Grammy Awards 2014: Review Revue
The two duos on everyone’s lips the day after the Grammys: Daft Punk and Macklemore & Ryan Lewis. Both acts secured enough awards to lend legitimacy to their respective visions to forge their own paths in the world of popular music, by bucking tradition and, in the case of Macklemore, major labels.
So what of the 56th annual Grammy ceremony as a whole? Did all of the performances, collaborations, presentations and general star showings click with viewers? We rounded up what several online critics had to say below. Read their thoughts, then let us know your own!
:: Boston.com commented, “The Grammy Awards celebrated outcasts and outsiders, lionizing a couple of French robots, white rappers and a country gal espousing gay rights, and a Goth teenager who’s clearly uncomfortable with the current themes in pop music.”
:: E! Online talked of Daft Punk’s big night: “The helmet-sporting French duo’s Random Access Memories became the first dance-music LP to win Album of the Year since the soundtrack for Saturday Night Fever. Not only did more Daft Punk mean more time spent with Pharrell’s hat, but their live performance of their mega-hit ‘Get Lucky,’ which was also named Record of the Year (one of Daft Punk’s leading five Grammy wins tonight), had the entire audience (and not just the always bouncy Taylor Swift) clapping and dancing in the most heartwarming display of the night.”
:: The Los Angeles Times noted that “at times the ceremony Sunday at Los Angeles’ Staples Center felt like a night for the underdogs,” and said of the night’s biggest award, “Even Daft Punk’s well-earned album of the year win for Random Access Memories, a decidedly big-budget affair that arrived with as much fanfare as James Cameron’s Titanic, still felt like a victory for the little man.”
:: Meanwhile, NPR picked up an Associated Press’ writeup with the actual headline “Daft Punk: Who Knew They Were French?” Just about everyone, gang.
:: The New York Daily News commented on independent duo Macklemore & Ryan Lewis’ big showing: “The pair made history with their performance of the hit ‘Same Love.; While the openly gay author of the song’s chorus, Mary Lambert, crooned the main hook, 33 real life couples — some straight, some gay — exchanged rings in a make-shift wedding. During the ceremony, guest star Madonna worked in her old hit ‘Open Your Heart.’ As an early supporter of gay rights, she fit in seamlessly.”
:: Speaking of Madonna, DListed had this to say about the Material Girl bringing her son to the ceremony: “And when Madge and David popped up on my TV, it took me a second to realize that was her son and not her new boyfriend.”
:: As for the performances, here’s what the Chicago Sun-Times had to say: “One sign the Grammys does not trust its own star power — or that the Grammys are not considered headline news by younger viewers: Many of the performances were collaborations between newer artists and veterans. The one that felt most electric — and apparently got the rather sedate Staples Center audience moving — was between Pharrell Williams, Stevie Wonder, Chic’s Nile Rodgers, and Daft Punk. They performed ‘Get Lucky,’ which owes heavily from the 1970s funk that Wonder innovated. Combined with Chic’s ‘Freak Out,’ the performance was a Grammy highlight.”
:: Finally, Delaware’s Daily Times tossed out this quip: “Not to blame Taylor Swift, but it seemed we saw more camera shots of her dancing in the front row to Kendrick Lamar and Imagine Dragons than we saw of Imagine Dragons. Odd irony considering that being upstaged herself at an awards show was such a key moment in her career.”
Get an eyeful of even more pop music coverage, from artist interviews to exclusive performances, on Idolator’s YouTube channel.
