Sunday, February 08, 2009

Live Blogging the 2009 Grammys

6:57 Showtime is near.

7:01 U2 kicking off the Grammys? Were they even nominated? Ugh! Couldn't the Academy wait till next year to shower their eventual love on them?

7:03 First time I'm listening to the new single. It's not bad, but it's such a downer to start the show off with. Would have been better if we got a more familiar song, like say one from 2008.

7:07 Whitney looked decent, but something was real off about her presentation. J-Hud for the win in a pretty weak category. The Al Green and Saadiq albums were better but didn't stand a chance.

7:09 Man, The Rock, ahem Dwayne Johnson, always brings me a smile to my face, but this is just getting awkward. He totally needs to talk smack about a few stars and layeth the smackdown.

7:11 I'm still hurt about Johnson being unfunny. And ugh, Timberlake is making more crickets chirp with that horrible general store joke. Who is writing this stuff?

7:13 Justin Timberlake and Al Green onstage together should not feel like bad karaoke, but it totally does. Just feels so unnatural. I hope Al does a song from his recent album.

7:15 I will cry if this is the only song Al Green does. Lay It Down was such a great album and important of all, it's recent!

7:16 A quarter of an hour through and sad to say, I'm already getting bored. Just a horrible decision to start the show off with two songs that weren't even nominated. All that's left to do now is to wait for Radiohead.

7:22 Get used to seeing Chris Martin's face because Coldplay will be walking away with a bunch of Grammys tonight.

7:23 I have to admit that it's kinda cool that Jay-Z is tight with one of the biggest rock bands in the world. Just boggling how huge he's become since the days of Reasonable Doubt.

7:25 Coldplay's outfits make them look like a hobo version of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.

7:27 Coldplay & Jay-Z connection makes for the first enjoyable performance of the night.

7:28 Carrie Underwood's performing "Last Name"! Song should have been a bigger hit, but I guess no one wants to hear her get naughty.

7:30 Carrie's definitely injecting some life into the ceremony, but we've only had one award given out in the first half hour. Honestly, it gives the show a slower pace when such a long time goes between awards.

7:32 *swoons* Brenda Lee...

7:33 Sugarland takes Best Country Performance by a Group for "Stay" and deservedly so. Such a great simple song with an amazing vocal performance.

7:41 Song of the Year time. I put my money on Coldplay.

7:43 And score one for me, but seriously, who didn't see that coming?

7:44 Ooh, Kid Rock is performing. Dude gave one of my favorite Grammy performances of all-time back in '99 or '00. His voice does not sound quite as fresh.

7:46 As he did nearly 10 years ago, Kid Rock is doing a medley. It keeps the show fresh, but these songs are just not hitting it for me.

7:49 I would like to see how I did with some of my predictions for awards given out earlier, but the Grammy website is acting funny and I don't quite trust Wikipedia.

7:54 Country just does not suit Miley Cyrus all that well. I feel kinda bad for Taylor Swift.

7:57 Best Pop Collab time. My money is on Plant and Krauss.

7:58 I think the win in this category cements Album of the Year for Plant and Krauss, not that the competition was super tough, but it says a lot for them to win in a pop category.

8:00 Jennifer Hudson is on stage doing her thing. Chicago represent!

8:02 Not gonna nitpick about the song choice because it obviously has a lot of sentimental meaning to it, which makes this performance even more special to watch. Not sure that it'll stick with me, but I'll remember the moment.

8:11 Hey, I'm actually enjoying Stevie Wonder and the Jonas Brothers onstage (only proper to mention Stevie first). The performance has an energy that has been missing all night.

8:13 "Burnin' Up" = solid. "Supersition" = bordering on embarassing. Actually, it just crossed the line and tap danced all over it. The song is too much for their litte vocal chords.

8:14 Y'know, I wouldn't mind a new blink-182 album. Coldplay will take Best Rock Album, I'm assuming.

8:23 Katy Perry performs "I Kissed A Girl" at the Grammys. America will be changed forever.

8:24 With all the glitz, this feels like a performance I would see on the VMA's. Which makes me happy to see it here. The vocals may be okay, but I'm enjoying the spectacle of it all.

8:27 Kanye and Estelle are doing my #3 single of 2008 justice. Don't understand why they're performing on such a small stage. There needs to be more interesting lighting or something because the song has a pretty big feel to it.

8:29 Seriously, how did Estelle not even get nominated in the Best New Artist and R&B categories??

8:30 Adele gets Best New Artist like I predicted. The Brits have officially invaded the ceremony.

8:40 Record of the Year already? Didn't expect to see Coldplay again so soon, That's just a prediction though.

8:42 Whoa. Can't stay that Plant and Krauss taking it was an upset, but this award was Coldplay's to lose. A ROTY win pretty much locks up Album of the Year for them. I guess all those younger acts canceled each other out. It always happens. The one nomination that sticks out like a sore thumb usually wins.

8:43 I am loving M.I.A.'s outfit.

8:50 Oh man, this is such a classic moment for hip hop. Nice to see everyone dressed so nice, but within their own style at the same time. Too bad the song isn't all that good. On paper, it reads like the greatest collaboration our generation should have seen, but it fell short for me. Still, I'm enjoying the performance.

8:54 "Swagga Like Us" would have been so much better if the song had actually been, you know, good.

8:57 Lord knows I love The Beatles and Dave Grohl as a drummer, but can someone please tell me how this performance of "I Saw Her Standing There" is relevant to an awards show in 2009?

9:05 Best Male Pop Vocal is an interesting category, but I thought Female was much stronger this year. And John Mayer beats out Jason Mraz and Ne-Yo? Not surprised, but ugh. Those other two guys had bigger years and deserved it more.

9:08 Oh yes! Sugarland is doing "Stay"! Song is old as hell though, but I still heart it.

9:09 Okay, the small stage suits "Stay" much better than it did "American Boy". For Kanye and Estelle, it just felt so stilted and awkward.

9:11 Something was off about Adele's performance of "Chasing Pavements". It might have been the collaboration with Sugarland, which didn't make much sense at all. Jennifer Nettles looked more passionate about being onstage than Adele, or maybe it was just me. The whole thing felt forced and really didn't make sense, which is starting to become a theme with a lot of the collaborations tonight.

9:19 I'm going to take a deep breath. Radiohead is on the Grammys.

9:21 Random thought: Gosh, wouldn't it be nice if Radiohead won AOTY instead of Krauss and Plant?

9:25 Finally got my Radiohead fix, but it wasn't as amazing as I hoped it would be. I blame the cavernous Staples Center because I've heard them sound so much better than that. Overall, I thought it was a good performance, but I would have preferred either "House of Cards" or "Reckoner" for a TV performance.

9:30 Are T.I., Lil' Wayne, Jay-Z and Kanye West the only rappers in attendance tonight? There's been more rapping than I've ever seen on a Grammys telecast and those four are mainly responsible.

9:39 Finally, a collaboration that has purpose. Jamie Foxx and Ne-Yo's invovlement actually makes sense. I'm glad they're giving the Four Tops some love. I'm having fun watching this!

9:47 First Al Green, then Paul McCartney and now Neil Diamond. What is wrong with letting these legends perform songs from their recent albums? Not saying you shouldn't give the audience what they want, but for crying out loud, they haven't stopped recording.

10:03 Pretty good tribute to Bo Diddley. Now that the Grammy website has stopped acting funny, I can see how well I did with my predictions. As of now I stand 10/14 with Rap Album and AOTY of the year to go. I missed on Music Video, Contemporary R&B Album, (which went to Blige over Ne-Yo) and the Dance categories where Daft Punk was awarded for a song that's eight years old and for a live album filled with old material. I'm happy for Daft Punk, but they definitely got it wrong.

10:05 I can't lie; I was actually hoping for a more crunk Lil' Wayne performance, but tying him in with a tribute to New Orleans was classy, epsecially with the choice of song he did.

10:08 Turns out the New Orleans tribute might be the performance that gets people talking the next morning.

10:11 Okay, I totally lol'ed at Lil' Wayne jumping up and clicking his heels before accepting his award.

10:16 Lil' Wayne takes Best Rap Album. I'm 11/15 on the predictions.

10:20 Although I'm not the biggest Plant and Krauss supporter for AOTY, I can't say that they're not worthy. This performance right now proves it. But me being me, I'd prefer to see someone more relevant take it instead of making up for not giving Led Zeppelin any Grammy love.

10:23 I never thought back in 1994 that I would see Green Day present Album of the Year at the Grammys. I'm just amazed at how far they've come.

10:25 Plant and Krauss take Album of the Year, and it's no surprise. The whole moment feels kind of dull since it was obvious to everyone that they would win. I don't think I've ever heard lighter applause for an AOTY win. You would think that after the outcry from the Herbie Hancock win last year that the academy would try to rectify that, but this is almost a step back. This decade has seen the Grammys take huge strides towards being current, especially in the AOTY category, but back to back wins by elder statesmen over more deserving acts just chips away at what little credibility the Grammys have left. Overall, a pretty boring show that didn't pick up until the 3rd hour. Let's hope next year will feature more exciting performances and no old fogeys who have been done wrong in the past.

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