As Robert Plant accepted the prestigious album of the year award for his collaboration with Alison Krauss on Raising Sand at last night’s Grammy awards he parted with an interesting quote, "In the old days, we would have called this selling out, but I think it's a good way to spend a Sunday." For the most part, I totally agree (at least with the good way to spend a Sunday part).
Sure there were a few moments during the show that challenged my will power not to change the channel, but it seemed as if there were far more moments that put a smile on my face and even a few times when I stood to give the performers a rousing applause, from the comfort of my living room of course.
Once again the actual awards given out during the ceremony played second fiddle to the main drawing point of the televised portion of the awards show, the performances. If you missed out on who won what though, or if you even care, Robert Plant and Alison Krauss came out gold (as expected), Lil’ Wayne did pretty good as well, as did Coldplay, the country duo Sugarland and an exuberantly emotional Jennifer Hudson - who very well had the right to be. All the big winners took the stage as well. Coldplay’s Chris Martin teamed up with Jay-Z before joining the rest of his band to perform an energetic version of “Viva la Vida.” Sugarland took the stage with British pop singer Adele, who herself had just won the Best New Artist award. Lil’ Wayne employed the help of Robin Thicke and a countless number of native New Orleans musicians in an effort to bring attention to the fact that the rebuilding in the big easy is far from over. Meanwhile, Jennifer Hudson performed the song “You Pulled Me Through” for the wonderfully supportive crowd.
And while all the above mentioned acts were great fun and a big reason why I tune into the Grammy awards every year, there were a few performances that were very dear to my heart. Al Green teaming up with Justin Timberlake, Boyz II Men and Keith Urban, who surprisingly stayed mute behind his guitar, was a terrific way to get the show in full swing. Though it happened to be one of my favorite performances of the night, it almost didn’t happen. Green was called upon at the last minute to fill a spot originally attended for R&B singer Chris Brown. Luckily, for me anyway, Brown was arrested on domestic abuse charges the night before the show, sending Timberlake in search of a duet partner. Enter soul legend Al Green.
My Second favorite performance of the night had to have been the Bo Diddley tribute. Two accomplished guitarists and two blues legends, John Mayer and Keith Urban and BB King and Buddy Guy performed in honor of the late rock and roll pioneer. Though the song was short as expected, I don’t think Diddley wrote anything that was longer than 2 minutes, it would have been nice if the quartet would have broken into another song. To make matters worse, neither Guy nor King even had the benefit of having their names announced. I had people asking me at work today who those two black guys were playing with Mayer and Urban, I just shook my head.
My favorite performance of the night only proves that I’m a traditionalist at heart. It wasn’t Radiohead’s marching band aided rendition of “15 Step” or a humongously pregnant MIA aiding the “rap pack” on “Swagger Like Us.” Nope, it was the terrific medley of songs honoring possibly my favorite male Motown group, The Four Tops. Jamie Foxx, Smokey Robinson, Ne-Yo and the only surviving member of the band, Duke Fakir, took the stage after an emotional introduction by Smokey himself. For someone who really didn’t know much about Mr. Ne-Yo before last night, I found myself gaining new respect for the singer after hearing him recite some of my favorite R&B tunes.
I could go on about the performances I didn’t like (ahem, Kid Rock), the major questions I was left with (how is the song Carrie Underwood performed in any way considered country music?), and I could probably write an entire essay arguing the points on why the Grammy awards are good for music in general, but I’ll save it. All I really want to state is that next year I’ll be right back in front of the television, because for me anyways, the Grammys continue to be a good way to spend a Sunday.
As Robert Plant accepted the prestigious album of the year award for his collaboration with Alison Krauss on Raising Sand at last night’s Grammy awards he parted with an interesting quote, "In the old days, we would have called this selling out, but I think it's a good way to spend a Sunday." For the most part, I totally agree (at least with the good way to spend a Sunday part). 
