2015 Grammys Review

The 57th Annual Grammy Awards were this past Sunday, February 8th. Were you able to catch the show? If not, don’t worry, we’ve got you covered!
Here’s a rundown of the night’s major winners:
Best New Artist
Bastille
Iggy Azalea
Brandy Clark
Haim
Sam Smith – WINNER
Best Pop Solo Performance
“All of Me,” John Legend
“Chandelier,” Sia
“Stay With Me,” Sam Smith
“Shake It Off,” Taylor Swift
“Happy,” Pharrell Williams – WINNER
Best Pop Vocal Album
Ghost Stories, Coldplay
Bangerz, Miley Cyrus
My Everything, Ariana Grande
Prism, Katy Perry
x, Ed Sheeran
In the Lonely Hour, Sam Smith – WINNER
Best Rock Album
Ryan Adams, Ryan Adams
Morning Phase, Beck – WINNER
Turn Blue, The Black Keys
Hypnotic Eye, Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers
Songs of Innocence, U2
Best R&B Performance
“Drunk In Love,” Beyoncé & Jay-Z -WINNER
“New Flame,” Chris Brown ft. Usher & Rick Ross
“It’s Your World,” Jennifer Hudson ft. R. Kelly
“Like This,” Ledisi
“Good Kisser,” Usher
Best Country Album
Riser, Dierks Bentley
The Outsiders, Eric Church
The Way I’m Livin’, Lee Ann Womack
12 Stories, Brandy Clark
Platinum, Miranda Lambert – WINNER
Album of the Year
Morning Phase, Beck – WINNER
Beyoncé, Beyoncé
x, Ed Sheeran
In the Lonely Hour, Sam Smith
Girl, Pharrell Williams
Song of the Year
“Chandelier,” Sia
“All About That Bass,” Meghan Trainor
“Shake It Off,” Taylor Swift
“Stay With Me (Darkchild Version),” Sam Smith – WINNER
“Take Me to Church,” Hozier
Record of the Year
“Fancy,” Iggy Azalea ft. Charli XCX
“Chandelier,” Sia
“Stay With Me (Darkchild Version),” Sam Smith – WINNER
“Shake It Off,” Taylor Swift
“All About That Bass,” Meghan Trainor
The biggest winner of the night was clearly Sam Smith, who went home with a total of FOUR Grammys and also gave arguably the best performance of the night with Mary J. Blige. His acceptance speeches only got better as the night progressed. He began more reserved, but became more confident as he won more and more awards. As he accepted the last award of the night, Record of the Year, he gave a special message to his ex: “Thank you so much for breaking my heart because you got me four Grammys!” I bet his ex regrets breaking it off now…
One performance worth mentioning was that of Madonna, who dressed up as a matador and surrounded herself with something like twenty dancers covered in bull horn masks, as she sang “Living For Love.”  People in the live audience didn’t seem bewildered, but I’m betting people watching at home were — I know I was.

Kanye West also gave a unique performance, singing his new song “Only One,” written with the legendary Sir Paul McCartney. Dressed in what looked like a red sweatsuit, Kanye sang over a beam of light with his face obscured by the darkness throughout most of the song. He snuck away as soon as he finished, as if he didn’t want to attract any attention. He seemed to embrace the spotlight in his next performance with Sir Paul McCartney and Rihanna though. While we’re on the subject of Kanye West, when Beck won Album of the Year over Beyoncé, he almost snatched the microphone to defend Queen Bey’s album as “one of the best of all time.”
Pharrell, dressed as a bellhop, sang his legendary tune,“Happy,” in a style that we’ve never seen before. He began by stating the lyrics, as Spanish, French, and then Japanese translations followed. The song began in a minor key and it certainly didn’t conjure up the happiness we normally associate with the song. Then, it transitioned into gospel-style before seguing into the “Happy” we know and love. Pharrell concluded with a shout-out to the Lord. This was certainly a version of “Happy” we’ve never heard or seen before.
In another peculiar event of the night, Shia Labeouf introduced Sia to perform her hit, “Chandelier,” by reading some odd tidbits off of a pink napkin, likely confusing most viewers. Sia was, as in all live performances, facing the wall and flanked by her usual dancer, Maddie Ziegler, from the song’s music video. However, a guest dancer, Kristen Wiig, joined the twosome in this special performance. It was definitely one of the most interesting parts of the night.
It was a long show and while some artists walked out with their arms full, others went home empty-handed. Did you catch the Grammys? What did you think were the best parts of the show? Did you disagree with any of the results?
2015 Grammys Review: Featured image courtesy of AFP