Grammy Awards Reflections

Ever since I was a kid, I've always loved the award shows, especially the Big Three - The Emmys, Oscars and Grammys. Sure, I want my favorites to win, but I'll admit the main reason I watch is for the entertainment. You can always count on at least one performance being just over the top and blowing me away. My over the top performances from last night's Grammys were all in the first hour.

The opening perfomance was by Lady Gaga. It was truly over the top with pyrotechnics and whole legion of dancers with an awesome version of "Poker Face" that morphed into a very stirring duet with Sir Elton John. Once everybody had settled down from that, Pink did a very impressive performance of "Glitter In The Air"as she twirled and swung on some kind of combination trapeze/silk thingy. Singing is hard enough to do, but singing and not missing a note or a beat while doing a high trapeze act and spinning around and around is damn impressive in my book. She deserved a Grammy award just for that performance alone. As if that wasn't enough, I got to see my beloved Black Eyed Peas roll it out. They, too, had lots of costumed dancers, and did an awesome [censored] version of "Imma Be" that also morphed into another mega hit, "Tonight's Gonna Be A Good Night." I could have turned it off and been happy, but no. I had to watch the second hour, only to be just horrified by Taylor Swift's duets with rock goddess Steve Nicks. Everyone that I discussed the Grammys with today all agreed it was wretched.

As I was driving home from work today, I started thinking back to over the top performances from the Grammys in year's past. Two will forever stand out in my mind. The first was at the 1976 Grammys when Linda Ronstadt sang "You're No Good." Her most awesome album, "Heart Like A Wheel" was nominated for Album of the Year, but lost to Paul Simon. When she finished the song, she received a standing ovation - something that was unheard of back in the day. The second stand out performance was twenty years later at the 1996 Grammys when Alanis Morissette performed "You Oughta Know" with an orchestra instead of a usual rock band. It was the best version of "You Oughta Know" that I've ever heard her perform. She went on to win 4 Grammys that year. I wonder if someone twenty years from now will be saying how awesome Pink's performance was at the 2010 Grammys? I'm thinking there's a pretty good chance they won't forget that one.