Adele, Nicki Minaj Highlights of Grammy Awards

By JAMIA JORDAN

In her jaw-dropping rendition of Whitney Houston’s “I Will Always Love You,” Jennifer Hudson opened the 54th Annual Grammy Awards Ceremony by paying tribute to the recently-deceased artist, captivating the audience and the millions of CBS viewers who tuned in on Sunday, Feb. 12 at 8 p.m.

According to preliminary Nielson estimates, a big 39.9 million viewers tuned in. The awards ceremony gave the music industry’s biggest awards during the three and a half hour show, which featured performances from Nicki Minaj, Lady Gaga, Rihanna, Chris Brown, Adele and many other big names.

The night was one to remember, as so many big names and talents were packed into one room. The energy was great, and as I viewed the show on the edge of my seat from my living room in the UMW apartments I was only inclined to feel this same burst of energy.

British singer-songwriter Adele racked up a total of six Grammy awards: Album of the Year, Record of the Year, Song of the Year, Best Pop Solo Performance, Best Pop Vocal Album and Best Short Form Music Video.

In her humorous yet sentimental thank-you speech for the Album of the Year award, Adele told viewers that she attributed the success of her 2011 album “21” to a “rubbish relationship.”

She would not have found the inspiration that she needed into putting together these songs without going through the pain that she went through.

That’s a true artist at work, and might I say that if all girls could constructively find a way of dealing with their heartache, they too might make a profit off of some terrible relationships.

The night was far from over as Rihanna and Coldplay hit the stage with their song “Princess of China.” The song has been a hit on the Billboard Top 40 list, but their performance on Sunday was far from spectacular.

Many noticed Rihanna’s pitchy notes, but commented on her sleek black attire for the night. Other live performances from artists such as Chris Brown, Lil Wayne, the Foo Fighters, and Deadmau5 were discouraging as well.

Many already suspected that performances from Madonna, Lady Gaga, Rihanna and Nicki Minaj were to be memorable, but few could have predicted the performance Minaj delivered Sunday evening.

Strutting the stage in a Versace red long gown with a red hooded cap, Minaj turned many heads. She entered the stage escorted by a man dressed as a pope, which offended many people who looked at this image as bigotry.

Her performance, titled “Roman Holiday,” was nothing if not strange. The performance showcased religious symbolism, as it welcomed Minaj’s alter ego Roman Zolanski.
In an interview with Ryan Seacrest for MTV Minaj offered insight into the message behind her song.

“I had this vision for Roman. I had this vision for him to be sort of exorcised. … People around tell him he’s not good enough because he’s not normal. So his mother is scared and the people around him are afraid. He wanted to show that not only is he amazing, but he’s never going to be exorcised, even when they throw holy water on him, he still rises above,” said Minaj.

The performance was choreographed by Lauriann Gibson, and the over-the-top spectacle was in part inspired by her Super Bowl performance with Madonna.
Twenty-one-year-old senior Donnie White felt negatively about the performance.

“The song sucked. There was no clear narrative as to what was going on. There were altar boys being humped. All in all it was DTM (doing too much).”
In contrast 21-year-old history major Lindsey Handsome viewed the performance multiple times with excitement.

“It was theatrical; people just took the whole pope thing too seriously.” She later commented saying, “She set out to do what she wanted to do, and it was a marketing tactic because now everyone is talking about it.”

However, Sunday’s show was a reminder that there still are talented young songwriters, singers, and musicians out there, and that they are crafting songs that deserve to be deserved and remembered. If for nothing else, Adele rocked out on Sunday and deserved her going home with a handful of honorable awards.

Image courtesy of tboextra.com