by rick grant rickgrant01@comcast.net
The Police opened the Grammy awards show with a rousing rendition of Roxanne, revving up the live and TV audience for what turned out to be anticlimactic. After the Police’s adrenaline injection, the program waned as yet another boring awards show. When Mary J. Blige walked up to accept her first award, she blabbered on endlessly thanking a long list of people. Even when the music started, which hints it’s time to wrap it up, it didn’t discourage her from continuing to thank everyone in the universe. And the producers wonder why the ratings are plummeting for the Grammy awards show.
Hello, it’s boring. As I’ve stated before, nix the thank-yous, period. Just have the artist receive their award and walk off the stage. In fact, this applies to all awards shows. Yes, Blige’s thank-you gibberish is the reason I hate awards shows. With that huge tacky cross tattooed on her shoulder, Blige went on to win best R&B performance, album, and song. Hey, we know she is grateful.
The Dixie Chicks won for best album, song, and the coveted record of the year for Taking the Long Way. Of course, the Chicks sparked a firestorm of controversy when lead singer Natalie Maines criticized President Bush on the eve of the Iraq war. The comment was too close to 9/11. But now the tide of public opinion has shifted against the Iraq war, which has trapped American troops in a bloody civil war, causing needless casualties.
More significantly, the Chicks have moved away from the flag waving country scene and moved into pop. So, with multiple Grammys and a quadruple platinum selling CD, the Chicks are kicking butt and leading the anti-war movement, evidenced by Joan Baez introducing them.
Modern rock was well represented with the Red Hot Chili Peppers winning four Grammys for best rock song, best rock performance, best vocal performance, and best rock album for its double disc Stadium Arcadium. The Peppers continue to create hard edged rock that crosses over many different sub-genres of modern rock.
Former American Idol princess, Carrie Underwood won a Grammy for best new artist of the year. She said “I owe everything to Simon Fuller” the creator of Idol. But Underwood has made it on her own by eclipsing her Idol fame out in the viciously competitive world of the real music biz.
Carrie’s colleague from the Idol winning circle, Kelly Clarkson, won two Grammys in 2006, further legitimizing the power of Idol as the number one rated show on television. The show has become a major stepping stone to gaining instant name recognition either by winning or placing in the top four. For aspiring artists, there is no faster way to the top than appearing week after week on Idol with millions of TV viewers watching them perform.
Justin Timerlake gave the show an injection of youthful charisma with his solo performance and his duet with the winner of the TV audience vote, Robyn Troup of Houston Texas. Generally, the musical performances saved the show from my remote control button. After Blige’s thank-you debacle, I nearly switched the channel. However, I enjoyed the trio with John Meyer who, right afterwards, won a Grammy for best pop vocal album of the year for Continuum. Meyer played an inspired blues-styled solo during his live performance.
Gnarls Barkley’s performance of their hit song Crazy was another highlight of the show. And, Bob Dylan, who was shut out of the main awards show, won a Grammy for best contemporary folk album and another Grammy for best solo rock performance.
It was a proud moment for the Grammys when Tony Bennett and Stevie Wonder won an award for best pop collaboration for the vocals on For Once in My Life. In the outside-the-main-event category, Ike Turner won best traditional blues album for Risin’ with the Blues. And no, Susan Tedeschi did not win for best contemporary blues album. It was her fourth nomination, which is a great honor in itself.
Chamillionaire won best rap performance by a duo or group. He seemed overwhelmed by the honor when interviewed on CNN. The Red Hot Chili Peppers’ live performance was worth staying with the show to witness.
Still, producers of award shows need to listen to the TV audience’s criticisms. The ratings decline is speaking volumes to them. Generally, there are way too many awards shows which use basically the same format. Overall, the musical performances made the 2007 Grammy show worth viewing, but the thank-yous almost lost me. I had my hand on the remote trigger.
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