Grammys '08 Review

Last night, we just got around to watching the last hour or so of Sunday night's Grammy Awards.  As I have hinted around here, I am increasingly becoming out-of-touch with the "popular" music these days... and thus the Grammys seem to become less relevant to me with each passing year. 

But given that this year's show seemed particularly packed with performances and interesting match-ups (lots of duets), I figured I'd give it a watch... here are some thoughts (in no particular order and not including all the performances from the show... but I'm guessing you'll be glad it that it's not all-inclusive by the time you get to end of this post)...

American Idol 4 winner Carrie Underwood was one of the first performers of the night singing her multi-nominated revenge anthem, Before He Cheats.  I always thought Carrie was a bit vanilla, so when this song came out, I was glad to hear her do something with a bit of an edge... plus it gives her a chance to sex it up a bit, which visually she does quite well.  That said, she is not the best live performer and by the time the night was over she seemed like the proverbial babe in the woos... though I don't think this "nice girl" is totally comfortable with the trampy look.

Speaking of trampy, ever since she got engaged to my "other boyfriend" (Josh Duhamel) Fergie seems to have been trying to tone down the skank factor.  I recently saw her on The View and she was quite enjoyable and down-to-earth... and while I was not familiar with the song ("Finally") she sang on the Grammys, it made me think she really does have a voice.  Ok, I knew she could sing... but its hard to respect vocals when the lyrics speak of one's "humps" or being "Fergielicious."  Though when I read of this  Fergie-John Legend duet was it silly of me to think that Legend might sing?!

Allow me to be serious for one minute here...  Aretha Franklin is clearly one of our nation's greatest treasures... so isn't it time for an intervention regarding her weight?!   I really do worry about her (well, "worry" in the sense that she is a celebrity who does not have any impact on my day to day life).

I am confused about whether or not I should be worried about Amy Winehouse.  Despite all the buzz and the real-life drama(s), I am not terribly familiar with her. I am not even sure I had heard her big hit, Rehab, prior to Grammys.  But, based on this performance, I don't "get" her.  I guess there's the whole tortured artist/free-spirit thing... but it was all very strange and even a bit disturbing.

This will likely make me sound like a grumpy old man... but while I have enjoyed some Foo Fighters songs in the past, a lot their stuff just seems like a whole lot of yelling and noise to me... and/or just an excuse for front-man Dave Grohl to get all of his hair in his face and shake it away.

On the other spectrum of being viewed as an old man, I was knocked out by the duet of The Prayer by Josh Groban and Andrea Bocelli.  Goose-bumps throughout and I can kind of understand why people cry at operas over just the sheer beauty of the voices.

The blockbuster duet of the night award seems to have gone to Beyonce and Tina Turner.  I lamented last week about the advanced age of some of my favorite gay-cons... but if Tina is showing them/us what 68 (68!!!!) years old looks like... well, bring it on!!  Most especially, if you can look that good in a tin-foil bustier and capri pants.  But while I certainly think she is both talented and beautiful, I questioned whether Beyonce is really the soul diva heir apparent to the likes of Aretha, Diana Ross, Tina... it certainly seems she is being groomed that way... but I am really not sure...

If anything, I think it is Alicia Keys who is more deserving of that mantle... though the whole songwriter / musician part of her resume might ultimately disqualify her.  While she was a tad burdened with a "duet" with the still very dead Frank Sinatra to open the show... she absolutely killed it with her current hit, No One... later joined by John Mayer (I couldn't help but wonder how many folks were thinking about those pictures of him in that Borat thong that's making the rounds on the Internets).

Comments

[Scott-O-Rama]

I'm not sure that I've ever watched the Grammys.

[Todd]

I liked all of the performances to some extent (well, except for Jerry Lee Lewis, who I think was an animatron version of a really old man). As far as Beyonce goes, I think you just not ready for that jelly.

[kenneth]

If Aretha doesn't want to watch her weight for her health's sake, could she at least dress weight-appropriate (for the viewers' sake)?

[Scot]

I had the horror of meeting Bouncy at an airport a few years ago. She was an absolute bitch to mostly everyone around her. She treated the airlines people like shit and acted like she was entitled to be rude to anybody and everybody. Her entourage kept apologizing to everyone around, like they had done this time and time again. She may think she's a diva but quite frankly, me and a whole lot of other people will always remember her as that bitch at the airport that day. Not to mention that she's as bombastic as Celine Dion and Patti LaBelle. Just because you can hit that note doesn't mean you should.