You had to have seen this coming. We are here to highlight the epic spectacle that occurred last night; musics most renown and prestigious awards show that occurs but once a year. The 55th Annual Grammy Awards were held on February 10, 2013, at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. The show is broadcast on CBS at 8 p.m. ET/PT and was hosted for the second time by LL Cool J. The Recording Academy introduced three new categories to the 78 awards previously presented at the 54th ceremony—Best Classical Compendium, Best Latin Jazz Album, and Best Urban Contemporary Album, bringing it to a total of 81 awards.[7] 70 of them were presented at the pre-telecast at the Nokia Theatre, with the remaining 11 were presented at the main ceremony.
So many categories but so little time in the over two hour TV broadcast i'm amazed that there were so many awards that didn't get mentioned. Here is a full list of winners from last night:
“Somebody That I Used to Know,” Gotye and Kimbra
Album of the Year
“Babel,” Mumford & Sons
Song of the Year
Jack Antonoff, Jeff Bhasker, Andrew Dost and Nate Ruess (“We Are Young,” Fun. and Janelle Monáe)
New Artist
Fun.
Pop Solo Performance
“Set Fire to the Rain (live),” Adele
Pop Performance, Duo or Group
“Somebody That I Used to Know,” Gotye and Kimbra
Pop Instrumental Album
“Impressions,” Chris Botti
Pop Vocal Album
“Stronger,” Kelly Clarkson
Dance Recording
“Bangarang,” Skrillex and Sirah
Dance/Electronica Album
“Bangarang,” Skrillex
Dance Recording
“Bangarang,” Skrillex and Sirah
Traditional Pop Vocal Album
“Kisses on the Bottom,” Paul McCartney
Rock Performance
“Lonely Boy,” the Black Keys
Hard Rock/Metal Performance
“Love Bites (So Do I),” Halestorm
Rock Song
Dan Auerbach, Brian Burton and Patrick Carney (“Lonely Boy,” the Black Keys)
Rock Album
“El Camino,” the Black Keys
Alternative Music Album
“Making Mirrors,” Gotye
R&B Performance
“Climax,” Usher
Traditional R&B Performance
“Love on Top,” Beyoncé
R&B Song
Miguel Pimentel (“Adorn,” Miguel)
R&B Album
“Black Radio,” Robert Glasper Experiment
Rap Performance
“___ in Paris,” Jay-Z and Kanye West
Rap/Sung Collaboration
“No Church in the Wild,” Jay-Z, Kanye West, Frank Ocean and The-Dream
Rap Song
Shawn Carter, Mike Dean, Chauncey Hollis, Kanye West and W. A. Donaldson (“___ in Paris,” Jay-Z and Kanye West)
Rap Album
“Take Care,” Drake
Urban Contemporary Album
“Channel Orange,” Frank Ocean
Country Solo Performance
“Blown Away,” Carrie Underwood
Country Performance, Duo or Group
“Pontoon,” Little Big Town
Country Song
Josh Kear and Chris Tompkins (“Blown Away,” Carrie Underwood)
Country Album
“Uncaged,” Zac Brown Band
New Age Album
“Echoes of Love,” Omar Akram
Improvised Jazz Solo
“Hot House,” Gary Burton and Chick Corea
Jazz Vocal Album
“Radio Music Society,” Esperanza Spalding
Jazz Instrumental Album
“Unity Band,” Pat Metheny Unity Band
Large Jazz Ensemble Album
“Dear Diz (Every Day I Think of You),” Arturo Sandoval
Latin Jazz Album
“¡Ritmo!,” The Clare Fischer Latin Jazz Big Band
Gospel/Contemporary Christian Music Performance
“10,000 Reasons (Bless the Lord),” Matt Redman
Gospel Song
Erica Campbell, Tina Campbell and Warryn Campbell (“Go Get It,” Mary Mary)
Contemporary Christian Music Song
Jonas Myrin and Matt Redman (“10,000 Reasons (Bless the Lord),” Matt Redman)
Gospel Album
“Gravity,” Lecrae
Contemporary Christian Music Album
“Eye on It,” TobyMac
Latin Pop Album
“MTV Unplugged Deluxe Edition,” Juanes
Latin Rock, Urban or Alternative Album
“Imaginaries,” Quetzal
Regional Mexican or Tejano Album
“Pecados y Milagros,” Lila Downs
Tropical Latin Album
“Retro,” Marlow Rosada y La Riqueña”
Americana Album
“Slipstream,” Bonnie Raitt
Bluegrass Album
“Nobody Knows You,” Steep Canyon Rangers
Blues Album
“Locked Down,” Dr. John
Folk Album
“The Goat Rodeo Sessions,” Yo-Yo Ma, Stuart Duncan, Edgar Meyer and Chris Thile
Regional Roots Music Album
“The Band Courtbouillon,” Wayne Toups, Steve Riley and Wilson Savoy
Reggae Album
“Rebirth,” Jimmy Cliff
World Music Album
“The Living Room Sessions Part 1,” Ravi Shankar
Children’s Album
“Can You Canoe?,” The Okee Dokee Brothers
Spoken Word Album
“Society’s Child: My Autobiography,” Janis Ian
Comedy Album
“Blow Your Pants Off,” Jimmy Fallon
Musical Theater Album
“Once: A New Musical,” Steve Kazee and Cristin Milioti, artists; Steven Epstein and Martin Lowe, producers; Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova, composers/lyricists
Instrumental Composition
“Mozart Goes Dancing,” Chick Corea (Chick Corea and Gary Burton)
Instrumental Arrangement
“How About You,” Gil Evans (Gil Evans Project)
Producer of the Year, Nonclassical
Dan Auerbach
Producer of the Year, Classical
Blanton Alspaugh
Remixed Recording, Nonclassical
“Promises (Skrillex and Nero Remix),” Skrillex, remixer
Opera Recording
“Wagner: Der Ring Des Nibelungen,” James Levine and Fabio Luisi, conductors; Hans-Peter König, Jay Hunter Morris, Bryn Terfel and Deborah Voigt; Jay David Saks, producer (The Metropolitan Opera Orchestra; The Metropolitan Opera Chorus)
Classical Instrumental Solo
“Kurtág & Ligeti: Music for Viola,” Kim Kashkashian
Classical Vocal Solo
“Poèmes,” Renée Fleming (Alan Gilbert and Seiji Ozawa; Orchestre National de France and Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France)
Contemporary Classical Composition
“Hartke, Stephen: Meanwhile — Incidental Music to Imaginary Puppet Plays,” Stephen Hartke (Eighth Blackbird)
Short Form Music Video
“We Found Love,” Rihanna and Calvin Harris
Long Form Music Video
“Big Easy Express,” Mumford & Sons, Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros and Old Crow Medicine Show
All in all the highlight of the Grammy awards for me would have to be that man's iconic return to the musical stage. My boy J.T. came back in style like only he could and wowed audiences worldwide with a stellar performance alongside Jay-Z. I'm gonna be honest; while watching the Grammy's I was kinda getting bored and pissed that I didn't know majority of the songs being nominated for awards but this single performance made the entire experience worthwhile. I probably sound like such a giddy fan boy but everything Beyonce said about him in his intro is 100% true he is literally that damn gifted. Check out his awesome performance doing it so smooth like only Justin can:
See? Freaking told you he was back like no other. Other noteworthy performances were done by FUN., the tribute collaboration for Bob Marley, Frank Ocean, and LL Cool J himself. A lot of my fellow countrymen here in Jamaica had mixed opinions of the Bob Marley tribute which I can kinda sympathize with considering for most of the set they focused on Bruno Mars "Locked Out Of Heaven" song. Granted its a nice song and all but if you are claiming to do a Bob Marley tribute I am expecting to hear only classic Bob Marley covers with maybe a bit of trying to speak in a Jamaican accent. In any case most felt it was a bit lacking and the only real enjoyment was between Rihanna's appearance on stage with Ziggy Marley and then a follow up appearance of Damien Marley right after that got the energy up.
On a side note; is it me or does Bruno Mars look kinda like a young Michael Jackson back when he was black? All in all the set was decent; not too bad not too good but tolerable enough to find yourself nodding to the beat. After watching the Grammy's I definitely know that I have little to no idea what is going on in the mainstream music media but I definitely have some music to look into now and add to my YouTube playlist. Last thing I want to make mention to is Kimbra; who you may or may not know as the second half to the song sung by Gotye "Somebody That I Used To Know". Who told her this was a good idea for an outfit?
In other news Jennifer Lopez stuns the world with another breathtaking Grammy awards outfit like only she can. Now that's some serious confidence; until next Monday, keep calm; and do the Harlem Shake...
