Mom's Minute

Introduction to the 61st Grammy Awards TV Show Review by Ms. H

DId you watch the 61st Grammy Awards that aired February 10, 2019?  If you didn’t -- would you like to know if you missed much? Don’t fret...I have you covered.  Here is my review of the 61st Grammy Awards TV show.

Alicia Keys as Host

I watched last year’s Grammys when James Corden hosted.  When he hosted, I recall that he seemed to be a ball of energy.  I could tell that he was excited to be hosting the Grammys. He did not host this year’s Grammys due to other commitments including his late night show according to sources.  Enter Alicia Keys as the host. I saw a youtube video when she found out she was hosting the Grammys. She looked surprised, but not overly “jumping up and down” surprised. Of course, this video could have been staged.

In my opinion, she kept the show on a low key (no pun intended).  For example, when she introduced guests - she tended to lower her voice when she said their names --  instead of raising it in excitement to get the audience excited and engaged.

She made a few mistakes which were ok since this is her first time hosting the Grammys.  One misstep that I recall was when she introduced an artist as if the person was going to perform; however, when the person appeared -- she only introduced another guest and did not perform.

Also people may have been impressed with Alicia Keys playing two pianos at once.  Even though this was a different way to play the pianos, the look of the two pianos were mismatched which was not aesthetic to me. Additionally, the smoke around the pianos did not make things look any better.

Alicia  Keys Fashion Sense

I was disappointed that Alicia Keys as the host of the Grammys wore a do-rag type headdress that seemed like she was not at music’s biggest celebration.  She changed her outfit throughout the show but I think her first outfit set the tone for the rest of her outfits. There’s a saying that you have only one chance to make a good first impression.  Unfortunately, her first impression was not her best. On a positive note, each of her outfits got more fashionable as the show went on and ended on a high note with her wearing a red flowing gown. The downside of this is that Diana Ross had already won a stunning red gown earlier during the show, so when Alicia Keys showed up in hers -- to me her outfit seemed a little understated.

Grammy Performances

I rank Cardi B’s performance towards the top and Jennifer Lopez’s towards the bottom.  The reason is that Cardi B stayed with her rap personna, while Jennifer Lopez was supposedly representing Motown artists.  Her dance skills were on point, but I could not identify her with Motown, no matter how hard I tried. I think they should have chosen a better representation for Motown music.

Another low ranking performance was Lady Gaga's rock-style-like performance of the ballad, Shallow, which has already won many awards.  Her performance seemed sporadic and did not go with the lyrics or pace of the song.

A highlight for me was the performance of Dua Lipa who, unfortunately I was not familiar with. Later after the Grammys ended, I googled Dua Lipa, watched some of her videos, and found found out that I had downloaded one of her Itunes songs (Electricity) -- without really knowing who she was at that particular time. 

There was some push back to Dua Lipa’s selection as the best new artist from some, but after checking her out more, I think she deserved to win this award. Just in case you do not know, she will be singing a song for the upcoming movie Alita called Swan Song.

The Winnerds' Speeches

You may have heard how Grammy music cut short several thank you speeches from the winners that were running long  -- namely Drake and Dua Lipa. Drake was cut off as he “insinuated” that winning the Grammy did not mean much --- even though he was grinning from ear to ear when he found out he won.  Dua Lipa’s speech was shortened by music when she mentioned that the women must have “stepped it up” this year. Her statement ties in with a comment made at last year’s Grammys that there was a noticeable decrease in the number of women on the show.

By the way, it looks like Cardi B made history by being the first female to win a Grammy for a rap album.  Of course her win started talk about how she beat out Nicki Minaj who never won a Grammy -- but to be clear - Nicki Minaj did not have a rap album nominated.  So in a way, they were not competing against each other for this particular Grammy.

Assessment of the 61st Grammy Awards

Looking back on the 61st Grammy Awards show, I cannot point out anything that stood out for me -- such as the Grammy show I watched a while back when the late Prince made a surprise appearance. The 61st Grammy TV show was mostly a throwback with music from the past -- mixed in with a few current hits. Additionally, I think the show was more serious instead of entertaining. A plus was the abundance of women on the Grammys this year which indicates that the show’s “powers that be” do pay attention to feedback.

Rating of the 61st Grammy Awards

Based on a rating of 1 star to 5 stars with 5 stars being the highest,  I rate the 61st Grammy Awards TV show 3 stars.