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T-Mad’s 2010 Grammys® Rant [Post a Comment]
Alright, here’s my Grammys® “rant” for the year.
I almost wasn’t going to do a blog post this time because, for me, it was hit and miss. Personally, it’s been years since an entire awards show has really blown me away from beginning to end. Today, I just don’t know enough of the new faces out there who are featured on these mainstream award shows.
Those who have read my previous blog posts on the Grammys® know by now that my reviews are not 100% all inclusive of everything. That I mainly cover the music that fits into the context of T-Mad’s Music plus some other major standouts here and there.
I do have to admit that I missed the first ten minutes so I did not get to see the opening performance by Lady GaGa. Sorry (you can tell I’m all “broken up” about it, right? Riiiight).
I do not follow Green Day but I have to admit that their performance with the ladies whose names I did not get sounded good.
Beyoncé surprised me with her choice of song for her performance, If I Were A Boy. I would have expected Halo or Single Ladies.
Of course, her performance was a big production number as usual and she was sexually erotic as always. Single Ladies would have been more erotic to enjoy but I digress.
The Black Eyed Peas gave an energetic performance, throwing down old school style. Funny — they say their music looks to the future. To me, I would probably better express it as their music looks to the past and brings it to the future for the next generation. As an older listener, I can definitely hear many old school traits in their sound which, of course, today’s younger listeners take to be brand new.
The country segment with new band Zac Brown Band and legend Leon Russell was actually pretty good. This might surprise you when you read this but I’m actually a fan of old school country music and Zac Brown Band does embody an old school aesthetic with their sound. Leon Russell was good on the piano and the band member plucking the guitar was on rapid fire so I can appreciate that.
Iron Man star Robert Downey Jr.’s seriocomic intro of Jamie Foxx with rapper T-Pain and former Guns N Roses guitarist Slash was funny in its mock pomposity. Seeing George Clinton in the audience jamming to the song was a funny highlight, with his ever-multicolored hair. And I knew that the “conductor” in white with the white wig and his back to the audience was going to turn out to be T-Pain.
Now, at the risk of offending pop country lovers out there, I am not really a follower of Taylor Swift. Sorry but she doesn’t hold my attention musically. She’s not bad but does not do it for me. However, that being said, I did enjoy her team up with Fleetwood Mac vocalist Stevie Nicks for a pretty decent remake of the latter’s 1975 classic Rhiannon. Their voices blended pretty well on that one.
Now let’s talk about the Michael Jackson tribute. I was not surprised to see Lionel Richie introduce it since he and Michael wrote the classic We Are The World. I was sorry that I did not have a pair of 3-D glasses to enjoy the 3-D effects. However, I thought it was a beautifully done rendition of Michael’s environmental classic Earth Song with Celine Dion, Usher, Carrie Underwood, Smokey Robinson, and Jennifer Hudson with, of course, the singing of Michael Jackson himself. The quintet of singers were very sincere and true to the song. No one oversung it. They all had their areas of strength where they sung. They also knew when to get out of the way and let Michael’s own vocals on the song be heard. Nicely done.
Wyclef Jean’s intro and piece on the plight of his homeland Haiti was, of course, heartfelt and sincere. Mary J. Blige and Andrea Bocelli’s rendition of the Simon and Garfunkle classic Bridge Over Trouble Waters was nicely done. I think Mary J. has truly matured as a singer. I have followed her music from the very beginning in the late eighties when she sang with other performers (e.g. Grand Puba) before debuting on her own in 1992 with What’s The 411 and all throughout and I have seen the changes in her sound and her look and her mindset. Well done.
Adam Sandler introduced the Dave Matthews Band and I was actually feeling that performance. Big production he had out there on stage with the big band of musicians, the stage teeming with backup vocalists, chanters, dancers and prancers. Nice performance.
LL Cool J, looking pretty dapper in his suit and hat, introduced the equally dapper neosoul singer Maxwell and the legendary Roberta Flack. Maxwell sounded good doing his new song Pretty Wings. Roberta Flack joined him for a very nice duet of her classic Where Is The Love. Of course, Maxwell was filling in for the late Donny Hathaway on the song. I could have stood a little more of the song lyrically but they sounded nice together nonetheless.
The dedication segment, which recognizes those who passed away in the previous year (in this case, 2009), included Philly’s own Teddy Pendergrass and it was nice to see him recognized and acknowledged. Guitarist Jeff Beck did a very nice tribute to the late legend Les Paul, the creator of the Gibson electric guitar.
Sorry but I don’t feel today’s rap music so the rap segment with T-Pain and Eminem did not do it for me other than to say it’s nice to see Eminem back but that’s it. Too much cursing (all silenced out, of course) for my tastes.
Finally, I crossed my fingers hoping that Kanye West didn’t pop up again as Taylor Swift actually beat out Beyoncé for Album of the Year.
Okay, I welcome your comments on my rants about the Grammys®.
Alright, here’s my Grammys® “rant” for the year.
I almost wasn’t going to do a blog post this time because, for me, it was hit and miss. Personally, it’s been years since an entire awards show has really blown me away from beginning to end. Today, I just don’t know enough of the new faces out there who are featured on these mainstream award shows.
Those who have read my previous blog posts on the Grammys® know by now that my reviews are not 100% all inclusive of everything. That I mainly cover the music that fits into the context of T-Mad’s Music plus some other major standouts here and there.
I do have to admit that I missed the first ten minutes so I did not get to see the opening performance by Lady GaGa. Sorry (you can tell I’m all “broken up” about it, right? Riiiight).
I do not follow Green Day but I have to admit that their performance with the ladies whose names I did not get sounded good.
Beyoncé surprised me with her choice of song for her performance, If I Were A Boy. I would have expected Halo or Single Ladies.
Of course, her performance was a big production number as usual and she was sexually erotic as always. Single Ladies would have been more erotic to enjoy but I digress.
The Black Eyed Peas gave an energetic performance, throwing down old school style. Funny — they say their music looks to the future. To me, I would probably better express it as their music looks to the past and brings it to the future for the next generation. As an older listener, I can definitely hear many old school traits in their sound which, of course, today’s younger listeners take to be brand new.
The country segment with new band Zac Brown Band and legend Leon Russell was actually pretty good. This might surprise you when you read this but I’m actually a fan of old school country music and Zac Brown Band does embody an old school aesthetic with their sound. Leon Russell was good on the piano and the band member plucking the guitar was on rapid fire so I can appreciate that.
Iron Man star Robert Downey Jr.’s seriocomic intro of Jamie Foxx with rapper T-Pain and former Guns N Roses guitarist Slash was funny in its mock pomposity. Seeing George Clinton in the audience jamming to the song was a funny highlight, with his ever-multicolored hair. And I knew that the “conductor” in white with the white wig and his back to the audience was going to turn out to be T-Pain.
Now, at the risk of offending pop country lovers out there, I am not really a follower of Taylor Swift. Sorry but she doesn’t hold my attention musically. She’s not bad but does not do it for me. However, that being said, I did enjoy her team up with Fleetwood Mac vocalist Stevie Nicks for a pretty decent remake of the latter’s 1975 classic Rhiannon. Their voices blended pretty well on that one.
Now let’s talk about the Michael Jackson tribute. I was not surprised to see Lionel Richie introduce it since he and Michael wrote the classic We Are The World. I was sorry that I did not have a pair of 3-D glasses to enjoy the 3-D effects. However, I thought it was a beautifully done rendition of Michael’s environmental classic Earth Song with Celine Dion, Usher, Carrie Underwood, Smokey Robinson, and Jennifer Hudson with, of course, the singing of Michael Jackson himself. The quintet of singers were very sincere and true to the song. No one oversung it. They all had their areas of strength where they sung. They also knew when to get out of the way and let Michael’s own vocals on the song be heard. Nicely done.
Wyclef Jean’s intro and piece on the plight of his homeland Haiti was, of course, heartfelt and sincere. Mary J. Blige and Andrea Bocelli’s rendition of the Simon and Garfunkle classic Bridge Over Trouble Waters was nicely done. I think Mary J. has truly matured as a singer. I have followed her music from the very beginning in the late eighties when she sang with other performers (e.g. Grand Puba) before debuting on her own in 1992 with What’s The 411 and all throughout and I have seen the changes in her sound and her look and her mindset. Well done.
Adam Sandler introduced the Dave Matthews Band and I was actually feeling that performance. Big production he had out there on stage with the big band of musicians, the stage teeming with backup vocalists, chanters, dancers and prancers. Nice performance.
LL Cool J, looking pretty dapper in his suit and hat, introduced the equally dapper neosoul singer Maxwell and the legendary Roberta Flack. Maxwell sounded good doing his new song Pretty Wings. Roberta Flack joined him for a very nice duet of her classic Where Is The Love. Of course, Maxwell was filling in for the late Donny Hathaway on the song. I could have stood a little more of the song lyrically but they sounded nice together nonetheless.
The dedication segment, which recognizes those who passed away in the previous year (in this case, 2009), included Philly’s own Teddy Pendergrass and it was nice to see him recognized and acknowledged. Guitarist Jeff Beck did a very nice tribute to the late legend Les Paul, the creator of the Gibson electric guitar.
Sorry but I don’t feel today’s rap music so the rap segment with T-Pain and Eminem did not do it for me other than to say it’s nice to see Eminem back but that’s it. Too much cursing (all silenced out, of course) for my tastes.
Finally, I crossed my fingers hoping that Kanye West didn’t pop up again as Taylor Swift actually beat out Beyoncé for Album of the Year.
Okay, I welcome your comments on my rants about the Grammys®.
Posted by T-Mad on 01/31/2010 at 11:18 PM
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