The world’s biggest entertainment event, The Grammy Awards, has come and gone, but the memories will linger for a long time.

Maggie’s Blog presents some bits and pieces from the glamourous event which was aired live on CBS. Enjoy.

Edition:

This year’s Grammy was the 62nd edition of the annual event.

Date/Venue:

The awards ceremony was held on Sunday, January 26, 2020 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, United States of America.

Aims/Objectives:

The annual event aims at recognising the best recordings, compositions, and artists of the eligibility year. The period of consideration for this edition ran from October 1, 2018 to August 31, 2019.

Lead nominees:

International Pop stars, Lizzo led the nominations with eight while Billie Eilish and Lil Nas X had six each.

Performers:

Star performers in this year’s edition include Lizzo, Billie Eilish, Aerosmith, and Blake Shelton and Gwen Stefani, who hit the stage together. They proved themselves to be the superstars that they are.

Host:

Singer, songwriter, and now, memoirist Alicia Keys played the perfect host of the ceremony, just as she did last year. Keys is a fitting host: She has won 15 Emmys over the course of her decades-long career. She’s the third woman to ever host the Grammys.

Highest awards winners:

Pop iconoclast Billie Eilish cleaned up at the Grammys on Sunday, winning five awards.

Eilish, 18, swept the “big four” prizes — Album of the Year, Song of the Year, Record of the Year and Best New Artist — in an industry acknowledgment of her wave-making role as the new reference point for pop’s future.

“What’s next? I don’t know — be in this moment is all I’m thinking about,” Eilish told reporters backstage.

Lizzo — one of her main competitors, who won three awards — kicked off the glitzy gala at the Staples Center by dedicating it to Bryant, in the very arena where the NBA icon made history with the Los Angeles Lakers.

“Tonight is for Kobe,” shouted the 31-year-old twerking flautist, hours after his death in a helicopter crash was confirmed. His 13-year-old daughter and seven others also died in the incident.

Lizzo then launched into an eye-popping medley performance of her top hits that set the tone for the night.

She handed over to host Alicia Keys, who offered another love letter to Bryant’s memory: “We’re all feeling crazy sadness right now. Earlier today, Los Angeles, America and the whole wide world lost a hero.”

“And we’re literally standing here heartbroken in the house that Kobe Bryant built,” said Keys, before launching into a soulful rendition of “It’s So Hard to Say Goodbye (To Yesterday)” with the group Boyz II Men.

“He would want us to keep the vibrations high,” Keys later said, before singing a humorous yet soothing opening monologue at the piano.

A mushrooming crowd of people, many of them in tears, gathered near the arena to mourn the 41-year-old Bryant. Flags were flying at half-mast.

‘Lift each other up’:

But the show went on, with an understated performance from Eilish who thanked her fans — and fellow nominee Ariana Grande — in accepting her haul of trophies.

“Mainly I think the fans deserve everything,” she said, standing alongside her brother Finneas O’Connell, who shared in her Grammy glory while also winning his own producing and engineering awards.

“I feel like they have not been talked about enough tonight because they’re the only reason any of us are here at all. So thanks to the fans.”

And she gave a shoutout to Grande, who despite five nominations went home empty-handed, saying that Grande’s “thank u, next,” had been a lifesaver for her.

“I think it deserves more than anything in the world, I love you so much,” Eilish said.

Lil Nas X took home two Grammys for his pop culture phenomenon “Old Town Road,” while Lizzo won three out of her eight nominations.

“This whole week, I’d be lost in my problems, stressed out — and then in an instant all of that can go away and your priorities really shift,” the 31-year-old superstar said, alluding to Bryant’s death.

“Let’s continue to reach out, hold each other down and lift each other up.”

The veterans:

The veterans were not shut out — Lady Gaga won two Grammys for her soundtrack for the hit film “A Star Is Born,” and one went to Beyonce, who nabbed the prize for best music film for “Homecoming.”

Backstage controversy:

A message of love pervaded the night, particularly in light of Bryant’s death and a moving all-star tribute to the late rapper Nipsey Hussle.

That message overpowered the considerable pre-show backstage drama.

Just days before the gala, the Recording Academy’s suspended CEO Deborah Dugan — the first woman to lead the embattled institution behind the Grammys — filed an explosive discrimination complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

She says she was suspended after raising concerns over sexual harassment, voting irregularities and other misconduct within the Academy — one of music’s most influential organizations, but one long accused of favoritism and a lack of diversity.

Dugan also alleged that her predecessor, Neil Portnow, had raped a foreign female musician — an allegation he has rejected as “ludicrous and untrue.”

The controversy went more or less unmentioned on Sunday, with only a few vague onstage allusions to the crisis.

Stage on fire:

Often remembered as much for its performances as its winners, the Grammys included a boudoir-inspired medley show from Grande, along with a rollicking genre-blending rendition of “Old Town Road” that featured K-pop sensation BTS, country star Billy Ray Cyrus and the eclectic DJ Diplo.

Gary Clark Jr, who won three Grammys including best rock song for his anti-racist “This Land,” gave several showstopping performances, and his success was seen by many as an overdue recognition of black influence on rock.

Wearing a blond bowl-cut wig, Tyler, the Creator delivered an intriguing art-pop rap performance complete with stage-shaking camera work and pyrotechnics.

Usher drove the crowd crazy in leading a tribute to the late legend Prince, performing songs including “Little Red Corvette,” “When Doves Cry” and “Kiss.”

FKA Twigs joined him in lingerie to deliver a pole-dancing performance — and none other than Prince’s protégé Sheila E was on the drums.

And Nigeria’s Burna Boy shone:

Beninese singer Angélique Kidjo on Sunday night dedicated her Grammy award to the Nigerian music star Burna Boy who was up against her to win the music prize.

Burna Boy had been nominated in the same category for his acclaimed album ‘African Giant’ but Kidjo won, for the fourth time, leaving Burna Boy still waiting to win his first.

Kidjo while dedicating the award showered praises on Burna saying, “Four years ago on this stage, I was telling you that the new generation of artists coming from Africa are going to take you by storm.

“And the time has come. This is for Burna Boy.

“Burna Boy is among those young artists that come from Africa that is changing the way our continent is perceived and the way African music has been the bedrock of every music.”

Kidjo who sings in more than five languages and whose career has spanned almost four decades was gracious in receiving the award and dedicated it to Burna Boy.

“This is for Burna Boy,” she said, lifting up her award to cheers, and declaring the “African giant” as part of the new generation of African musicians that are changing the global perception of Africa and its music.

A win for Burna would have made it the second time a Nigerian would be returning home with the Grammy plaque.

Sikiru Adepoju is the only Nigerian to have won a Grammy. He won it in 2009 with the “global drum project” a collaborative album with Mickey Hart, Zakir Hussain, and Giovanni Hidalgo.

(With additional reports from Channels TV)

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