By Yetunde Keme |Staff Writer|
The 54th annual Grammy Awards turned out to be an interesting, yet somber night.
With the recent death of Whitney Houston looming over the festivities, the night proved to be a memorable one for Adele.
The British singer took home six Grammy awards, including one for “Album of the Year” for her album, 21.
Grammy host LL Cool J came out with a prayer for the late Houston, who died suddenly on Saturday at the Beverly Hilton.
LL Cool J may have said a little prayer before continuing the rest of the show, but Nicki Minaj said less than a little prayer with a religion-themed performance that had everyone talking.
Her performance included being strapped to a cross and women lap-dancing on priests. It was a performance some have branded as a desperate and misguided cry for attention.
The real highlight of the show was Jennifer Hudson’s emotional performance which paid tribute to the late Whitney Houston. Hudson performed “I Will Always Love You,” Houston’s popular single off of The Bodyguard soundtrack.
Adele made an incredible comeback since her vocal chord surgery with the number one hit single “Rolling in the Deep,” which also won the Grammy for record of the year.
Adele wasn’t the only one who took home awards. The Foo Fighters took home five awards including one for Best Rock Performance for the single “Walk.”
According to Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl, the human element of making music does not come from sounding perfect, but it comes from the heart.
Not all of the music artists who won Grammy awards were present. Kanye West was one of the absent artists who took home four Grammys, including Best Rap Album for My Dark Twisted Fantasy and Best Rap Performance with Jay-Z for the single “Otis.”
Despite his personal troubles and mixed reviews for the album F.A.M.E., Chris Brown took home Best R&B Album. Although Brown took home the award and gave what some people consider a “lively” performance, not too many people were happy with his presence at the Grammys.
“It’s not cool that we act like that didn’t happen,” said country singer Miranda Lambert in reference to Brown’s abusive past. “Not at the Grammys.”
This was Brown’s first appearance at the Grammys since his 2009 assault on ex-girlfriend Rihanna. Rihanna performed “We Found Love” on the same stage as Brown.
Other performers included Coldplay, David Guetta, Lil’ Wayne, Deadmau5, Alicia Keys, Joe Walsh, Tony Bennett with Carrie Underwood, Jason Aldean with Kelly Clarkson and many others.
The Beach Boys came together for the first time in two decades to perform their classic hit, “Good Vibrations” with Maroon 5 and Foster the People.
Sir Paul McCartney closed the awards show with his performance of “My Valentine,” a perfect end to Valentine’s Day.
Although the Grammy award show was bittersweet, we can hope that next year’s show will be more energetic and less somber.
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