Although the news of Whitney Houston’s sudden death cast a somber veil over the proceedings, the night belonged the Adele, who won every single award she was nominated for, including the top three.
Adele won Best Record, Song, and Short Form Music Video for Rolling in the Deep, Best Album and Pop Vocal Album for 21, and Best Pop Solo Performance for Someone Like You.
The other major award of the night, Best Pop Duo/Group Performance went to Tony Bennett & Amy Winehouse for Body and Soul, while Bon Iver took home the Best New Artist prize.
The ceremony was long (3.5 hours!!) but went by quickly, zipping along with performance after performance. Overall, it was a nice show, but less impressive than last year’s ceremony, likely because of the acts:
- Bruce Springsteen opened the show with his new song, which I’m not a big fan of, even though I seriously hope it helps Obama win his reelection campaign.
- LL Cool J’s opening prayer for Whitney, followed by a brief clip of her singing I Will Always Love You on the Grammys stage, was beautiful and touching.
- Bruno Mars, whose songs I generally like, was rocking too hard, although his performance exuded sex appeal from beginning to end.
- Bonnie Raitt & Alicia Keys’ tribute to Etta James was very nice. Two very talented ladies.
- Chris Brown, absent from the Grammys since he beat up Rihanna, performed several times during the night and even won an award. Although he seems talented, he’s not my cup of tea, and he seemed to have too good of a time after what he did not very long ago. Judging from some comments I’ve read, I’m not the only one who feels that way.
- Jason Aldean & Kelly Clarkson’s duet was nice too. Such powerful voices and enough chemistry were however blemished by the sudden malfunction of Aldean’s microphone. Too bad.
- Speaking of Rihanna, was she lip synching?!? I thought that was a huge no-no at the Grammys, but she clearly messed up her lines and pulled the microphone away from her mouth when her voice was still loud and clear, and more than once. A bad performance for her usual fluffy song.
- Rihanna also sang with Coldplay’s Chris Martin, whose great (live) voice clearly overpowered hers.
- Sir Paul McCartney sang his nice new ballad with a strong, deep voice and Taylor Swift displayed her young charm with her catchy and thoughtful Mean, while Katy Perry’s performance was fairly cool, but the song didn’t thrill me.
- Finally came the moment everyone was waiting for. Gwyneth Paltrow introduced Adele, who sang Rolling in the Deep with a clear and strong voice. Unlike the many performers who tried to dazzle with elaborate dance numbers, intricate sets, and visual effects, Adele sang with a few backup singers and musicians, her voice always front and center. It was a beautiful performance, which received the night’s longest standing ovation.
- The In Memoriam clip was really nice and when, right after the clip of Whitney Houston, Jennifer Hudson started singing her rendition of I Will Always Love You, it felt eerie. That backlit figure, so tall and slim, topped by an eruption of hair, reminded me so much of Whitney herself, I thought for a second that the news of her death weren’t true, and that she was there onstage. Hudson did a beautiful job though, often holding back the tears that clearly threatened to overpower her. Her commanding voice expertly and somberly paid tribute to a legend of the music world.
- Finally, Nicki Minaj’s performance of Roman was impressive but also felt a little weird.
The thing I didn’t like was that after the final award was announced and Adele movingly accepted her 6th Grammy of the night, instead of closing the show, letting her have her moment in the spotlight, McCartney, Springsteen and a bunch of other musicians got onstage for a final, rousing performance that I found overlong and overproduced. Too bad.
Adele still ruled over the music world for a night, after ruling over it for much of the past year. Go girl!!
Click here for a full list of the winners.
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