Making Sense Out of the Grammy’s
I don’t understand a lot in life, but last nights Grammy Show really leaves me in major face palm posture.
The fact that Talor Swift is a sweet kid, pretty, and well spoken only makes wanting to dig my ears out with a claw hammer only that much more painful.
Was she set up to be exposed as another pretty face who can only be brought to market with otto-toon? Can the girl actually sing on key and in tune, or did the Grammy go to the wrong person??? Namely the mixer who created the actual performances on the album… if that is indeed the case.
Several brilliant performances last night were seriously overshadowed by the use of otto-tuned stem vocals used in a live performance… not necessarily that they were used.. but that they were lip-sync’d too!
Lady Gag Gag can actually sing and play, but even with Sir Elton there, I wasn’t all that impressed… Sorry. Though she sings as strong and with more verve than Sir Elton, I think her overall performance was a bit too much showboating… as with Pink’s performance.
The Zac Brown Band’s performance was definitely live, real and quite enjoyable…
Same with Jeff Beck’s tribute… except the lip sync’d vocals. His was probably the most outstanding performance of the night, followed closely with Zac Brown’s.
BEP’s were somewhat robbed, but then too, I’m biased as I know Dylan (3-D) Dresdow, and was pulling for him. I know he worked hard to pull that album together, and with the BEP’s album being so high in the pop charts for so long, you’d think NARAS members would have appreciated the overall work a bit more than what the voting reflected. (Especially in light of what was revealed in Swift’s performance.)
The overall impression of the actual awards program I’m left with is pretty much… meh… a lot of hard work for not much of a payoff in entertainment value.
The program was mainly tarnished by the excessive minutes of silence that the censor’s had to bleep during the final performance. In my opinion, the foul language that so permeates pop music and pop culture is totally unwarranted for a show where kids are likely to be exposed to it. Granted, at 11:00pm, there shouldn’t be children up watching, but I’m sure there was a significant number of kids still up. Poor form overall.
I kinda’ wish they’d cut back on the stock performances and actually spend more time on the presentations. Exposing other genre’s of music to the public could only help an industry that is plauged by both a weak economy and theft of intellectual and copyrighted property.
“So many milestones, but what of the challenges in the decade ahead? Well, for starters, let’s all pledge that 10 years from now when we look back we can say that this was the decade when every child received the benefit of music and the arts education in our public schools!
Now, what if someone told you they really appreciated your work but didn’t think they should have to pay you for it anymore. What would you do? How would you pay your bills, support your family? How would you survive?
This evening, you’ve seen performances by the most successful artists today. And you know about their generosity and giving back. But standing right behind them are thousands of unknown and up-and-coming music makers who face the question of survival every day. In the coming decade, unless they can make a living at their craft, the quality and creativity of the music will be at risk.
Well tonight, we’re all fans and music lovers who want to ensure that the future of music is a bright one. New technologies will bring music whenever and wherever you want it.
But as fans, let’s all truly value the music and the songs that change our lives by supporting and compensating these gifted creators of the music we treasure. And together, let’s make this next decade a time of renaissance for the music that plays as the soundtrack of our lives.”
Right On, Neil!
