A real person, with real music, was the big winner at the Grammy Awards last night, what with Adele raking in six Grammys and wowing the house with "Rolling In The Deep."
And she wasn't alone, what with strong live performances by opener Bruce Springsteen (though show producers could have done without all the claustrophobic Springsteen head shots and too-busy camera work), Bruno Mars (though his "get off your rich [behinds]" directive might have worked better at CPAC), and, of course, Jennifer Hudson, whose simple, solemn rendition of "I Will Always Love You" was the perfect tribute to Whitney Houston.
Much better than host L.L. Cool J's awkward acknowledgement of Houston's passing at the beginning, and his call for prayer that made for a painful scan of celebrities with their heads bowed. Then again, the suddenness of the Houston tragedy left little time for much else, unlike Etta James' death last month, which allowed Bonnie Raitt and Alicia Keys more leeway in planning their excellent "A Sunday Kind Of Love" tribute.
Of the big ballyhooed bits, the Glen Campbell tribute came off best, thanks largely to the respectful participation of Blake Shelton and The Band Perry--and Campbell, who performed "Rhinestone Cowboy" surprisingly well considering he's ending his career due to Alzheimer's disease. Paul McCartney looked good singing his fine new single "My Valentine," but was not in particularly good voice--though his producer Diana Krall on piano and especially Joe Walsh on guitar provided strong support.
As for the Beach Boys' reunion, lame covers by Maroon 5 ("Surfer Girl") and Foster The People ("Wouldn't It Be Nice") showed how great the Beach Boys were (a questionable crowd reaction shot after FTP's questionable presentation showed two people standing), and a low energy Beach Boys outing on "Good Vibrations" also showed how great the Beach Boys were.
Otherwise, the show fell back on a lot of the same old and new faces--though Lady Gaga's was covered by a net. Katy Perry was good with her new single "Part Of Me," the Foo Fighters were okay on "Walk," Nicki Minaj offered campaign fodder for Newt Gingrich with her "Roman Holiday" exorcism, Rihanna was reduced to asking the crowd to "make some noise for Whitney" during her first (and presumably last) pairing with Coldplay, and Chris Brown proved that he could sing--maybe--and jump around a lot on a pyramidical structure without losing his breath.
The three and a-half hour marathon should have ended with Hudson, but went on another 30 minutes with a dreadful electronic dance music mélange of Chris Brown, deadmau5, Foo Fighters, David Guetta and Lil Wayne, followed by McCartney turning a Beatles' Abbey Road medley into a guitar jam with help from Springsteen, Walsh and (enough already) Dave Grohl.
On the other hand, all the commercial breaks showcased spots that were far better than the Super Bowl's. Award-worthy here was an animated Chipotle commercial using Willie Nelson's version of Coldplay's "The Scientist" as the soundtrack. The two-minute ad began as an online video last summer highlighting Chipotle's sustainable farming practices, with proceeds from downloads benefiting the Chipotle Cultivate Foundation.
It sure beat Rihanna, if not Jennifer Hudson.
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