The 51st Grammy's - Dull And Obnoxious

Last night was the 51st Annual Grammy Awards. Snore! Boring!

It really was a chore to endure watching the Grammy's. I honestly couldn't watch it for more than an hour before having to switch off to save for sanity's sakes. For the most part this year's Grammy's Awards were a blend of the boring and obnoxious - business as usual then I guess...

Standing in the obnoxious corner was Kid Rock, who preached his weird ego-tripping gospel as, um, Rock N Roll Jesus. The performance of Amen was truly cringe-worthy - in the background on the giant screen was a video showing some flags of China, Saudi Arabia and other nations which I guess we are to assume are 'hostile' or 'strange' to Americans, before of course the Stars And Stripes took over the screen and Kid Rock moved on to butcher Sweet Home Alabama. He was actually only on stage for four minutes... seemed a lot longer!

Representing all that is boring were Coldplay, who picked up a few awards, including the golden gramophone for Best Rock Album for um, Viva La Loca or whatever. It was hardly a surprise. It was rather nice that the band poked fun of themselves for dressing like Sgt. Pepper wannabes in the presence of the only Beatle in the house, Sir Paul McCartney.

Sitting somewhere uncomfortably between all that is both dull and obnoxious were the Jonas Brothers, who gave a performance on stage with the great Stevie Wonder. This was more like a battle to see which Jonas could squeeze into camera shot the closest to Mr Wonder, as they crowded around him at every opportunity. Pretty damn awkward to watch.

There were a few genuinely outstanding artists at the Grammy's, including the aforementioned Messrs. Wonder and McCartney. Most notable was Led Zep legend Robert Plant with his recent partner-in-rhyme Alison Krauss, who together took home five awards. Also, Radiohead got an award for Best Alternative Album, so their was still some kind of standard of musical taste and justice upheld.

The biggest news to come from the night was the on-stage announcement by Green Day during an award to Plant and Krauss that their new album has a name and a release date.

Brian, Editor, MusicVice.com