While most bloggers are spending their mornings coming kissing the asses of tributers and boring performers who were mostly stationary during their performances, I'm going to be real. Nicki Minaj was pretty much the only exciting performance of the night.
Any major blog you can think of, from E! to MTV and Idolator, pretty much said Nicki Minaj's performance was a cluster-fuck, misadventure but I disagree. She went all out! The arrival in the sacred-looking hooded robe wear on the red carpet, to the confessional and eventually the levitation during the "Exorcism of Roman" was all beautifully theatrical. It shat all over Gaga's incubator/egg red carpet and placenta dress. I mean, that was cool, but the actual performance of "Born This Way" was an off-beat mess, poorly choreographed mess.
Most of the negativity stems from people claiming that the Grammys shouldn't be about gimmicks and controversy, but it should focus on the talents of its' honorees. I call bullshit. Didn't Beyoncé get on the ground and swing her weave with everything she had during her "If I Was A Boy" performance no too long ago, leading to major praise? I was bored to tears for 90% of the show and eventually began flipping back and forth with the series continuation of Walking Dead.
Alicia Keys was upstaged by someone twice her age.
Chris Brown (and his all-too-obvious erection) pop and locked for four minutes with a bunch of flying squirrels on some big ass Legos.
Rihanna showed great improvements on vocals, but overall the performance, and that unfortunate wig she found in Beyoncé's recyclables, could have stood some extra preparation.
I'd never though I'd say this, but even Coldplay was somewhat of a misfire, leading to the official Grammy twitter and Billboard to call out lead single Martin on his off-key performance of Paradise.
Jennifer Hudson came out and did her thing in a calm, respectful manner, but really if I was paying tribute to an artists that essentially molded my passion for music, I'd be going the fuck off. I'd be hoarse by the time it was over.
Katy Perry was mildly entertaining, but her fried, crimped and brittle blue wig was a massive distraction.
Adele... Eh. Wasn't her best performance, but it sure looked like her arms got a good workout.
I honestly don't remember anything else. It was a total snooze fest. I've never been a big fan of the Grammys because all of the artists try to mix in some class to their performances. I'm not here for that.
Nicki got up there and properly introduced the world to her alter ego, and really one of the key players in her success, Roman. Since the new album is featuring him, I'm glad she didn't keep it cute and perform Superbass for the hundredth time!
Instead, she got her drag queen on and left us with one of the most awesomely awkward performances the Grammys has seen in years.
Congrats, Nicki Minaj, for not snobbing it up at the Grammys and allowing Roman to queen out! I totally approve of gimmicks at the Grammys! Spice it up!
To see all of the Grammy performances and some pics, click here.
The dailymail and many others are already saying she stole the show.
ReplyDeleteReally? Can you send me links to good reviews? I only read negative ones.
ReplyDeletetotally agree that nicki was incredible...although disagree about katy...i thought katy and nicki were the highlights of the night by far!!! adele was blah as usual..dont get her...never will!!! but to each his own!
ReplyDeleteDon't get me wrong. Loved Katy's set and outfit and vocals, but she doesn't do it for me.
ReplyDeleteThis is the good thing about this shows: Everybody find something for themselves. You like Nicki's performance, someone like Katy's and i like Adele's. In the end, they get the ratings because we all watched the show. No need to compare the artists to one another, they all appeal to some audience.
ReplyDeletePS. i can kill for HD performace videos though :)
ReplyDeleteNicki came out and OWNED the Grammys. Nobody gets and understands her. They want her to be boxed in and be like every other artist and she isnt nobody else. Nicki is Nicki. So if they dont like it they can fall off the highest mountian in the WORLD! Nicki is the Queen, and she has nothing more to prove but one thing. Any that one thing will be how a female artist can go PLATNIUM the first week!!! If I was anybody else I would want to embark on this journey with Nicki.
ReplyDeleteIt was a failed attempt to copy Lady Gaga. As Billboard said, if people were unsure of Gaga's influence on the industry, they should see this performance.
ReplyDeleteOh, and the best performance was definitely Adele. If you got bored, you should go watch Katy or Britney "dance" while lip-synching. Did you see the standing ovation after the performance? WOW.
ReplyDeleteI do agree that she sort of copied what Gaga tried last year. It seemed so desperate, and provocative and formulaic and purposefully over-the-top. She grabbed everyone's attention on the red carpet, then gave an over-the-top, weird performance. I used to like Nicki before she got all crazy and weird. Wow - she really is the black Gaga!
ReplyDeleteI don't know how Britney got brought into this. Strange argument tactic, since she wasn't even in the building.
ReplyDeleteStill, like I said, Adele's performance was pitchy and boring. Pretty much everyone got a standing ovation last night. Including Chris Brown and Nicki Minaj.