K E Y P O I N T S
- Bruno Mars was the big winner on the night, taking home all six of the awards he was nominated for, including Album Of The Year
- Kendrick Lamar was close behind him with five, while Jay-Z went home empty-handed, despite being the night’s most nominated artist
- Sadly, the vast majority of this year’s winners were men, with only a handful of women taking home awards, including Best New Artist Alessia Cara and Rihanna, for her contribution to Kendrick Lamar’s track ‘LOYALTY.’
- James Corden returned as presenter once again and was… exactly as you’d expect, to be honest
- The ‘Time’s Up’ movement was alluded to on a few occasions, but it was Janelle Monáe who referred to it explicitly when she introduced Kesha to the stage
- Kesha’s powerful version of ‘Praying’ was the performance of the night, with special mentions going to Kendrick Lamar, Rihanna and Bruno Mars, who sang ‘Finesse’ with Cardi B
S N A P V E R D I C T
With everything that’s gone on in the entertainment industry in recent times, it’s no surprise that awards season has had a rather different feel in 2018, in particular the Golden Globes and SAG Awards, both held earlier this month.
Given that figures in the music industry are known for being a little more loose-lipped than their counterparts in film and television, we were fully ready for this year’s Grammys to embrace change and push the issues described by the ‘Time’s Up’ movement to the forefront, especially after it was revealed that the show would have its own version of the “black dress protest”.
So we were a little surprised when this year’s Grammys wound up being pretty much business as usual.
The show kicked off with an energetic and politically charged performance from Kendrick Lamar, which we hoped would set the tone for the rest of the night.
Sadly not, and while we’d have expected at least one of the outspoken stars like Lady Gaga, Pink or Miley Cyrus to centre their performances around the ‘Time’s Up’ movement, it wasn’t until Janelle Monáe took to the stage to introduce Kesha (more on that in a second) you’d have been aware that there was any cultural shift going on at all.
And then there’s the winners. When we say that only a handful of women won anything at all this year, we’re not exaggerating, the biggest shocker of the night being when Ed Sheeran triumphed in the Best Pop Vocal category over four big female talents, only to not even show up to collect his award at all.
Admittedly, many will be turning to the Grammys and awards shows like it for a bit of escapism, and we imagine those folks will have really enjoyed the majority of the show.
But if Grammys organisers really do want to look like they’re contributing to social change, they’re going to have to try a lot harder than what was showcased this year…
B E S T L I N E S
“We come in peace. But we mean business.””
- Janelle Monáe on the 'Time's Up' movement
“I just wanted to remind the audience that the only thing more frightening than watching a black man be honest in America is being an honest black man in America."”
- Dave Chappelle gets real during his interlude in Kendrick Lamar's performance
“They said I’d never perform at the Grammys. They played themselves.””
- DJ Khaled soaks up the moment at the beginning of his performance
S T A N D - O U T M O M E NT
The night really belonged to Kesha, thanks to her stirring and emotionally charged rendition of ‘Praying’. She may have lost out to Ed Sheeran in both of her categories, but after that performance, she was the one everyone will be talking about: