On Sunday, Feb. 8, the 57th annual Grammy Award Ceremony was broadcast live on CBS. This year, the Grammys featured many artists such as Sam Smith, who was awarded three of the top four Grammy awards, Beyoncé, Beck, John Legend, Miranda Lambert and many more.
There was debate going around in the news and on campus about who had the best performance and who had the worst performance of the night.
According to Joe Lynch’s article,”Grammys 2015: All Performances Ranked from Worst to Best” on billboard.com, he believed Beyoncé was top performer of the night, and Adam Levine and Gwen Stefani were the worst.
Backing up Lynch’s article, sophomore Kyle Murray said, “my favorite performance of the night was Beyoncé because she’s an incredible vocalist, and her performance was very emotional.”
Agreeing with Murray, first-year Brice Williams said Beyoncé’s performance was his favorite. “I loved it because she didn’t do the crazy hair flips and theatrics that we know her for. It was a softer, more sentimental side of Beyoncé that most people don’t ever think about,” Williams said. “Also, I loved that she did the hands up sign for Ferguson.”
There is no doubt that Beyoncé had a flawless performance the other night. However, Beyoncé is not one of my favorite performers or artists, so I think Ed Sheeran’s performance with John Mayer was top. Ed Sheeran and John Mayer are two of my favorites, and seeing them on stage together was a big highlight for me.
When I was watching Adam Levine and Gwen Stefani, I didn’t think their performance was the worst. I felt as though their piece was slow and a bit boring for the two of them, but I did not think it was horrible. On the other hand, I did not enjoy Miranda Lambert’s performance of “Little Red Wagon.” I don’t know if I didn’t like the song, or if her performance was all over the place.
Miranda Lambert did, however, win Best Country Album for her record Platinum. Along with Best Album, Beck won Album of the Year. Beck beat Beyoncé, Ed Sheeran, Sam Smith and Pharrell Williams. “I was shocked that Beck won Best Album. I figured Sam Smith would win that as well,” Murray said.
“I was really surprised that Beck won the Album of the Year award, especially up against contenders such as Beyoncé, Sam Smith and Ed Sheeran,” Williams said. “Beck’s music isn’t on the radio, and most people who I have asked have told me that they have never heard of him. I think it was a huge shock for everyone when his name was called, but I’m glad no one went crazy because of his winning,” Williams said.
A trending topic of the Grammys was Sam Smith’s winning of three of the four major awards. Sam Smith won Record of the Year, Song of the Year and Best New Artist. I personally think that Sam Smith deserved these awards. His song “Stay With Me” is very popular, and many people can relate to the deeper message of the song.
“I think Sam Smith deserved every award he won,” Murray said. Williams agreed. “I’m actually really happy that Sam won those awards,” he said. “It really shows that we’ve changed our viewpoint on the LGBT community. Years ago, Adam Lambert was a big sensation until he came out as a homosexual male, and Frank Ocean coming out was a huge thing for African-American males who are homosexuals. It showed that you don’t have to be straight in order to sing hip-hop. So Sam did his thing, and his music is really amazing,” Williams said.
I thought Sia had the most entertaining performance of the night with her hit song “Chandelier.” Sia’s set was really interesting with all the props and the costumes of her dancers. I thought Sia gave it her all in her performance.
Overall, all the performances at the 57th annual Grammys were excellent. Every artist who won deserved to win. Each and every performance was unique in its own way, and I am looking forward to seeing next year’s awards.
