Grammy Awards Hour 1

Yup, I'm taking on the Grammy Awards.

Rather than talk about who should have been nominated for what or who won what category vs. who should have won (because frankly, I'm no judge), I've decided to take inspiration from the Grammys themselves. Since this year they pretty much decided to take the "Award" part out of the "Award Show Format" in favor of an hours-long concert by the various nominated artists, I've decided to share my thoughts on said performances: What worked, what didn't and What left me scratching my head.

The festivities open up with U2 performing "Get On Your Boots" (hey! they have an album coming out! Promote, promote!) It's not a bad way to open up the show, really. The band performs in front of a giant screen displaying the lyrics (part of me thinks they did that so the crowd would be able to sing along with a song that hasn't been out for very long). Aside from Bono sounding winded through most of the song (and possibly not singing along at all during the bridge...let LypSync Gate commence!) the band had a lot of energy and gave a good standard rock performance.

Justin Timberlake, Al Green, Keith Urban, and Boyz II Men are up next. It's good if a bit forgetable. I almost zipped right over it while I was rewatching the show to write this post. Um yeah, I have really nothing else to say about these guys.

After the break, Coldplay perform "Lost" and "Viva La Vida". It's a much more subdued version of "Lost" than I've heard before (Just Chris and a piano) and Jay-Z's appearance was unexpected (it somehow works, though). Chris then skips up to the main stage to join his band mates for "Viva La Vida" in all their multi-coloured-marching-band-jacketed glory. Watching Chris Martin perform is an interesting experience, and his energy is infectious. I was singing along by the end. Keith Urban segues us to Carrie Underwood performing "Last Name". She sounds a bit shouty, but she has enough sass and attitude to pull it off. Plus she has rhinestones all over her microphone. You can't argue with a rhinestone encrusted mic.

Next we have Kid Rock performing a medley of his new Mom-Rock approved standards (I'm looking at you "All Summer Long"). Okay, as much as I don't like Kid Rock, I have to admit he put on a pretty good show. There is something captivating watching him behind the mic. "All Summer Long" is the weakest segment of his set and after being forced to listen to that song all summer long (pun intended) I was thrilled that I didn't have to sit through the whole thing again. One chorus, done, moving on.

The last performance of the hour is Miley Cyrus and Taylor Swift performing "Fifteen". The pre-commercial bumpers have been billing this as an historic event that these two are performing together "for the first time ever!" I don't get what the big deal is, really. Are they in a feud or something? Or are they trying to create the second coming of the Elton John/Eminem duet from back in the day? Whatever. The song is good, very powerful, and Taylor sounds awesome (and since under normal circumstances Taylor Swift does nothing for me, that's saying a lot). Miley, on the other hand, sounds out of key and over-sings her parts while scrunching up her face every time the camera is on her.