When the 53rd Grammy Awards crashed to a conclusion at 10:30 Sunday night, more south Louisianans had turned up as remembrances than winners.
Alex Chilton, songwriter Bobby Charles and jazz photographer Herman Leonard, a Lakeview resident prior to Hurricane Katrina, were all memorialized. Meanwhile, Troy “Trombone Shorty” Andrews, Dr. John, Wynton Marsalis and the “Treme” soundtrack all went home empty-handed.
Still, there was much to savor in the telecast, which wasted little time on actual award distribution.
My first thought? Aretha Franklin has died. The opening Christina Aguilera, Jennifer Hudson, Martina McBride, Yolanda Adams, Florence Welch tribute felt like a eulogy. But a slimmed-down Queen of Soul appeared via video to reaffirm her continued existence.
Best ad-lib: Train singer Pat Monahan thanked Justin Bieber "for not being a duo or group," thus paving the way for Train’s win.
The new Sonny and Cher: Marc Anthony and Jennifer Lopez. He is the short, odd-looking goofball with the awkward sense of humor. She is the statuesque, all-business beauty who tolerates him. Together, they made for an entertaining presenter pair.
Performances were solid all around. The Bruno Mars/B.o.B./Janelle Monae black-and-white montage smoked. The Aretha tribute was tastefully executed. Mumford & Sons and the Avett Brothers, devoid of pretense and artifice, kicked out the jams behind an even craggier than usual Bob Dylan. Seriously, he makes Tom Waits sound like Bieber.
After Dylan, cameras cut to fellow ‘60s survivors Neil Young and Jeff Beck in the audience. Coincidence?
Judging by online chatter, I’m not the only one who believes Lady Gaga’s new “Born This Way” is more than slightly reminiscent of Madonna’s “Express Yourself.”
For a moment after the first “protestor” crashed the stage during Muse, I thought this might be a repeat of Rage Against the Machine bassist Tim Commerford crashing the MTV Video Music Awards during Limp Bizkit’s acceptance speech in 2000.
How to make Cee Lo Green’s irresistible yet profane hit pass muster on network TV? Refer to it as the “song otherwise known as ‘Forget You.’” And let a feathered Green perform it with a band of puppets – and Gwyneth Paltrow, reprising her spunky version from “Glee.”
Rihanna’s fire-and-smoke gown during the opening of “Love the Way You Lie” matched the flames on the video screens and the fire in her (and Eminem’s) eyes.
Katy Perry screened footage of her wedding to Russell Brand during “Not Like the Movies.” Too sweet, or too much?
Weakest performances: Usher/Bieber and Barbra Streisand. Hers was the only moment that seemed beamed in from a decade or three ago. And her vocals were way too low in the mix.
Eminem – dude, you won rap album of the year. Dial down the intensity for a few seconds and lighten up, will ya?
What was wrong with Diddy? He seemed incoherent, and sported what looked like either braces or a horrible grill on his lower teeth.
Worst-dressed: Lenny Kravitz, in what appeared to be a vinyl jacket tailored with a weed whacker, and Green Bay Packers linebacker Clay Matthews, in what he’d wear to the grocery.
Three years ago, Amy Winehouse won five of six awards for which she was nominated, including record and song of the year. But in a surprise ending, she lost to Herbie Hancock for album of the year.
On Sunday, contemporary country trio Lady Antebellum won five of six awards for which it was nominated, including record and song of the year. But in a surprise ending, the group lost to Canadian indie rock ensemble Arcade Fire for album of the year.
Arcade Fire’s strobe-lit performance of the un-melodic “Month of May” likely gave some voters second thoughts. In a disjointed scramble back to their instruments after their big win, they closed the show in an appropriately unvarnished manner with the far more palatable “Ready to Start,” their newly acquired gold Gramophone stashed atop an amplifier.