The Grammy Awards are just about as broken as an awards show can be. Critically, the awards cater almost solely to the preferences of washed-up, out-of-touch record executives. The show itself has become a bland and bizarre event, and 2011’s installment proved to be no different, presenting a slew of mismatched and boring performances and rewarding many of the wrong musicians.
The awkwardness of the evening started off with a tribute to Aretha Franklin, performed by Christina Aguilera, Jennifer Hudson, Florence Welsh (of Florence and the Machine), Montana McBride and Yolanda Adams. It was unclear why this random assortment of performers was honoring the Queen of Soul, and, other than Aguilera (who’s coming off a Super Bowl national anthem flub), the singers sounded overwhelmed by the vocal difficulty of Aretha’s music.
When Ryan Seacrest introduced the collaboration of Bruno Mars, B.o.B. and Janelle Monae as “one of those moments that only happens at the Grammys,” maybe he meant viewers can only find bloated performances of this caliber on the show. Monae’s “Cold War” saved the medley, which as a whole was too serious.
Last year, Lady Gaga’s performance was the visual and stylistic centerpiece of the Grammys, but this year her rendition of the new ”Born This Way” sounded tired (and the single is less than a week old). The pop sensation also shed her typical elaborate staging, making for a dull performance.
Surprisingly, the night started to pick up with Justin Bieber. He delivered an unexpectedly solid solo acoustic performance of “Baby” before leading into the unabashedly lip-synched but catchy ”Never Say Never”. Maybe Bieber was elevated by the sheer awfulness of what had proceeded him, but the fact his performance entertained even some of his most adamant critics says something about his talents.
The evening’s acknowledgment of folk featured a performance by Mumford and Sons, The Avett Brothers and Bob Dylan. Both new bands delivered engaging performances, but when Dylan emerged to lead the youngsters in an acoustic version of his classic “Maggie’s Farm” the show tanked, simply due to the fact that Dylan’s voice is shot.Tthe American icon was guitarless, looked lost on stage and was barely audible in one of the low points of the evening.
From there, the performances picked up — by Grammy standards, at least. Dressed in a multicolored bird costume, Cee-Lo Green delivered his lovable hit “Fuck You”, modified to “Forget You” for television. Norah Jones, John Mayer and Keith Urban presented Song of the Year, but prefaced the award with a stunning acoustic cover of Dolly Parton’s “Jolene”, which was the musical highlight of the night. Mick Jagger was typically charismatic in his entertaining tribute to the late Solomon Burke. The night closed with Arcade Fire performing “Month of May” and “Ready to Start”. They weren’t at their best, but even a mediocre Arcade Fire can handily trump Katy Perry or Lady Antebellum at their peak.
Only ten awards were actually announced in the Grammys telecast. While critically acclaimed acts like The Black Keys, Them Crooked Vultures, Neil Young and The Roots & John Legend were winners, none of them were featured on television — the focus was on pop music. The Grammys got things right initially by awarding Muse with Best Rock Album and Lady Gaga with Best Pop Vocal Album, but largely faltered from there on out: Eminem’s comeback record Recovery beat out superior albums by Drake and The Roots to win Best Rap Album.
The most ludicrous decisions came in three of the four “main” categories (Best New Artist, Record of the Year, Song of the Year and Best New Album). Esperanza Spalding, a jazz bassist, somehow took home the honors for Best New Artist over the immensely talented field, which included Drake, Florence and the Machine and Mumford and Sons. She even beat Justin Bieber — this is the same Bieber who has galvanized tweens across America. Lady Antebellum’s song “Need You Now” won both Record and Song of the Year, defeating Cee-Lo’s already-classic “Fuck You” in both categories. Other songs the Grammy panel felt were inferior to Lady Antebellum? Jay-Z’s quintessential New York homage “Empire State of Mind” and Eminem’s radio smash “Love the Way You Lie”.
Still, in a night ruined by bad performances and poor award choices, all was not lost — Arcade Fire deservedly won Album of the Year for their monumental work The Suburbs. Is the award discredited by the fact that Katy Perry’s latest album was also in the running? Maybe, but in an era where the Grammys rarely recognize any worthwhile music, Arcade Fire’s victory is a start.