Before I rip last night’s show to shreds, let’s give the Grammys some props. The awards are completely irrelevant (see #1 below), acceptance speeches are as interesting as a 2AM infomercial, but the show producers have figured out over the last few years that the appeal of the show as a TV program are the performances. The Oscars will always have the edge in terms of prestige and the relevance of the awards, but you tune in to the Grammys to hopefully see a performance that people will be talking about at the office the next morning. Somehow about 6 or 7 years ago the Grammys stole all of the pop culture cred back from the MTV awards, an amazing feat in itself.
That being said, the best thing about watching the Grammys is slamming every moment of the show that feels awkward, hokey or lame. Here are twelve thoughts that went through my head watching the show last night.
1. The first, last and best argument for the irrelevance of the Grammys- the fact that I have to list the following:
- Album of the Year is awarded to the performer and the production team of a full album.
- Record of the Year is awarded to the performer and the production team of a single song.
- Song of the Year is awarded to the writer(s)/composer(s) of a single song.
Every year we need to clarify the top awards, because no one knows which is which. Do you hear anyone watching the Oscars say “What is the difference between Best Picture and Best Actor?!”
2. Pity the poor soul who watched the 210 minutes of the show live, without the aid of Tivo. I got through it in about 40 minutes. As our attention spans deteriorate like John Edwards’ moral center, do you think one day the Grammys can be an hour long show consisting exclusively of performances and a Sportscenter-esque crawl at the bottom of the screen, telling us who won? How do we make this happen?
3. Could you imagine buying scalped tickets to the Grammys for like $1,000 apiece, getting all excited at the prospect of sitting 4th row center, and finally getting to your seats- only to be sitting behind Lady Gaga and her Fortress of Solitude headpiece!?

4. It pains me to say this, since she seems like such a sweet, young, unaffected girl, but Taylor Swift’s appeal is a total headscrather. Her songs are as annoying as her ginormous teeth, and her performance with Stevie Nicks was an offkey disaster, mother-daughter karaoke at Back To School night. If she had a slogan, it would be “music for people who don’t like music”.
5. Pink’s performance was perhaps the greatest performance in the history of television of a song that was completely unmemorable. It was like she was performing a rare b-side (if rare b-sides still existed), realized that the song had no hook whatsoever, and decided to disrobe into a nude bodysuit and audition for cirque du soliel to salvage her screen time. Give her credit- she could’ve easily been the odd girl out, lost amongst GaGa’s eccentricity, Taylor Swift’s fresh innocence, and Beyonce’s beauty. But she completely nailed it and put to rest any thoughts (mine included) questioning her existence on the pop culture landscape. BTW I’ll put the over/under of her coming out of the closet and announcing her gay marriage to Meredith Baxter at 4.5 years.
6. Speaking of which, Tre’ Cool should win Men Who Look Like Old Lesbians’ Man Of The Year. I like American Idiot, thought 21st Century Breakdown was underrated, and I enjoy going to a Broadway play now and then. But all three at the same time? Uh, no thanks.

7. The most awkward moment was Ke$ha and Justin Bieber presenting something completely unmemorable on stage together. It was like introducing your little brother to your meth dealer- let’s get this over with quickly.
8. Do you think that Jay Z and Beyonce are in a Tom Cruise-esque marriage arrangement? They don’t seem to have any sort of natural loving chemistry. Maxwell and Roberta Flack seemed more likely to get busy in the limo after the show. It may be a ridiculous allegation, but if you were married to Beyonce, tell me you wouldn’t tongue kiss her cleavage every time she won an award and the camera cut to the two of you. I didn’t see the HOVA even give her a warm handshake, nor did I hear her thank her “wonderful husband for all of his love and support” at any point. Hip hop conspiracy theorists, get to work.
9. Why did they choose to have the best comedy album as part of the live broadcast but none of the rap awards? Best Traditional Polka Album deemed too obscure for air time?
10. What do you think makes a 60 year old Lionel Richie look the exact same now as he did 25 years ago- plastic surgery or goat semen!? Tell me you wouldn’t smear animal spunk all over your face to look as good as he does. If that’s a facelift, I need to reassess my theories of gravity.
11. I went to high school with a dude named Zack Brown. He owes me $100. I will not listen to Zak Brown until that debt is paid.
12. For the last several years, I have remarked that these performances should be available for sale on itunes. Even when albums were still being sold, and there was a potential to “cannibalize sales”, it still seemed like a no brainer. They finally figured it out and are making the performance available on itunes this year. Proceeds to Haiti. Time is ticking, however- as of presstime they only had the Mary J/Andrea Bocelli track available.