Bruno Mars payed tribute to Prince, playing “The Bird” and “Jungle Love” from 1984’s Purple Rain.
By Nicolas Jozefczyk | Staff Writer
Mesmerizing performances, spectacular singing and, for some reason, nudity sums up the 59th annual Grammy’s. This year’s music award show was a star-studded event, with James Corden adding his own flare and pizzazz as the host.
The show opened with Adele singing her lead single off of her album “25,” “Hello.” After the stellar performance, attention switched to Corden’s entrance, which seemed botched by the mechanical stage at first. With a rising stage stopping half way up, a tumble down some stairs and Corden yelling at some dancers, it was apparent that the debacle was just a comedic ruse.
Once the comedy was over, the award show got straight to business. Jennifer Lopez presented the first award of the night, Best New Artist. The nominees for this category included Kelsea Ballerini, The Chainsmokers, Chance The Rapper, Maren Morris and Anderson .Paak. Chance The Rapper pulled ahead in the Best New Artist category, beating out other respectable artists.
Chance’s acceptance speech had one very clear message in it: that he thanked God. He could not go a couple statements into his speech without bringing up the Lord.
Following his acceptance speech, Paris Jackson set-up The Weeknd and Daft Punk performing The Weeknd’s “I Feel it Coming.” The performances did not stop there, because after the musical collaboration, Carrie Underwood and Keith Urban sang their debut performance of “The Fighter.”
As if the night needed a reprieve from the acts, Nick Jonas came out to present the Best Pop Duo/Group Performance Grammy. This category had many good contenders like “Closer,” “7 Years,” “Work,” “Cheap Thrills” and “Stressed Out.” In a shocking upset, Twenty One Pilots beat out the competition with their track “Stressed Out” and suddenly the prestigious Grammy Awards became a strip show.
Twenty One Pilots had taken off their pants to accept the award. In their acceptance speech, they explained that they were once watching the Grammy’s in their underwear with their friend Josh before they were musicians. It was at that time that they had decided if they ever won a Grammy, they would do it in their underwear. I am not sure if the personal reasoning makes the pantless acceptance okay, but it at least cleared up the confusion.
The night continued with performances from Kelsea Ballerini and Lukas Graham, and then, the one and only Queen Bee herself, Beyoncé, took the stage.
Introduced by her mother, Beyoncé took the stage bearing twins in her womb and wowed the crowd. She performed two tracks off of her “Lemonade” album: “Love Drought” and “Sandcastles.” The performance was aesthetically stunning, with Beyoncé wearing a sparkling dress and halo, making her seem ethereal, even god-like.
Other notable performances of the night included Katy Perry and Lady Gaga with Metallica. Perry sang her new song “Chained to the Rhythm.” It had many symbols such as a white picket fence slowly growing and covering a house, and her outfit had the word “resist” tied around her white sleeve.
Gaga’s act with Metallica did not include political satire, but was much more fun. Singing “Moth Into Flame,” one of Metallica’s new songs, both artists had a headbanging time, whipping around and singing onstage. At one instance, Gaga even jumped into the crowd, obviously having a remarkable time.
Many tribute acts also took place at the Grammy’s this year. Adele sang the late George Michael’s “Fast Love,” and Bruno Mars performed Prince’s “Let’s Go Crazy” while eerily looking almost exactly like the dead singer himself. There was also a tribute to The Bee Gees performed by Tori Kelly, Little Big Town, Andra Day and Demi Lovato.
Unfortunately, the festivities had to wind down and with that came the last two Grammy’s of the night, Record of the Year and Album of the Year. Adele grabbed both of these awards with her record “Hello” and her album “25.” In her acceptance speech for “Album of the Year,” Adele made a teary-eyed speech that praised Beyoncé and her music, making the point that Beyoncé should have won the Grammy instead of her.
All-in-all, the 59th annual Grammy Awards was the place to be to celebrate another great year of music, with unexpected Grammy wins, powerful tributes and yes, even Beyoncé herself. Now it is up to the artists to create another spectacular year of music to be celebrated next year.
