Dave Spencer’s Favorites (Not): The Grammys–My Humble Assessment

At this writing, I am playing "Springsteen" by Eric Church. Ironically, The Boss kicked off last night's Grammy Awards in Los Angle-Ease. One could say that, with a few exceptions, it was all downhill from there. 

THE BAD

Now, in the interest of full disclosure, I bailed on the Grammys at 8PM. "The Walking Dead" was having its mid-season premiere on AMC and that is appointment television for yours truly. But when it wrapped, I headed back over to the Grammys at nine. First of all, I don't remember much about the first hour, to be quite honest, except that Adele won for her sterling "Someone Like You." And she looked beautiful. But, maybe the last hour is only one most will remember, anyway--IF they remember anything about the show at all. There was not one, but TWO, performances by the rock band, The Foo Fighters--one in the first hour, the other in the final hour. I'm not a big Foo Fighters fan, but I know they're popular, so there they were. And, they're so loved by the Grammys, that they got to perform in a tent in the parking lot. I could have gone my whole life without seeing Chris Brown perform, and he did it twice. Then we got to the Best New Artist category. Two of the nominees--The Band Perry and Nicki Minaj (I'll get to her later)--I'd actually heard of. And I was rooting hard for The Band Perry. But then the winner was announced. I thought they said the guy's name was "Bonnie Bear." And, I thought, well here's this cat who decided to name himself after a child's stuffed toy. Odd, but, whatever. Then I learned his name was, well, IS, Bon Iver (bonn' ee-vair'). It's a French name. Except the dude has a midwestern accent--he's from Wisconsin. Then I found out that it's not a guy, it's a BAND. I was so confused.

THE GOOD

Luckily and thankfully, there were some nice moments. Adele's live performance of her pop mega-smash "Rolling in the Deep" was flawless. The Band Perry, singing "Gentle on My Mind" during the Glen Campbell tribute, was excellent. And Jennifer Hudson was the perfect choice to pay tribute to the late Whitney Houston with a fine rendition of "I Will Always Love You." Then, IT happened.

THE UGLY

By IT, I mean, the performance near the end of the broadcast by rapper/psychopath Nicki Minaj. Okay, maybe she's not crazy. And, maybe Walt Disney didn't have some good ideas about animation. All I know is what I saw. She was dressed in a big freaky red cape and a big freaky red hood (and you thought Grandma only had the wolf to worry about) and she was screaming, I mean, singing into the face of some guy dressed like a bishop. Then she snarled and continued singing(?) at the camera. Then a bunch of people who looked like they were dressed for a Black Mass began dancing furiously. And there was fire. And she continued screaming, I mean singing. It's not exactly the most preferred thing to see just before you go to bed. Nonetheless, there it was. Whatever it was. And people wonder why I don't like to watch the Grammys.