Grammy Award Show Was Surprising To Fans And Artists
The Grammy Awards was full of familiar faces and nominations that were hoping this was their big night to win. Everyone was wearing their best clothes and excited about what the night would bring. On this night they honored the 50 years of history that the show has been aired and everyone applauded at the right time and laughed when they needed to – but they were all waiting for the time when the winners would be announced. No one expected the results to be so drastic and shall we say – off the wall.
The most trophies went to a 24-year-old singer known for her old-soul voice, and the most sought-after prize went to a veteran jazzman’s Joni Mitchell tribute album. Both Amy Winehouse and Herbie Hancock were dumbstruck by the honors, fumbling for words and thank-you lists, respectively.
“I can’t believe I’ve won five awards,” Winehouse said. She coyly sang “Rehab” and “You Know I’m No Good” via satellite link from London, then dedicated her record of the year trophy to her hometown, parents and jailed husband, “my Blake, my Blake incarcerated.” How romantic!
Hancock, whose “River: The Joni Letters” won album of the year, said after the show Sunday night at the Staples Center that it was “immeasurable how surprised I am.” Presenter Quincy Jones seemed even more excited for the 11-time Grammy winner, throwing his hands wide after reading Hancock’s name. “Aaaahhh! Unbelievable. That’s unbelievable, man,” Jones exclaimed. We were thinking the same thing.
Industry observers had expected either Winehouse’s “Back in Black” or Kanye West’s “Graduation” to take the prize. There was speculation the two may have split the vote of younger, more pop-centric National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences voters, leaving the door open for Hancock.
That result left the typically outspoken West in no mood to share his thoughts. West won four trophies, but after losing out once again in the album of the year category he’d made no secret of coveting, he skipped post-show interview rooms to instead pose for photos with his fiance and members of his entourage. “I’m good,” he said quietly, in response to questions about how he felt. It was a subdued echo of the exuberant call on his “Good Life,” which won for rap song.
Memories dominated West’s performance of “Hey Mama,” a once-exuberant song from his 2005 album “Late Registration” that he has transformed into a somber tribute since his mother Donda’s sudden death last year. “Last night I saw you in my dreams. Now I can’t wait to go to sleep,” he sang in the night’s most emotional performance.
Accepting the award for rap album, West spoke to his mother: “I appreciate everything and I know you are really proud of me right now and I know you wouldn’t want me to stop and you’d want me to be the No. 1 artist in the world.”
Veteran rocker Bruce Springsteen took home three Grammys, including best rock song for “Radio Nowhere.” Chaka Khan picked up two trophies, including one for best R&B album for “Funk This.” Politics were a subtle backdrop to the evening. Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama won an award for spoken word album, for the audio version of his book, “The Audacity of Hope.” Presenter George Lopez took note of the historic nature of the Hillary Clinton and Obama candidacies, and will.i.am urged the crowd to vote after a strange free-wheeling freestyle billed as a “mash-up.”