My take on the 2010 Grammy Awards
February 11th 2010 03:09
Alice in Chains - Picture courtesy of www.grammy.com
The Grammy Awards this year came off as a bit of a surprise to me personally. It of course had its high and low points like it does every year, but one thing I guess I’ll never understand is why so much of the actual awards show is cut out for us at home TV viewers? There were several artists no one even knew received awards until reading about it on the Grammy’s web site.
In the Rock Music category, I’d first and foremost like to give well deserved congratulations to Australian Rockers AC/DC who finally won their first Grammy award ever for the ‘Best Hard Rock Performance’ with their song “War Machine”. They beat out a few competitors, two of which have won Grammy’s in the past – Metallica and Linkin Park, as well as Alice in Chains and Nickelback.
Other winners in the Rock music genre were as follows:
· Record of the year, Best Rock Performance by a Duo/Group and Best Rock Song – “Use Somebody”, Kings of Leon
· Best Rock Album – ‘21st Century Breakdown’, Green Day
· Best Rock Instrumental Performance – “A Day in the Life”, Jeff Beck
· Best Metal Performance – “Dissident Aggressor”, Judas Priest
· Best Rock Solo Performance – Bruce Springsteen
This years show was a definite spectacle. Between Beyonce’s solo performance, and Pink’s amazing show of circus-like acrobatics and singing, the performers seemed to want to give the show of a lifetime. And then there was Lady Gaga and Elton John’s collaboration which made my jaw drop, but not because of what you might think. I am not a fan of Ms. Gaga but I have to say she genuinely earned my respect on her vocal ability alone for the first time.
The Black Eyed Peas also performed and did their ‘thang’ which is always fun to watch and listen to. The most moving performance of the night though, was not by one artist, but five. This was the Michael Jackson tribute in which Celine Dion, Usher, Smokey Robinson, Carrie Underwood and Jennifer Hudson all sang strong and proud in Michael’s honor.
Even though there was a dynamic of showmanship this year, I have to confess I’m still not a fan of the Grammy’s and my age old complaint remains – why does no music awards special showcase more Rock artists? The Grammy’s attempt to do their share I guess, and yes we have the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, but during each event this year, I counted about 3-4 “rock” bands who actually performed. Green Day and Bon Jovi were the only two “Rock” performances on the Grammy’s.
No rock artist or group was undoubtedly ‘honored’ at either event. For as long as Rock music has been around which is going on 60 years, where is the real Rock Music awards show where only rock artists are honored and awarded? Country music has the CMT awards; Rap/R&B/Soul has the BET awards and also NAACP Image awards. And Rock Music has the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame that honors a pop group like ABBA instead of an obvious rock band like KISS. And it’s those types of ridiculous decisions which don’t give me any faith in those awards shows any longer.
Rock Music is one of the leading genres in our industry, yet no one does near enough to honor it or the artists who’ve blessed us all with their exceptional talent. In closing, I would hope in the future music awards shows honor and showcase more Rock music artists. There are quite possibly hundreds who have given us decades of some of the best music ever, yet we fail time and time again to show them just how much we appreciate all they’ve done and given to us as both their peers and fans.
AC/DC - picture courtesy of www.acdc.com
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