Camila Cabello brought a little slice of Havana straight to the Staples Center, opening this year’s ceremony with a colorful, energetic and all-around fabulous performance. We can’t be the only ones who got West Side Story vibes from those extended dance breaks, right? Your move, Spielberg!
How do you save a slightly snoozy opening monologue? (Sorry, host Alicia Keys.) By leaning into a girl-power moment and bringing out four badass women — including former First Lady Michelle Obama! — to drive home the importance of music in one’s life. (Frankly, we’re not sure any of this year’s Grammy performances earned half the applause that Obama did after uttering all of four words.)
Thanks to Top 40 radio, we’ve heard Shawn Mendes’ single “In My Blood” about 6,000 times over the last three months (give or take!), which made the pop singer’s collaboration with Miley Cyrus all the more refreshing. Together, Mendes and Cyrus turned the song into a completely electric jam, with harmonies that left us covered in goosebumps.
There were a lot of reasons to love Janelle Monáe’s high-octane performance of “Make Me Feel.” The funky, perfectly synchronized choreography? Yep. The brief interlude of Monáe’s other single, “Pynk”? You bet. The empowering breakdown at the end of the number, including the bold declaration, “Let the vagina have a monologue”? Yes, yes and yes. That’s just the way she makes us feel, ya know?
Before revealing the Song of the Year winner, Alicia Keys introduced the award with an anticlimactic story about her own nod for Song of the Year… though she lost the award to John Mayer… who then broke the Grammy in half so that Alicia could have a piece… but congratulations to Childish Gambino on taking home this year’s trophy? Or something?
Here’s a sentence we weren’t expecting to write today: Post Malone is even better without Auto-Tune! Who knew?! (But seriously, his acoustic rendition of “Stay” was an unexpected highlight of the night.)
Before launching into a lovely medley of classic songs she wishes she had written (such as Roberta Flack’s “Killing Me Softly” and Kings of Leon’s “Use Somebody), Alicia Keys treated us to not one but two piano performances — at the same time! Who says multitasking is impossible?
After winning the Grammy for Best Rap Song, Drake gave heartfelt kudos and reassurance to anyone pursuing a career in the cutthroat music industry… only to be unceremoniously cut off by the broadcast before we could see him recite actual thank-yous. (See? Fame does have its drawbacks.)
With all due respect to Motown legend Diana Ross, we think she may have been upstaged by her adorable grandson Raif-Henok Emmanuel Kendrick, who introduced Ross’ medley of songs. After Alicia Keys described him as a “little guy,” Kendrick hilariously fired back, “I’m almost four-foot-nine!”
Speaking of Ross’ performance, we have to confess that we hoped to hear more of her greatest hits. Don’t get us wrong: The music icon is as effervescent as ever, and she seemed to soak up every second of her time on the Grammys stage… but we’d be lying if we said we didn’t want a little “Baby Love.”
Apparently, the Motown era had a lot more hip-thrusting and booty-shaking than we remember! Though Jennifer Lopez is no doubt a vivacious performer, we’re not sure she was the right choice for the Grammys’ Motown tribute, which was mostly reduced to a lip-syncing Lopez bumping and grinding with her dancers during such songs as “Do You Love Me.” Given the roster of talent at this year’s ceremony, surely a more genre-appropriate homage could have come together.
Frankly, all other performers could have just gone home after Brandi Carlile’s stunning live version of “The Joke.” Armed with an acoustic guitar and soaring vocals, Carlile — who also took home numerous Grammys on Sunday — stole the show.
Any chance Alessia Cara and Bob Newhart are available to host the Oscars later this month? Asking for a friend.