Grammys 2008

[rojo]

This Sunday (Feb. 10th) at 8 pm on CBS, The Grammys will be presented. This year marks the 50th anniversary of the awards. I've decided to tune in this year, and watch the proceedings. It's bound to be quite long however, so I may not watch all of it.

There appear to be a few interesting performances involved. Here is some of the most recent information about the night's performances listed from the Grammys' website-

''Signature GRAMMY moments will include current nominee Fergie and John Legend performing a duet, and Andrea Bocelli and Josh Groban performing together for the first time.

Additionally, current nominee John Fogerty, Jerry Lee Lewis and Little Richard will perform in a unique "Cornerstones of Rock" segment. Nominees Herbie Hancock and Lang Lang will perform in a special classical/jazz segment (conducted by famed maestro John Mauceri).

R&B singer and current GRAMMY nominee Chris Brown, actress and singer/songwriter Miley Cyrus, actress and R&B singer Solange Knowles, comedian and current GRAMMY nominee George Lopez, four-time GRAMMY winner Lyle Lovett and three-time GRAMMY winner Ludacris are the latest presenters set to appear.

Chris Brown, Fergie, John Fogerty, Herbie Hancock, Lang Lang and George Lopez are all nominees this year. Chris Brown is up for Best Rap/Sung Collaboration ("Kiss, Kiss" with T-Pain). Three-time GRAMMY winner Fergie is nominated for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance ("Big Girls Don't Cry"). GRAMMY winner John Fogerty has a nod for Best Rock Album (Revival). Ten-time GRAMMY winner Herbie Hancock has three nominations: Album Of The Year, Best Contemporary Jazz Album (River: The Joni Letters) and Best Jazz Instrumental Solo ("Both Sides Now"). Lang Lang (with the Orchestre De Paris) is up for Best Instrumental Soloist(s) Performance (with Orchestra) for "Beethoven: Piano Concertos Nos. 1 & 4" (along with conductor Christoph Eschenbach). And George Lopez is nominated for Best Comedy Album (America's Mexican).

Previously announced performers include Beyoncé; Feist; Foo Fighters (with special guest conductor John Paul Jones); Alicia Keys; Brad Paisley, Carrie Underwood; 2008 MusiCares Person of the Year Aretha Franklin, Mary J. Blige, the Clark Sisters, Israel And New Breed, and Trin-I-Tee 5:7 in a special gospel segment; the casts of "The Beatles LOVE by Cirque du Soleil" and Across The Universe in a special Beatles segment; and Rihanna with a reunited the Time in a special 50th anniversary segment.
Previously announced presenters include eight-time GRAMMY winner Natalie Cole, 12-time Latin GRAMMY winner Juanes, GRAMMY winner Cyndi Lauper, three-time GRAMMY winner Bette Midler and nine-time GRAMMY winner Bonnie Raitt.
The 50th Annual GRAMMY Awards will take place live on Sunday, Feb. 10 at Staples Center in Los Angeles and will be broadcast in HDTV and 5.1 Surround Sound on the CBS Television Networkfrom 8 – 11:30 p.m. (ET/PT). The show also will be supported on radio via Westwood One worldwide and XM Satellite Radio, and covered online at GRAMMY.com. Additional performers, presenters and special segments will be announced soon.''

Ok, I'll admit it; I'm mostly watching because there will be a tribute to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Michael Jackson's Thriller album, and MJ might be there. There will also be the 40th anniversary tribute to The Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band album. Some of those duets sound, well, um, intriguing, lol! There are a few other artists I'm interested in as well. All in all, could be a very entertaining evening.

Here's the commercial from CBS.

+ YouTube Video

(Btw, for those of you who don't like awards shows, this is not the thread for you. )

[C5Says]

It would be nice to see them perform once in a while like such special occasions. I don't have TV, though, so I'll just wait for it to come out at YouTube.

Josh Groban and Andrea Bocelli will be great. Especially Josh Groban. His voice is so sweet and full of feelings.

[rojo]

So I watched the whole thing, and waited for the Thriller tribute. There was none. False advertising, I say. Can I get my money back?

Who knows what happened; I guess the thing fell through somehow. Oh well, on with the show.

Here are my thoughts.

Funniest moment- Vince Gill's comment to Kanye West about his not getting a Grammy from a Beatle yet.

Best music of the night- Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue. Not the best performance ever, but still, such a great piece of music. Lang Lang and Herbie Hancock did just fine; kinda fun to see them paired together in this way. Why not?

'Ickiest' acceptance speech- Kanye West. He's got chutzpah though. If one admires arrogance, then he's your man.

Other enjoyable moments for me- Kinda liked seeing Jerry Lee Lewis and Little Richard do their things; they were both solid.

I liked that Herbie Hancock won; I really like his tune Watermelon Man.

There was an extremely short presentation of an Oscar Peterson work that I would have liked to hear more of.

Bocelli and Groban did fine with their duet; not a fan of either, but I rather like Groban's singing (it's only the second time I've heard him though) and I'm not crazy about Bocelli's singing, but he does have a nice voice.

I'm glad Amy Winehouse did well. I couldn't care less about her personal life, and I enjoyed her performance. I rather like that old Motown-ish sound of hers, and at least she's not a cardboard copy of all the other pop artists out there right now who seem so one-dimensional. I rather like her singing style too. Good for her.

Anyone else watch any or all of the show? Thoughts?

[kaizzerlike]

yeah... if u like Fergie , there is a compilation series you should check out called "Euro Club Hits" --

it's pretty clear that dance music is coming back around the world -- just check the recent big American hip-hop and R&B hits which are clear rip-offs of the european dance style.....

here's the direct iTunes link to the "Euro Club Hits" series.....

[Andrew Roussak]

I would also say I prefer Amy Winehouse as a world star number one to someone like Britney Spears . Though, as I hear "No, no, no..." literally on every corner and on every radio channel now, it makes me a bit crazy.

This is one thing which pop industry can make perfectly - to kill any interest to an artist.

[rojo]

True, Andrew. I find pop songs generally can only be enjoyed in moderation. Too much of a good song is still too much...

[Mat]

Yeah, probably. But it takes much more to have too much of a good song than it takes to have too much of a pop song. If you know what I mean...

[rojo]

Now now; there are good pop songs, don't you think Mat? Even Sinatra sang pop songs.

Hmm, maybe I should be posting a Grammy 2009 thread.

[Mat]

Good pop songs... You know, Rojo, I kind of despise pop music so my opinion may be a little harsh. Let me just put it that way: there are a few good pop song. But probably less than 10 or 15.

[rojo]

Well, I'd say there's more than 15. But whatever.

[Kromme]

May someone provide us with the nominees in classical music categories,please?...

[rojo]

Already posted on the classical board Dec. 9, 2008 -

http://www.magle.dk/music-forums/736...classical.html