Dear gossipers,
The Grammys take place on Sunday and I’m excited about the show itself, about how they’ll get it or not. In all the promotion that gave rise to the event, producers of the production went to great lengths to make it clear that they planned that it would NOT be a virtual event – nothing happens with Zoom and the performances will really live or previously live -on tape. As executive producer Ben Winston told The Hollywood Reporter, they’re going to make a big turn, so from the production side, I’m curious to see how they carry out their ambition.
Despite their best efforts, the show itself is not yet the dominant Grammys talk with two days before the show. Like the Golden Globes a few weeks ago, the integrity of the awards themselves is being challenged. Earlier this week, Zayn Malik tweeted:
Fuck the grammys and all that goes with it. Unless you shake hands and send gifts, there are no nomination considerations. Next year I’ll send you a basket of candy.
– zayn (@zaynmalik) March 9, 2021
This is no different than what the Hollywood Foreign Press Association is accusing of the Globes. And yesterday it was The Weeknd that declared: “Because of the secret committees, I will no longer allow my label to submit my music to the Grammys.”
The statement is part of a New York Times piece outlining the Grammys controversy, its secret committees, and how the awards have apparently made black artists different over the past few decades and kept them out of the top categories: Album of the Year. , Song of the Year, and Recording of the Year. Traditionally, the final is Grammy of the Night, and is therefore considered the most coveted award, Album of the Year. No Black artist has won the album of the year since Herbie Hancock in 2008. If you think about the influence that black creativity has had on the music industry, and the black musicians (Beyoncé, Drake, Rihanna, Kanye West, Frank Ocean and the which has shaped the culture since 2008, on which many of the Grammys relied to create interest in their brand, the gap is unmistakable, but this is also why Beyoncé is increasingly driven by cultural currency rather than the established status quo success brands By the way, Beyoncé is the leader in the field with the most nominations this year and is the female artist in the history of the Grammys. But you will notice that she has never won the Album of the Year, and her only victory in ‘ a major category is the song of the year for ‘Single Ladies’, and it was in 2010, before what is widely regarded as her most creative innovative decade seeing the release of the albums 4, Beyoncé (her self-titled album that literally CHANGED the F-CKING GAME when she dropped it, without warning and no prior publicity, basically completely disrupted in the middle of the night and the whole industry), and Lemonade.
It’s the cloud that hangs over the recording academy as we head to Grammys weekend and ‘music’s biggest night’. Which, in addition to the artists overlooked, is also unfair to the artists who will win Sunday. As Wassim Slaiby, manager of The Weeknd, told the NYT:
“The Grammys need to deal with their legacy and clean it up to raise the bar to a level where everyone can be proud to retain the award.”
Who actually wins this weekend? I have read several prediction pieces already and it seems like people are currently divided between the Dua Lipa and Taylor Swift in the main categories. Vulture thinks it could be a big takeover of Dua Lipa. Get ready for all kinds of debates on Sunday night and Monday. At least until the Oscar nominations come out Monday morning, then that’s the discourse. Do you know who will be the happiest about it? The British royal family. They need people to focus on everything but their mess.
However, to return to predictions … we do of our own. Sarah’s Prediction Post for Oscar Nominations Coming Soon!
Yours in gossip,
Lainey