Grammys 2023: Beyonce, Lizzo and Harry: About Damn Time!

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The Grammys were just awarded and the 13th Floor’s Marty Duda did something he hadn’t done in awhile…watched the entire 4-hour broadcast. Was it worth it?

I was curious, more than anything else, and I had the time to myself, so I thought I’d see what the Grammys had to offer. Quite a bit, as it turns out.

I grew up watching the Grammys, I remember how lame they were in the 1960s, but then finally got hip in the mid-70s. The 1975 Grammy Awards was a favourite of mine…John Lennon, David Bowie, Simon & Garfunkel, Cher, Olivia Newton-John were all there and looked to be having a ball. Still the host was the perennial uncool Andy Williams.

This year we got Trevor Noah…not a favourite of mine, but hipper than Andy…and he did a decent job. Opening the show was Bad Bunny, laying down some Latin sass to get the crowd out of their seats early.

And what a crowd…Adele, Taylor, Harry, Lizzo…they were all within spitting distance of each other and we were assured the Beyonce was on her way (caught in traffic, apparently).

Now I must confess that I don’t listen to much commercial radio or pay attention to the pop charts but when Brandi Carlile and her band rocked out with Broken Horses and felt like this was going to be worth my time and attention.

There was plenty to see…Shania Twain’s new look

Nile Rodgers’ new suit

82 year-old Smokey Robinson still crooning about The Tears Of A Clown and not-so-little Stevie Wonder and Chris Stapleton tearing it up on Higher Ground. It suddenly felt like 1975 all over again (Wonder won four Grammys that year).

The most surprising win had to be Bonnie Raitt’s for Just Like That. Yep, the 72-year-old blues rocker won Song Of The Year!

New artist winner was Samara Joy…someone who I now need to check out (I was rooting for Wet Leg or Molly Tuttle)

The most exciting live performance was tribute to 50 years of hip hop featuring Queen Latifah, Busta Rhymes, Salt-N-Pepa, Run DMC, Public Enemy and LL Cool J. and a whole lot more.

The big winner at the end was Harry Styles who seemed genuinely humble when accepting his Grammy for Best Album.

The broadcast itself could certainly have been trimmed down…I didn’t need the pre-recorded ‘biggest fans’ segment and Jill Biden didn’t need to be there either.

But there were tears and laughter in equal measure with a touching In Memorian segment featuring live performances from Kacey Musgraves and Mick Fleetwood.

Oh, and Beyonce was brought to tears after breaking the record for most Grammys won (32).

So, overall I was happy to have seen this year’s Grammys. Sure it could have been shorter (that’s always been the case). But seeing stars like Lizzo, Beyonce, Madonna, Adele and Harry up close and having such a good time (and making some pretty good music) makes me think that we may be in a new golden era of popular music.

Marty Duda

https://youtu.be/2nXhT1iYJTk

 

 

Marty Duda
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