The 66th Grammy Awards took place on Sunday, February 4. It was a big night for women who dominated the nominations list. Women were proven to be masters of their craft alongside their male counterparts. With each win there was a woman on stage accepting the award and making history.
Trevor Noah, a South African comedian, hosted the Grammys yet again, complimenting and hyping up all of the guests in his opening speech. The venue was decorated as if it was a dinner party with round tables occupied by big names such as Billie Eilish, Lenny Kravitz, Margaret Qualley, Beyoncé, and more.
I was on my toes as each presenter ran through the nominations leading up to the moment they opened the envelope because this star-studded award season had Billie Eilish, Olivia Rodrigo, and Taylor Swift competing for the same award.
The show ran a bit long with extensive ad runs and some dull moments. This year’s Grammys followed a pattern of showing a performance, an award presentation, and then an advertisement. It seemed like they were taking advantage of the mass viewership by having as many ad breaks as possible, which got a little distasteful afterwhile.
Many of the performances were very minimalist with less visuals and more focus on the performers like Olivia Rodrigo and Miley Cyrus singing with a mic stand. However, there were still some powerful performances such as SZA performing her hit single “Kill Bill” with dancers depicting martial arts tricks and Dua Lipa performing her new single “Training Season” dancing in a cage. Billie Eilish gave a beautiful performance of “What Was I Made For” from the Barbie soundtrack, which won for Song Of The Year later that evening. Eilish showcased her impressive vocal range going back and forth between her head and chest voice along with her stunning vocal runs throughout the song. There were guest appearances by Mariah Carey and Celine Dion.
Taylor Swift, the 14-time Grammy award winner, decided to announce her new album after winning Best Pop Album for Midnights. Swift revealed that her new album, The Tortured Poets Department, will be coming out on April 19th, as a way of saying thank you to her fans who have been by her side throughout her career.
As a ‘swiftie’ myself, I was ecstatic to hear the news to say the least. Flashing back to when Swift announced her previous album, Midnights, during her Video Of The Year Awards speech, I was happy she had done it again on her 13th Grammy win.
Some fans took to social media to react to the audience’s reactions to Swift’s acceptance speech. Some pointed out Miley Cyrus and Olivia Rodrigo’s reactions possibly showing distaste or even awkwardness. Some expressed that it was not the time or place, and criticized Swift for not being grateful enough in her speech. One viewer tweeted, “Is it just me or was Taylor Swift’s #Grammys speech for Best Pop Album really, really bad? One of the worst award speeches I’ve ever seen. ‘This is my 13th Grammy. And here’s my new album. Bye.’”
Some fans also were upset with Swift due to her supposed lack of respect for Celine Dion when Swift accepted the award for Album Of The Year. They were also upset with other celebrities, commenting, “The way Miley Cyrus’s speech was all about Mariah and Taylor Swift didn’t even acknowledge the legend that is Celine Dion, especially with her health issues, on stage with her is annoying as hell #GRAMMYs.”
SZA was nominated for Album Of The Year for her hit album SOS. She won a grammy for Best R&B song for “Snooze.” I thought the win was well-deserved. I fell in love with her rhythm, voice, melodies, and the overall aesthetic of her music after giving SZA a chance when her album came out in 2022. SZA walked away with three Grammys by the end of the night.
There were powerful performances and speeches made by Victoria Monet, who won Best New Artist. She inspired young artists to keep going after the dreams, revealing her 15-year journey to get to where she is today. Jay-Z inspired musicians to “keep showing up until they call you the greatest of all time.” As we know, the music industry is a very difficult business to break into, so these words of encouragement were very much needed for people who make music, such as myself.
