The Grammy’s Recap

Megan Brown

This past Sunday was the ultimate night for music: the 57th Grammy Awards. The night was filled with an equal mix of thrilling and somber performances, award sweeps and as always, some upsets.

Overall, I found many of the performances to be dark and boring. I almost fell asleep once or twice during a few of the acts.

I was glad AC/DC opened the awards because it only got darker as the night went on.

One of the better moments was when Ed Sheeran performed with Electric Light Orchestra’s Jeff Lynne. The set of ELO’s “Mr. Blue Sky” and “Evil Woman” had the crowd on their feet. Even Paul McCartney was loving it: He was caught standing up and dancing until a cameraman told him to sit down. One does not tell Sir Paul to sit.

Even Madonna’s set was something to keep the crowd awake. She came on stage dressed as a matador while all of her dancers were dressed with horns. She sang “Living For Love,” the first single from her upcoming album “Rebel Heart.” For almost being as old as the Grammys, she still has an awesome body and a strong voice.

With 23 performances, the one everyone seemed to be looking forward to was the unusual collaboration of Rihanna, Kanye West and Paul McCartney with their performance of “FourFiveSeconds,” a single from Rihanna’s upcoming album that Kanye is executive producing.

As for the winners, one might say first-time attendee Sam Smith had a bit of “beginner’s luck.” Smith swept the awards ceremony with a total of four Grammys, winning song and record of the year for “Stay With Me,” best new artist and best pop vocal album for “In the Lonely Hour.”

Another artist who took home a decent number of Grammys was Beck.

Personally, I was surprised he won best rock album because I was counting on the Black Keys. But even Patrick Carney of the Black Keys told Rolling Stone in their Grammy predictions section that Beck would win best rock album for 2014’s “Morning Phase.”

A favorite artist of mine since middle school, Beck can go from a melancholy album like 2002’s “Sea Change” and last year’s “Morning Phase” to an upbeat and crazy album like 1994’s “Mellow Gold.” He’s a musician of all talents and has long deserved a Grammy since the 1995 awards.

Then came the real shocker of the night: Beck winning album of the year.

I was totally surprised, thinking “Queen” Beyoncé would win, but hey, Beck won, and I was happy.

Kanye apparently was just as surprised when he came on stage at the announcement. Everyone immediately thought the worst “Oh my god, not again,” remembering the rapper’s reaction in 2009 when Taylor Swift won at the Video Music Awards, but for once, Kanye decided to keep his mouth shut.

Beck, humbled and shocked himself, even encouraged Kanye to come back up on stage.

But don’t worry, Beyoncé and husband Jay Z took home some gold, winning best R&B performance and best R&B song for “Drunk In Love.” Additionally, the queen won best surround sound album for her self-titled album “Beyoncé.”

The night ended with Beyoncé surrounded by an all-male choir singing “Take My Hand, Precious Lord.” Don’t get me wrong — the performance was beautiful, and the queen can sing, but I felt like I was at church. I thought she would’ve pumped out her obnoxious, fun “7/11,” but what do I know?

What I did learn from watching this year’s Grammys, however, is this: Next year, let’s not sit Kanye in the front row.

Contact Megan Brown at [email protected].