LUCIDMEDIA

The 51st Grammy Awards : A Unforgettable Night which included a Thank you to President Obama

Written by Lisa M. Knapp Wednesday, 11 February 2009 15:23

Jam packed with unforgettable talent and many very emotional moments; this awards show was one that I won’t forget.  From MIA’s always fun and adorable performance despite being due to give birth that very night, to Chris Brown and Riahnna’s lack of performances because Brown turned himself in for allegedly assaulting an unidentified woman, the show was filled with a eager momentum for many viewers, family members, friends and nominees alike, which all arose as the moments passed.

Dwayne Johnson did a whitty and amusing piece, naming off artists such as Kate Perry, Coldplay, Paul McCartney, The Jonas Brothers and many, where he finally arrived on the name Justin Timberlake. When Timberlake took the spotlight, he made a brilliant introduction to Boys to Men, Keith Urban, and the Legendary Al Green who all brilliantly preformed the song, I’m So In Love With You. About halfway through the song Timberlake introduced Urban who did a grand guitar solo.  The entire song was breath taking.

Next up was one of my favourites, Coldplay.  I was in awe when they took the stage, from starting to finish, Coldplay’s lead  singer, Chris Martin along side with the entire band, all gave the night a full fledged Sergeant Pepper kick off to the night.  Martin started off the bit solo, with JZ briefly joining in for his rap solo while Martin played the piano.  After the Solo, the band stepped in, playing with power!  The energy that Coldplay exudes is as though they feel the music from head to toe.  They had a blast, and could not have ended it better than with their perfect four part vocal solo.

After Coldplay’s intense performance, Keith Urban introduced “the legendary Carrie Underwood”, who, by the way, looked stunning.   Underwood belted out her song Last Name. She rocked her performance.  I’ve never really been a fan of country music, but Underwood is, in my opinion more than country, she’s rock and roll.  I’m a new fan of this “new” country music if this is the attitude and rock and roll energy that’s given off.

So many awards were given out to many well deserving artists such as Sugar, John Mayer, Adele for best new artist, who along with Jennifer Hudson who won for best R&B album, were both very emotional when they got on stage to receive their awards.  A thrilling 5 rewards were given out to Robert Plant and Alison Krauss which included album of the year and record of the year.  Plant and Krauss were both thrilled and were having a blast through the entire night.  Plant said he was bewildered and thrilled.  Having never won at the Grammy’s while fronting Led Zepplin was not only grateful but also very happy.

Song of the year went out to Coldplay for Vida la Vida. Coldplay also ended up going home with two more awards including one for best pop performance by a duo or group with vocals and another for best rock album.  They were amuzing,  and actually apologized to to Paul McCartney for the Sergeant Pepper outfits that they were strutting that night.

Kid Rock mixed the night up with his rock and soul performance.  He sang a perfectly put together trio which included brief versions of his song’s Amen, All Summer Long, which samples classics of Warren Zevon, Lynyrd Skynyrd and more, after which the band loudly rocked into their song Rock and Roll Jesus.

The young teenagers, 15 year old Miley Cyrus and 19 year old Taylor Swift beautifully preformed together for the first time ever, one of Swifts songs, 15, a song about many firsts including young love being broken.  The performance was grand, though the guitar player was a bit louder than I would have preferred.  After the performance they had the honour to present the award for Best pop collaboration with vocals which went to Robert Plant and Alison Krauss.

Jennifer Hudson then preformed a stunning solo soon after receiving her Grammy win for best R&B album.  To be blunt, she belted out her solo of her song You Pulled Me Through with all she had. Simon from American Idol was so very wrong with his opinion of this beautiful lady when he said she was too fat and couldn’t sing.  Hudson has a definitive will power and it shows.  Soon after her recent tragedies many would not have the power or will to perform but she did and she gave it her all. There was much emotion in her performance by the end she had tears in her eyes.

Emily Proctor and Jason Miraz introduced The Jonas Brothers who Proctor bluntly said “ they make the girls scream” in the introduction.  The Jonas brothers played with the Legendary Stevie Wonder.  Wonder was, as always the Wonder that he has always been, and the Jonas Brothers, as per usual, made the girls scream.  The Brothers went from one of their own hits then dove into to one of Wonders hits.  They didn’t skip a beat and rocked out along side Wonder.

The hilarious Craig Fergerson from the Late Late Show had a hilarious introduction for as he put it “the beautifully bi-curious Kate Perry.”  This was one of the performances many young girls were waiting for.  There was a You Tube video contest where one could go online, record a karaoke video of Perry’s song I Kissed A Girl.  The contest was open up until Perry went on stage.  The video clips were then shown in the background as Perry preformed the song herself.  The set up for Perry’s performance was adorable, and she looked both cute and sexy in her fruity getup.  The stage was covered in various gigantic pieces of fruit.   She had a blast, and more than preformed, she told the story of the song.

Next up was the presentation for Record of the year, and the Grammy went to Robert Plant and Alison Krauss for their album.

The beautiful Queen Latifa had the opportunity to introduce  as she put it four sexy men, Kanye West, JZ, Little Wayne, and T.I, who all preformed Swagger Like US together, along side of mommy to be MIA, who clearly braved it on stage, despite the fact that she was due that very night. MIA couldn’t have looked any better in her adorable lady bug type outfit.  The five of them brought the house down with their non stop energetic performance.

Kate Beckinsdale was up next, introducing the legendary Paul McCartney who along side with his band sang the hit rock and roll song from the Beatles, Saw her Standin There. And, as usual, McCartney has his rock and roll edginess and got a standing ovation.

Sugartown was up next performing Stay followed followed by the excited Adele who preformed her hit Chasing Pavements.  Adele was joined mid way through her performance with Sugartown.  Both performances were breathtaking.

Radiohead was up next introduced by Gwyneth Paltro.  Accompanying Radiohead was the USC Trojans Marching Band.  They were pumping from start to finish.  I have always loved how unique and original Radiohead are.  They have always intrigued me with their wondrous playfulness of sound and melodies.  The echo of music that Radiohead puts out always gets a grand applause from the audience.

The night didn’t end there,  it went on with so many more winners and brilliant performances by Justin Timberlake, Jamie Fox, Neil Diamond and many more. The 51st Grammy Awards were something that the academy should and is proud of, packed with endless entertainment and unforgettable moments even including a thank you to President Obama by Neil Portnow, the President/CEO of The Recording Academy, who reminded us all that Obama is a two time Grammy recipient.   Portnow stated that he was excited to have an artist in the White House, mentioning that this “provides great hope for the future of music and the arts in our country.”