Here we have "The 55th Annual Grammy Awards" and this is from early 2013 as you can see here on imdb as well, which means that this event will soon have its tenth anniversary. It's nothing to be proud of though. Not even remotely. I think this was another really poor Grammy show we have here. Admittedly, it may not have been as bad as the very recent editions, but that is also almost impossible honestly. The only advantage this one here has is that it is not packed with political content the way these last editions where. That's something I like, I mean when this is not part of the show, but nonetheless this event we got here was weak enough for my lowest rating possible. Let's start with the basics this time. The director and two writers are really the epitome of prolific television special people. Unreal how much they have worked on. The best example is really that all three have also been part of very recent Grammy editions, the one from 2020 for example and at least also partially the corona-impacted 2021 edition that just took place last weekend. Maybe the fact that it did back then is also the reason why this one here was easy to find. Writers Wild and Ehrlich have fairly similar. The only slight difference is that one of them is more about producing than the other while the other has worked on way more specials as a writer. Both have also scored many Emmy nominations, but never managed a win.
Things do look different there for director Louis J. Horvitz. He has won many Emmys and he is just as prolific as the other two I just talked about. Speaking of Emmys, this show here was successful enough to take home two Emmy trophies and be nominated for another. Pretty ridiculous, but at least those wins for were for technical aspects and costumes and not really the highly forgettable action at the center of the event. Horvitz also managed a Directors Guild nomination. Very questionable as well, but yeah, awards bodies really like him and he has been one of the defining awards shows diractors from the last decades. His show here ran for pretty much exactly (to the second) 2.5 hours, so very long, but not an unusual running time I would say compared to other editions. This also includes the one that followed in 2014 and looking back at that one, I must say the improvement was gigantic because I really, really enjoyed it and that surprises me as well. One of the best Grammy shows in existence probably. But this one here was a major disappointment. This does not have too much to do with the host I would say. It's LL Cool J of course and you see him on the photo here. As we find out early on (from himself), he also hosted the event the year before. I think he is a kinda funny guy, even if his music and acting don't do a lot for me, but there could have been worst hosts. Then again, his impact was almost zero because he was barely a part of the show and really did not have a lot of screen time at all here. So it probably did not matter one bit who got to host this show. The only thing that stayed a bit memorable in terms of him was how they kept promoting his final appearance and I wish it could have been half as spectacular and memorable as they wanted us to believe it would be. As forgettable as the rest of the night.
I will just do some brainstorming about the show and everything I liked and didn't like. The latter is definitely more frequent. As usual with the Grammys, we once again have the key issue that this was not an awards show anymore at its core (not even close!) and this is also the key reason why I decided to give two out of twn here and not two out of five with my rating. It just missed the point completely. One stage performance and song after the next and barely any awards given out during the broadcast. I mean I know the Grammys have such a gigantic amount of categories each year and showing them all would probably take eight hours or so and nobody would want that, but they should be able to do better than they did here. The beginning of the show made it pretty easy to despise the event. I am of course talking about Taylor Swift's all style-over-substance take on Saw with her opening song. Cringeworthy. The number is a bit on the catchy side, which is really nothing you can say about her recent stuff, but when she was basically talking (the "like ever" or the indie record rabling), it felt totally unwatchable. So yeah, the show really could have started better. The best from these 150 minutes were really when it was all mediocre and not poor, so the ceiling was very low here to be honest. This also applies to the songs performed. Not a lot positive for me to say: I think that Bruno Mars was alright with his catchy number (was it him? I think so) and I did not think the Lumineers would show up here. Their song was certainly much more famous than I remembered, even if I think it's a good number. But let's not talk about the depth of the lyrics this time, but hey with everybody else on stage and their songs, this is not something they were going for anyway. All quantity over quality.
However, it's not even right to blame the artists (or "artists") here. If people keep buying this kind of stuff, then they are the ones mostly at fault. If you listen to Pink(!) to learn about the "truth about love" or if you need Kelly Clarkson's music to become "stronger", then it may be high time to question some of your motivations. A bit sad actually. I liked Kelly very early in her career, but what she has turned into is nothing to be proud of at all. Not talking one bit about her physicality here, just about the direction her career has been heading for years now. If not decades. Even Sting, who I generally like because his voice has the greatest recognition value ever, felt fairly bland this time, even if the camera did all it could to constantly catch him. What else? Ah yes, everybody is friends with Justin Timberlake apparently. I always find it cringeworthy when people say that everybody is friends with everybody in the industry. Could not be any more fake. But it feels especially embarrassing when it's people saying so that are twice Timberlake's age as it was the case here with somebody. Also Alicia Keys. For me maybe the most overrated artist (or "artist") of the 21st century. Her "Girl on Fire"is the epitome of empty soulless pop music that is more screaming than singing and with which people want us to believe this is really a quality achievement. A true travesty. I'm not one bit surprised though that the likes of Maroon 5 join in on the charade. Juanes was a nice addition in the end, but even his Hispanic take on a famous Elton John song was not half as memorable as I would have liked. Juanes also won a Grammy by the way as we found out that moment. During the introduction. That's really not the way it should be. As for Elton John himself, well, I have never been a huge fan (also because of some of his shenanigans), but he grew a bit on me lately, also because of the recent movie about him, but this night in early 2013, he was just as forgettable as the rest of it.
On a rare positive note, I can say here that the in memoriam segment was alright this time. I've seen worse. On other awards shows too. But it felt handled accurately and showed respect for those that we lost that year. The way it should be. I guess this is pretty much it. With Carrie Underwood I am never sure if I like her or not. That night would be a no from me. A few words on the presenters: No clue why so many people were there that felt as if they had no connection with the music industry. other than minor bands maybe. This includes Johnny Depp obviously. But also Kaley Cuoco and Neil Patrick Harris. Can't stand him. Kat Dennings probably too, but as I like her, it's a bit difficult for me to go hard on her. The one thing (or two things) she has in common with Kat Dennings may be enough there. What can I say? Still a straight male here, folks. But yeah, this does not make it difficult for me to call out the rest of the show for what it was. Utterly bland and uninspired. As the Grammys are still considered the defining music awards show of the planet, there is a responsibility to this event and they have not fulfilled said responsibility for a long time. Or at least not often enough in recent years. The reputation has taken serious damage and honestly, as long as it's not back to good music and the awards, they will not manage to get this thing back on course again. What do I mean with good music? Well, by standards back then I would say I mean no Rihanna for example, but by standards today (Minaj, Megan Thee Stallion, Cardi B) Rihanna would already be a great improvement. Pretty sad actually because it takes a lot of prestige away from being called a Grammy winner. Or even nominee, which was a special thing once.
Ah yes, Ellen DeGeneres was there as well, with her usual unfunny shtick acting as if somebody is talking about her in awe and in the most respectful manner, when actually somebody else is meant. That joke got old quickly and a long time before 2013 even and she is still stretching it now in the 2020s. Can only shake my head at that. By the way, I did not remember that Janella Monáe was already a thing back then, but age-wise it fits I guess. She's not a spring chicken anymore. Oh yeah, one more thing that comes really close to being as bad as Swift early on was Lena Dunham. She was sitting right next to a bunch of winners for whatever reason, maybe a friend, "friend" or girlfriend to one or several of these folks, but it felt so cringeworthy how desperate she tried to be more in the center of the action there when they were announced winners. With her dress. With where she was sitting, so everybody had to errr... was allowed to pass her etc. It's a good thing I suppose that now, long after Girls is over, she is barely relevant anymore. But we know she wants to be so badly. That's it now. 100% skip this show.
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