The 2016 Grammys delivered another spectacle of amazing performances and the highly anticipated announcement of the Grammy winners. It would have been even better had Rihanna performed as planned - planned to perform fan favorite off Anti, “Kiss It Better” - but she bowed out due to doctor’s orders to prevent bronchitis. The standout performance for me was the Lionel Richie tribute, made up of John Legend, Demi Lovato, Luke Bryan, Meghan Trainor, and Tyrese. However, Demi really blew all out of the water, even my already high expectations. Her voice conveyed such strength, agility, and emotion that Lionel Richie himself was moved and shouting “Yes!” to Demi out of support. Never having received a
Grammy nomination despite Demi’s insane talent, even compared to most pop Grammy winners, mostly due to the fact that the Grammys are more success-based towards pop acts in terms of nominations than they used to be, this excellent performance must definitely have opened the Grammy committee’s eyes regarding Demi’s musical excellence. Demi surprised those in the audience who thought she was just any ol’ radio pop artist with an average voice, like John Legend used to think. John Legend is ubiquitously known as an impressive singer, and he certainly shined tonight as well with his tenor ease alongside the piano. Tyrese gave us an entertaining moment, Meghan didn’t do her best as her song wasn’t the best suited for her, and Luke Bryan’s portion was just forgettable in the middle. John, Demi, Luke, Meghan, and Tyrese respectively performed “Easy” / “Hello” / “Penny Lover” / “You Are” / “Brick House”, and at the end Lionel jumped up and joined them with “All Night Long”. Meghan won Best New Artist after riding the waves of pop success for about eighteen months now with a refreshing album that’s anything but faceless and a memorable image and voice to match. She may not have Demi Lovato-level vocals (or Tori Kelly-level, also nominated for Best New Artist), but she is a musician who’s sure of her music and sound and incorporates all of herself into her music, even as a producer, particularly rare among women in the industry. Tori Kelly did a wonderful job with her performance of her song “Hollow” and “Let It
Go”, though I cannot say the same for her duet partner James Bay, who was bringing her down. She’s an impeccable technical singer, second only to Demi tonight, but she should reinvent her performances because she’s been going the acoustic route consecutively. She delivered an iconic moment when Taylor Swift’s 1989 was announced as Album of the Year, and she was clearly not happy. Neither was the general public, expecting Kendrick or Alabama Shakes to win. Taylor Swift opened the Grammys with her newest single, sixth from 1989, “Out of the Woods”. She is a skilled performer that uses the stage well and engages with the audience, thanks to her years of touring experience. However, her voice, as usual, underwhelmed, and the end was extremely shouty, since the notes weren’t in Taylor’s comfort zone. She added three Grammys this year to her already wide collection. Alabama Shakes, the new act which won multiple Grammys this year, took advantage of the stage to show their talent: the lead singer’s soulful voice that seamlessly transitioned from low to high octaves. It was undeserved of them to snatch much of Florence + the Machine’s possible Grammys, honestly, as Florence has been nominated seven times, including four this year, and has this powerful, resilient voice capable to holding thirty-second-long notes and the perfect blend of success and acclaim that the committee loves. She joins Sara Bareilles and Katy Perry, and many more, among the “5+ Nominations, 0 Wins” group, sadly. Kendrick delivered a very interesting performance with a lot to say, performing ‘The Blacker the Berry” and the Best Rap Song-winning “Alright”. He won five out of his eleven nominations this year, and despite not being my cup of tea, he has a lot of talent and conveyed so in his performance, which featured a group of African-American men dressed as inmates and a reference to Compton. Other performers at the 2016 Grammys include The Weeknd, who sang his hits “Can’t Feel My Face” and “In the Night”. He won two of his seven nominations, snubbed from all the major categories, as there was tough competition this year. “Can’t Feel My Face” was stellar, but “In the Night” underwhelmed: the arrangement, lower pitched than the original, was not nearly as pleasing as what we hear daily on the radio and Abel’s voice lacked confidence. Since he struggles with the actual version too, I think a medium between the two would be most suitable, not too high and not too low. Adele performed “All I Ask” from 25, and she was introduced by Bruno Mars, who helped write the song with Adele. Adele got no nominations this year because she submitted after the deadline, so we will surely see 25 and “Hello” at the 2017
Grammys. With this performance, she definitely tried her best, but she couldn’t transcend the technical difficulties. According to Adele, “The piano mics fell on to the piano strings, that's what the guitar sound was. It made it sound out of tune.” Hence why she sounded offkey, in addition to the fact that some of the notes were difficult for her to sing; the song is definitely challenging to sing. However, the little cracks in Adele’s voice, which we aren’t so used to, added to the evident emotion of the song. Another performance was from Ellie Goulding and Andra Day, who teamed together and performed their respective songs “Love Me Like You Do” and “Rise Up”. The sheer power of Andra’s voice and the whimsical raspiness of Ellie’s belts and her angelic head voice was wonderful juxtaposition. Sadly, both Ellie and Andra went home empty-handed, but getting a nomination is in itself impressive, and they should be proud with how they slayed the Grammy stage. Justin Bieber’s performance was the most “ehh” of the night; he opened with the dreary “Love Yourself” and transitioned to “Where Are U Now”. Not only does he lack artistry, but he lacks a good voice strong enough to stand on its own and maturity, so the performance was quite juvenile. The instrumentation replacing the beats doesn’t exactly work, but it was an artistic effort. Justin won his first Grammy with “Where Are U Now”; lucky for him Diplo didn’t submit his song with MØ in the same category, or else it would have been a shoo-in. Lady Gaga delivered her all with a David Bowie tribute, putting her musical theatre background to good use and really honoring him and his character through good homage. She sang "Space Oddity", "Changes", "Ziggy Stardust", "Suffragette City", "Rebel Rebel", "Fame", "Fashion", "Let's Dance", "Under Pressure", and "Heroes". Gaga has done better performances such as her one at the Oscars and her “Til It Happens to You” performances, but she did a respectable job. Adam Lambert honoring David would be interesting as well, and he would have done better on the low notes, although Gaga did the best she could and not many can do this and do what she does - she’s an excellent performer and vocalist. There were many other tributes that night such as the Glenn Frey Tribute by Don Henley, Jackson Browne & Joe Walsh singing "Take It Easy", the Michael Jackson Tribute by Miguel singing “She’s Out of My Life”, the B.B. King Tribute by Chris Stapleton, Bonnie Raitt & Gary Clark Jr. singing "The Thrill Is Gone", and the Maurice White Tribute by Stevie Wonder and Pentatonix singing "That's the Way of the World", my favorite of the bunch. The legendary Natalie Cole unarguably deserved one as well, maybe even instead of another tribute, but whatever happened has happened. Carrie Underwood, who went home empty-handed, performed her song “Heartbeat” and Sam Hunt’s “Take Your Time with his help. She has sung better before, but she did an “alright” job. Sam Hunt, however, not a fan of his performance at all that night. Little Big Town gave a great traditional performance of the not-so-traditional sleeper hit “Girl Crush”, one of the songs of the year that won them two Grammys, the two Grammys they won that night. Something was missing, but not exactly sure what. The Hollywood Vampires just went on and on, and I couldn’t wait for them to finally stop. Johnny Depp should stick to acting. Pitbull’s performance of singles “El Taxi” and ‘Bad Man” with musical guests Travis Barker, Joe Perry, and Robin Thicke and non-musical guest Sofia Vergara was entertaining and refreshing, albelt not amazingly executed and not exactly “Grammys”, but more of an American Music Awards. 12-year-old prodigy Joey Alexander with “Freedom Jazz Dance”
and Hamilton cast with “Alexander Hamilton” shook up the pop scene with a jazz-piano performance and a musical theatre performance respectively, signifying the first time the Grammys featured a live performance from Broadway. My favorite touch of the whole Grammys, however, was from the icon Gwen Stefani, who premiered her music video for new single “Make Me Like You” live; keep in mind how unprecedented this is. An amazing video reminiscent to the craziness and fun of the L.A.M.B. era, Gwen looked beautiful, as beautiful as the emulated Marilyn Monroe, and had a great time. My favorite part was the roller-skating, where she fell but was awesome! It indeed was a live video, and I enjoyed every second. Lastly, other significant winners last night were Ed Sheeran who won Song of the Year and Best Pop Solo with “Thinking Out Loud” and Mark Ronson and featured artist Bruno Mars who won Record of the Year and Best Pop Duo/Group with “Uptown Funk”. The Grammys 2016 was definitely a night to remember, and although it would have been even better with Rihanna, it was excellent.