Gibby's Top 10 Moments of the 2015 Grammys

Beck, Imma let you finish, but these were the most boring Grammys of all time. OF ALL TIME.

Hey everyone, I'm launching my personal blog again. One of my New Years Resolutions was to practice my writing more, and this is a good way of doing that if/when I'm in between assignments for other places. I'll probably play around with the design of the blog more again to include links to other places I work with. Obviously because this is a personal blog, things here will be a little looser than in my more "professional" stuff.

The Grammys happened this Sunday, and as per usual, the world collectively shrugged. The Grammys are one of the least prestigious awards show I can think of, but some of us still end up watching them every year out of some masochistic habit. This year was actually the first ceremony I've actually watched in full, and I don't know how people do this every year. Aside from the various problems that the ceremonies have when it comes to the mishandling of basically every genre of music, it's just a straight-up boring ceremony. There's little variety in the performances, because at the Grammys everybody sings ballads. EVERYBODY. But the negatives of the Grammys have been stated by so many people that I actually want to stay a little positive with this article. Here are my personal favorite things that happened during the Grammy ceremony this past week:

10. They Got Some Awards Right

Richard D. James is looking a little different these days.

The Grammys royally screw up tons of categories. Their choices of nominees and winners for genres like rap, rock, alternative and metal are oftentimes laughable. So when they actually do make a solid decision in awarding an album, artist or song, it's almost impressive. Most of the awards they actually get right are often announced before the big ceremony, so they can get pushed to the wayside. Both Aphex Twin and St. Vincent received well-deserved awards for their incredible 2014 output. Kendrick Lamar's "i" was divisive among fans, but it was easily my favorite of the nominated rap songs (even though Kendrick's two wins seem like make-up awards from last year's Macklemore/Kendrick fiasco). Beck's Morning Phase was the only album nominated for Best Rock Album that wasn't a massive disappointment, so I guess that's a win too.

9. ELO Was Cool, I Guess

This might be the whitest moment in the history of white people.

Yes, I'm well aware that some of these lower entries are reaching a little bit. Coolness be damned, I have a little bit of a soft spot for Electric Light Orchestra. "Evil Woman" and especially "Mr. Blue Sky" are two of the best pop-rock songs in history, and it was kinda cool to see these songs played live. Not even the absolute lameness of Ed Sheeran could ruin a great song like "Mr. Blue Sky.

8. Pharrell's Performance Was... Interesting?

Yeah, let's go with interesting. I'm still not exactly sure what happened in this performance. Pharrell was dressed up like a bellboy. The song was sung in minor for a while. The dancers wear hoodies and pay tribute to Ferguson protests with the "hands up, don't shoot" gesture. There's a gospel choir (though there were a lot of gospel choirs this year). Lang Lang plays piano and Hans Zimmer plays guitar. I'm still not sure what I actually think about this performance, but on a night filled with samey-sounding ballads, somebody doing something actually interesting was a welcome addition.

7. Beyonce Shows Why She's Queen Bey

She might've gotten snubbed in regards to major awards, but Beyonce showed why she deserves to be on top in the closing moments of the show. Her performance of "Precious Lord, Take My Hand" was pretty stunning. In a night full of slow songs and featured gospel choirs, Beyonce had the best use of both. The performance is a little too deliberate at times for my taste, but her vocal performance is undeniable. As far as pop singers go, few, if any, can match her vocal prowess.

6. Wait... What's This "Rap" Music???

There were three country acts, two legacy rock acts, and countless pop artists during the Grammy ceremony. Yet one genre was notably absent from most of the show: rap. Sure, Kanye showed up a few times, but he's not really "rapping" in either of the songs he performed. Other than Kanye's presence, the only real reference to hip-hop I noticed in the show until Common showed up was a tribute to Big Bank Hank of the Sugarhill Gang during the In Memoriam segment. I haven't seen Selma yet, but I'm a fan of "Glory." Common's verses are powerful, and I'm happy that John Legend gets to share his talents to people who might not know him outside of the sappy, boring "All of Me." It also provided some variety in the show. Maybe the Grammys should look more into this "rap music" that all the kids seem to be talking about.

5. The Beck Moment We Should Actually Be Talking About

Whether or not you believe Beck was worthy of his Album of the Year for Morning Phase, "Heart is a Drum" is one of his best songs in the past decade. Beck was joined by Coldplay's Chris Martin for an acoustic performance that easily ranked as one of the best of the night. Their voices worked incredibly well together, and the two created some lovely harmonies. While everybody was talking about Kanye's Beck comments in the immediately aftermath of the show, this performance was much more worth the conversation.

4. Annie Lennox Completely Shows Up Hozier

I think Hozier's "Take Me to Church" is an absolutely dreadful song. I think it's an absolutely insufferable overdramatic funeral dirge. I was feeling similar thoughts while Hozier performed the song at the Grammys. Then Annie Lennox showed up and made that song actually interesting for a change. But it was Lennox's cover of "I Put a Spell On You" that really took this performance to the next level. Lennox is 60 years old, and her voice is still as captivating as ever. I hope Hozier took notes.

3. Kanye Keeps The Grammys Relevant

I've always been a believer that pop music is always a better place when Kanye's around. The Grammys were a prime example of this. On a night that got tedious on multiple occasions, Kanye kept things fresh three times. His heartfelt performance of "Only One" gave me chills. I'm not the biggest fan of "FourFive Seconds," but the performance with Rihanna and Paul McCartney still ranked as one of the best of the nights. Then, of course, there was the Beck fiasco (more accurately, near-fiasco). Kanye came incredibly close to stealing the mic away from Beck and repeating the events of the Taylor Swift VMA incident. Kanye smiled and turned around as Pharrell, Jay-Z, and Beyonce were visibly shocked at the events that almost unfolded. I'm not in agreement with some of the things that Kanye's said about the situation since that night. I actually prefer Morning Phase over Beyonce as far as albums go. But without this event and Kanye's post-Grammys rant, people probably would've completely forgotten about this show by now. The Grammys should award Yeezy with a Lifetime Achievement Award for making people actually care about the show.

2. Sia's Lovely "Chandelier" Performance

Sia should've won all the awards that Sam Smith won (except Best New Artist, since she's been in the business for forever now). "Chandelier" is one of the most powerful performances that hit pop radio last year, and the Grammy performance was simply stunning. Sia sang in the background as Kristen Wiig and Maddie Ziegler danced around the room. It was not only a welcome break from the rut of Balladfest 2015, it was a great performance regardless of context. Plus, who knew Kristen Wiig could dance like that!?

1. PRINCE.

Sometimes, the Purple One sees us lesser humans and our silly awards shows and decides to bless us with his presence. He pities us, so he brings us the joy of his presence. He did this with the Golden Globes last month. Likewise, he does so at the Grammys. He does not stay long; Prince is too busy to concern himself with our trivial matters for more than five minutes. He announces one award. He makes his contempt for lesser artists show on his face. It is Prince who truly deserves this award. He deserves every award, no matter what that award is. We know this, and we acknowledge it just as Prince does. Does Sam Smith truly deserve his awards? Beyonce? Beck? Miranda Lambert? No, only Prince.