For the last few years I have not bother watching the music lovefest that is also known as the Grammys. Frankly, it stopped being of interest or priority viewing. This year, I considered the 49th edition of the awards show a must see. For the first time in 23 years, the trio formerly know as "The Police" played together and opened the show with an amazing Roxanne set. Uhm, but that is all they played?!?! I felt robbed because quite frankly they could have handed out all the hardware in the back while The Police played the rest of the night. DW informed me that short of her being in labour, we ARE attending the inevitable reunion tour concert. We saw Sting not too long ago (with Ms. Annie Lennox opening for him) and it was an absolutely amazing concert. A concert with The Police would be mind-blowing, I'm sure.
OK, so o to the rest of the show. There were many deaths in the music industry this year so there were a lot of references and tributes but the one that brought down the house was the one for the Godfather of Soul, James Brown. It was a single song, it was a single set and it was a solo performer; it was a perfect tribute. The singer did an amazing rendition of JB's "It's a Man's World". The singer brought the house down and floored Jamie Foxx (evident by his expression) with the power and substance and tone in HER voice. Yes, it was a female singer and while the easy, default, stereotypical view might be that it was an older, robust, black woman singing (i.e. a Patti Labelle, Aretha Franklin, Natalie Cole, etc.), this was not the case. The singer was super sexy, younger, petite, and white.
Christina Aguilera again showed the world why, despite her missteps early in her career, that she is the real deal and both Jessica Simpson and Britney Spears (and Hillary Duff, and Lindsay Lohan, and...) are simply pretenders, wannabes and a marketer's wet dream. The lady can sing and she can belt out the notes high, low, long short, soft and hard. She. Can. Sing. There is no way any of her so-called peers would ever have been considered to do that song, make that performance shine, because they are all simply incapable of doing what she does. I hope that she gets some writers and some future collaborations to really take her to Madonna-like heights because she deserves it. Not since Annie Lennox has any non-black singer made me turn to see who was that was. She is simply amazing.
Other performances of note would include Chris Brown, Justin Timberlake, The Red hot Chilipeppers, Mary J. Blige, Ludacris (sporting the new lack of do), Beyonce (yawn), and the Dixie Chicks. Ms. Mary and TDC cleaned up on awards and both were well deserved. Ms. Mary's acceptance speech may go down in history as the longest ever at the Grammys. TDC was careful not to stir up too much controversy but they were obviously vindicated after the ridiculous backlash hurled their way for daring to speak out against President Bush's policies. I would love to see all those people lining up to bend over and kiss their asses now while mumbling sorry with a mouth full of ass. TDC is amazing that they not only endured it all, they grew stronger and better as a group. They are one of the few country acts (I not-so-lovingly refer to them all as "twang-twang music) that i will listen to; Reba, Garth and a few others make up a very short list.
Anyhow, if you happen to catch a few of the performances on YouTube or other video sites, it will be worth the watch. Next year, the 50th anniversary will be bigger, badder and no doubt, longer.
Ciao.
CityNews: Comebacks And Tributes Mark 49th Grammy Awards
OK, so o to the rest of the show. There were many deaths in the music industry this year so there were a lot of references and tributes but the one that brought down the house was the one for the Godfather of Soul, James Brown. It was a single song, it was a single set and it was a solo performer; it was a perfect tribute. The singer did an amazing rendition of JB's "It's a Man's World". The singer brought the house down and floored Jamie Foxx (evident by his expression) with the power and substance and tone in HER voice. Yes, it was a female singer and while the easy, default, stereotypical view might be that it was an older, robust, black woman singing (i.e. a Patti Labelle, Aretha Franklin, Natalie Cole, etc.), this was not the case. The singer was super sexy, younger, petite, and white.
Christina Aguilera again showed the world why, despite her missteps early in her career, that she is the real deal and both Jessica Simpson and Britney Spears (and Hillary Duff, and Lindsay Lohan, and...) are simply pretenders, wannabes and a marketer's wet dream. The lady can sing and she can belt out the notes high, low, long short, soft and hard. She. Can. Sing. There is no way any of her so-called peers would ever have been considered to do that song, make that performance shine, because they are all simply incapable of doing what she does. I hope that she gets some writers and some future collaborations to really take her to Madonna-like heights because she deserves it. Not since Annie Lennox has any non-black singer made me turn to see who was that was. She is simply amazing.
Other performances of note would include Chris Brown, Justin Timberlake, The Red hot Chilipeppers, Mary J. Blige, Ludacris (sporting the new lack of do), Beyonce (yawn), and the Dixie Chicks. Ms. Mary and TDC cleaned up on awards and both were well deserved. Ms. Mary's acceptance speech may go down in history as the longest ever at the Grammys. TDC was careful not to stir up too much controversy but they were obviously vindicated after the ridiculous backlash hurled their way for daring to speak out against President Bush's policies. I would love to see all those people lining up to bend over and kiss their asses now while mumbling sorry with a mouth full of ass. TDC is amazing that they not only endured it all, they grew stronger and better as a group. They are one of the few country acts (I not-so-lovingly refer to them all as "twang-twang music) that i will listen to; Reba, Garth and a few others make up a very short list.
Anyhow, if you happen to catch a few of the performances on YouTube or other video sites, it will be worth the watch. Next year, the 50th anniversary will be bigger, badder and no doubt, longer.
Ciao.
CityNews: Comebacks And Tributes Mark 49th Grammy Awards
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