The Grammy Awards, prestigious awards for American music, opened on Sunday, January 26 in Los Angeles, in shock Announcement of the disappearance of Kobe Bryant, ex-NBA star who died at 41 in a helicopter accident.
The sadness was made all the greater by the fact that the basketball legend has for years walked the floor of the Staples Center in Los Angeles, the famous stadium of his Lakers team, where the Grammy Awards gala evening takes place.
Dozens of fans, often in tears, gathered Sunday afternoon to pay tribute to Kobe Bryant outside the stadium, while the first prizes were distributed nearby at the Microsoft Theater.
Lady Gaga won two awards for the film’s soundtrack A Star Is Born and Beyoncé won an award for her musical documentary Homecoming. “Rest in peace Kobe, we love you”, launched Steve Pamon, the film’s director, upon receiving his trophy.
Favorite of the 62e edition, the phenomenon Lil Nas X has already bagged his first Grammy for the video clip of his tube Old town road while competitor Billie Eilish, a dark-haired teenager, received a technical first prize for her album. As for Michelle Obama, she was awarded in the category of “Best spoken album” for the audio book of his memoirs.
” To change things “
The gala evening promises to be hotly contested and the winners should give pride of place to new talents, in particular women like Lizzo and Billie Eilish, even if the show may not be enough to completely forget the serious accusations of harassment and irregularities brought against the Grammy Awards by his ex-boss, recently suspended from office.
Deborah Dugan claims that her predecessor at the head of the Recording Academy, Neil Portnow, raped an artist and that some votes for the Grammy nominations were tainted by ” conflicts of interest “. Neil Portnow and the organization flatly denied. An independent investigation was opened, but many record professionals deplored the damage to the reputation of the Grammy Awards.
Deborah Dugan took over the Academy in August, becoming the first woman in history to hold the post. She claimed to be the victim of reprisals because she wanted to ” to change things “ after seventeen years as president of Neil Portnow.
The 2020 vintage should be a success with very feminine appointments. Women dominate the list of nominations, in particular in the four queen categories (album of the year, recording of the year, song of the year and revelation of the year), where they are at least on par with the men.
Lizzo in pole position
Besides the exuberant Lizzo, in pole position with eight nominations, Billie Eilish (six), Ariana Grande (five), Lana Del Rey, Beyoncé and singer H.E.R. have also made their mark. According to the specialized site Gold Derby and many other American media, Lizzo, Billie Eilish, Ariana Grande and Lil Nas X should share the most prominent prices.
Lizzo, 31, and the somber Billie Eilish, 18, embody two styles that are very far apart: on one side a sparkling young black woman, with colorful clips and loud voices; on the other a white teenager with a soft and heady voice. The two artists each represent in their own way a mixture of musical genres typical of current trends, which play with traditional categories.
This is also the case withOld town road, with its mix of country banjos and hip-hop basses, which has almost unanimous prognosis in the category of “Recording of the year” (rewarding production).
The gala evening of the Grammy Awards must present as every year twenty musical numbers, among which Aerosmith, Billie Eilish, Ariana Grande, Camila Cabello, the Jonas Brothers, Cyndi Lauper, Lil Nas X, Lizzo, Demi Lovato, Meek Mill, Run-DMC, Gwen Stefani and rapper YG. This year again, Alicia Keys will play the mistress of ceremonies for a show which will notably offer a version ofOld town road by the group of K-pop BTS, country star Billy Ray Cyrus and DJ Diplo.
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