The Grammys

The Grammys were held last night and U2 was the big winner taking home every grammy that they were nominated for, five. Kanye West, Mariah Carey, and John Legend took home three. After watching the show, I really have to say that I was not impressed. It seemed very clunky and several of the duets and group get togethers seemed a little unrehearsed. Add to that the background mikes that were audible during several numbers and you are looking at a trainwreck. The televised portion of the show ran 3 1/2 hours which they used to announce 13 of the 108 awards. I really love music but the Grammys seem to me, at least in the rock categories, to be a popularity contest. While I can't speak for jazz, country, R&B, or Rap, I would imagine that the same is true in these genres as well. According to a nation wide survey of critics, the best album of the year was Kanye West's "Late Registration". Of the nominees for best album, only U2 was named in the top 50 (It was number 8). Several highly lauded artists' albums like M.I.A., Sufjan Stevens, Sleater-Kinney, and the New Pornographers, were not nominated. So what am I saying, popularity equals mediocrity? While that isn't necessarily the case. It does help to drop to the lowest common denominator in order to be popular.