2015 Grammy Awards: Review Revue
The dust is settling on the 57th annual Grammy Awards (watch the performances and see all the winners), and critics have begun to weigh in on music’s so-called biggest night. So what exactly were we left with in the end? The sites below had a few thoughts — some positive and some negative.
We rounded up what the Internet at large had to say about this year’s Grammy shindig. Check it out below, then let us know your own thoughts on the event!
:: Forbes zeroed in on the winners and losers of the night, and had this to say about Iggy Azalea: “The Australian rapper got shut out, failing to win in any of the four categories in which she was nominated. Those could have been big ones: she was up for two of the Big Four as well as Best Rap Album. Azalea has had to deal with accusations of taking advantage of hip-hop; she’ll need another hit in the not-too-distant future to stick around the pop stratosphere.”
:: The Washington Post pondered Kanye West’s role in the night: “Has Kanye West found maturity? There’s some evidence that suggests he has. West had two performances at the Grammys. ‘FourFiveSeconds’ was a spare, acoustic offering with Rihanna and Paul McCartney. ‘Only One’, dedicated to his daughter North, was nakedly earnest and performed in a single shaft of light. After the song, Kanye walked offstage not in a blaze of glory, but obscured in shadow.”
:: The Daily Beast went in on the show…but (sort of) praised Madonna: “For God knows what reason, the Grammys—in an effort to shoehorn as many disparate artists as possible from different generations—treated us to an endless array of combinations more head-scratchingly weird than Ric Ocasek and Paulina Porizkova… Now about that glorious mess that Madonna dropped onstage. Her latest bid for cultural relevancy, a heavily auto-tuned performance of ‘Living for Love’ in some sort of sexy matador-leotard flanked by a group of leather-clad dancers rocking Maleficent horns was bewilderingly batshit and, all things considered, pretty damn impressive (can you believe this woman is 56?!).”
:: Page Six also chimed in on Madge’s butt: “Madonna made a cheeky entrance to the music industry’s big event clad in a Givenchy outfit inspired by her new music video. The dominatrix-cum-matador number not only showed off the ‘Like a Virgin’ singer’s bust, but featured a leather-looking strap that appeared to beholding up the 56-year-old mom’s rear end.”
:: NOLA branded the entire night “sleepy” and “not very fun”: “A list of everyone who played it slow, strong and gentle at the Grammys this year would be a list of well, almost everyone who played the Grammys. The simmering intensity Mary J. Blige brought to Sam Smith’s ‘Stay With Me’ on the show – and Tom Jones and Jessie J’s muscular tribute to Brill Building artisans Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil on the Righteous Brothers’ ‘You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feeling’, and Ed Sheeran’s wistful, strong ‘Thinking Out Loud’, performed with John Mayer – all struggled under the collective weight of too many other ballads.”
:: SPIN lashed out at producers cueing the wrap-up music before Rodney Jerkins got to speak: “Yeah, every award show does this, but c’mon: You’re giving out nine total awards over the space of three-and-a-half hours. If Rodney ‘Darkchild’ Jerkins, denied the mic entirely, wants a minute to explain why his name was on the Sam Smith song — or hell, to extensively quote passages from The Grapes of Wrath, if that’s his wont — just let him live, won’t you?”
:: The Hollywood Reporter shook off Taylor’s losses: “Taylor Swift was up for a couple awards for ‘Shake It Off’. She’s currently the hottest-selling artist in the world, so it was a bit surprising to see her leave empty-handed. But fear not, Taylor fans: This time next year her album 1989 will be up for every award possible and a Swift Sweep seems very likely.”
:: The Los Angeles Times summed the night up with this: “Whatever happened to the splashy awards-show production number? Once upon a time — say two or three years ago — high-concept spectacle was the default mode for a live television event like the Grammy Awards. You get the chance to play that stage, on what we’re constantly reminded is ‘music’s biggest night’, you elevate your presentation (and therefore wow an audience of tens of millions into submission). Yet apart from a few exceptions, the 57th Grammys, broadcast on CBS Sunday night from Staples Center, felt defined by rawer, less elaborately conceived moments.”
What did you think about the 57th annual Grammy Awards? Let us know your thoughts below!
