By Juan Garcia
The Grammy Awards is the biggest night for music, but this year, the performances were mediocre, the presenters were lame, and the show was a huge upset.
The Grammy Awards opened with a tribute to Aretha Franklin in which Christina Aguilera, Jennifer Hudson, Florence Welch, Yolanda Adams, and Martina McBride took turns singing her biggest hit singles such as Respect and Natural Woman. However, following her Super Bowl embarassment, Christina Aguilera tried to regain her self-esteem rather than pay tribute to “the queen of soul.”
The Grammy Awards featured performances by Lady Gaga, Miranda Lambert, Justin Bieber, B.O.B., Bruno Mars, Janelle Monae, Usher, Eminem, Rihanna, Drake, Lady Antebellum, Cee Lo Green, Katy Perry, Arcade Fire, Muse, and Mick Jagger, with special appearances by Bob Dylan, Jaden Smith, Dr. Dre, and Gwyneth Paltrow.
There were no outstanding performances,however, the best performance of the night was Bruno Mars who sang a revamped soul version of his hit song Grenade, before being joined by Janelle Monae who sang Cold War. The runner up was Lady Gaga, who kept is simple but entertaining. She arrived on stage in an egg, from which she hatched prior to debuting her newly released single Born This Way.
Bruno Mars won “Best Male Pop Vocal” for Just the Way You Are. Lady Gaga walked away with three Grammy Awards including “Best Pop Vocal Album” for The Fame Monster. However, Lady Antebellum swept the board with five Grammy Awards including “Record of the Year” and “Song of the Year” for Need You Now.
However, there were many upsets in some categories such as “Best New Artist”, were Esperanza Spalding beat out the likes of Justin Bieber and Drake. The biggest upset though is in the highly coveted “Album of the Year.” In this category, The Suburbs by Arcade Fire outlasted Eminem’s Recovery, Lady Gaga’s The Fame Monster, Lady Antebellum’s Need You Now, and Katy Perry’s Teenage Dream.
The Grammy Awards was a night of surprises and disappointments. With some average performances this year awards do not even compare with last year’s memorable performances by Pink, Beyoncé, and Lady Gaga.
For full list of the 53rd Annual Grammy Awards winners visit grammy.com