped down in 2019. In fact, every category in the main telecast was won by women.
However, some of the decisions made were… interesting, to say the least. For one, Lana Del Rey won zero Grammys; not even for best alternative music album, which is shocking, because “Did You Know That There’s A Tunnel Under Ocean Boulevard?” is some of her best work. Others who left with zero Grammys include Olivia Rodrigo, which is again, surprising, considering her three wins at last year’s ceremony.
But of course, there were some great surprises: SZA won R & B song of the year for “Snooze” and gave a very adorable speech, and Victoria Monét winning Best New Artists was very deserved. However, SZA, who led the pack with nine nominations, was snubbed heavily; she only won three Grammys, which is nothing to cry over, but certainly not as much as she should’ve won.
Swift announced her next album, “The Tortured Poets Department,” which is questionable as a name, and it’s equally questionable to announce your album at the Grammys. You can wait a day or two.
She also won Album of the Year, making her the artist to win album of the year the most times, which is admirable, but “Midnights” is far from her best album, and far from the Album of the Year. “SOS” by SZA was an incredible album from start to finish, and the award practically had her name written on it, which is why I’m so upset; instead of giving album of the year to the most deserving artist, they gave it to the most popular.
I wonder, do the Grammys have a point if they just become a question of who has the most fans, and who is the most successful? But even if that was the case, SZA still should’ve won album of the year; “SOS” topped the Billboard 200 for 10 weeks.
I believe that while the Grammys are always fun to watch, if they simply revert to handing out awards to the artist who was the most commercially successful, the entire point of the ceremony–which is to decide who made the best music, not who has the most fans–is defeated.
