A reaction to the 2021 Grammy Awards: a historic flop
While Colby students were getting their last weekend of good sleep before the imminent Doghead, the 63rd annual Grammy Awards took place in the Los Angeles Convention Center.
Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, many adjustments had to be made including moving the event from its usual January date to March.
In-person attendance was also limited with only performers and nominees at the ceremony. Their home audience was also limited, as it only received 8.8 million views, a historic low for the Grammys.
Catherine Duboulay `22 noted that the timing simply did not fit into her schedule.
“I actually did not watch the Grammys this year. To be quite honest I forgot that about it – class work – and the housing application was really weighing me down.”
Many said that the pandemic is also to blame for the low viewer turnout this year, but Duboulay acknowledged the snubs that took place for this year’s nominees. Artists such as Halsey and Kehlani were both neglected by the academy despite their fantastic year in music.
However, the biggest snub of all was the Weeknd, who probably had one of the best albums of the past year. In fact, his song “Blinding Lights” spent 54 weeks in the top ten of the Billboard Hot 100 and 43 weeks in the top five, making it the longest reigning song on the chart.
Chris Mellen ’23, who is a music major, a member of the jazz ensemble, and a member of band on campus expressed that he is quite fond of the Grammys, but does think that their winner selection process needs some work.
“I like the performances at the Grammys because they give artists an opportunity to put on a really impressive show on a big stage which can be huge for someone’s career. I also love watching artists that I care about win Grammys, but at the same time it needs to be said that there seems to be literally no rhyme or reason to the selections for award winners.”
“I don’t know much about the selection process but to me it seems like it’s just a committee of people who pick the artists and songs that they like the best, rather than a popular vote or something based on statistics like streams or records sold or something like that.” Mellen continued. “I think I like the Grammys because I grew up watching them and never really put much thought into what was really going on and if I did put that thought in I think I’d be a lot less keen on them.”
Mellen next explained why he did not watch the ceremony this year. “I didn’t watch this year. I think the lack of crowd has made me a lot less interested in things that I normally really enjoy watching, but beyond that I didn’t really hear about any performances leading up to the Grammys that I thought I would want to watch.”
Despite this, the Grammys did have quite a few redeeming qualities.
Fan favorite comedian Trevor Noah hosted the night. He opened with a great monologue taking jabs at the various events of 2020. In addition, many records were broken at the 63rd Grammys. Beyonce won her 28th Grammy, making her the most accoladed female artist. Megan Thee Stallion won Best New Artist, making her the first female rapper to win this award since 1999. Billie Eilish was even able to continue her Grammy reign by taking home record of the year. Taylor Swift also made a great comeback by winning Album of the Year with Folklore, making her the first woman in history to win this award three times. Another notable winner was Harry Styles, who received his first solo Grammy for his performance of “Watermelon Sugar.”
All in all, the Grammys are still a staple of showbiz culture, but it will be interesting to see if they bounce back from their 2021 dip.
~ Tanvi Iyer `22
