Harry Styles opened the show. Trevor Noah served as host. And only three of the two dozen performers were older than 40.
The 63rd annual Grammy Awards on Sunday strove to serve as a course correction for #GrammysSoWhite, #GrammysSoOld and #PandemicAwardShowsSoMeh.
Who won? With four trophies, Beyoncé has now collected more Grammys — 28 — than any other woman. Or any singer. Taylor Swift became the first woman to win album of the year for a third time. And Billie Eilish captured back to back records of the year.
But winning mattered less at this year’s show. What did matter is that, amid a pandemic, the Grammys pulled off a consistently entertaining, performance-heavy, non-Zoom-impaired marathon featuring today’s hottest hitmakers.
The Grammys weren’t as tone deaf as last year’s CMAs, as gimmicky as the VMAs or as meaningless as the AMAs. Music’s biggest night, as the Grammys like to call itself, almost lived up to its moniker. (Just don’t ask the Weeknd, Justin Bieber, Zayn Malik and others who protested the nominations.)
Instead of being staged in the massive Staples Center arena, the Grammys moved next door to the Los Angeles Convention Center, with performances indoors and a big tent outside to present the trophies.
That meant, after Best New Artist winner Megan Thee Stallion took off her brilliant orange mask, sauntered to the small stage with the help of a man holding her brilliant orange train and started her speech, suddenly it was “vrrrooom” — a noisy vehicle in the street stopped Meg in midsentence, giving a new meaning to Zoom challenges.
The usually fierce rapper found it difficult to find words in her emotional speech, but Noah proved to be the slick antidote. Dressed in a black tuxedo, the “Daily Show” host and comic was a little too ingratiating at times. Like James Corden on “The Late Late Show,”‘ Noah gushed over nearly every performer.
Was that in the script? Or did he ad-lib under instructions from new Grammys producer Ben Winston, who works on Corden’s show?
Noah raved about Bad Bunny’s performance of “Dakiti,” then said, “It makes me feel like I’m back in the club. But I’m not getting kicked out this time.” Groan.
After 40 years of the Grammys being produced by Ken Ehrlich, Winston came up with some smart innovations. Notably, he added mini-profiles (with taped interviews) of nominees for record of the year. That was prudent because most of these artists, such as DaBaby, Doja Cat and Dua Lipa, are well known to Gen Z but not to a broad audience. It gave them a chance to show their personalities.
Winston faced a challenge when it came to reaction shots. During award presentations, all competitors were masked so we couldn’t see facial reactions from winners — or feigned smiles from non-winners.
At least when Styles, Eilish and Haim appeared in the opening segment, the cameras sometimes cut to show other acts grooving to whoever was performing. Later on, Post Malone’s (unmasked) goofy grin during Cardi B’s performance was priceless. And watching a (masked) Swift bounce up and down when Beyoncé set a Grammy record was enthusiasm that couldn’t be hidden.
Some performances were live (including lip sync) and some taped. Lipa proved that her nu-disco music is great for dancing as she and her masked dancers did elaborate ensemble choreography to a medley of “Levitating” and “Don’t Start Now.”
Swift’s medley of “Cardigan,” “August” and “Willow” had a suitable cabin/cabin fever vibe, accompanied by producer/musicians Aaron Dessner and Jack Antonoff. To no one’s surprise, Cardi B took viewers into da club, as in strip club, for a ribald “WAP” with Megan Thee Stallion.
