As so often happens these days, I took a lot of flak for my original commentary. I see no point in rehashing what caused so much offense, especially because the title to that commentary speaks volumes: “The Grammys: Not Only Irrelevant but Rigged!” January 26, 2020. (Yeah, priorities.)
Well, here’s to vindication:
Viewership for the Grammy Awards hit a 12-year low on Sunday night. … At Sunday’s ceremony, the 18-year-old singer Billie Eilish won big, taking home the top awards for album, new artist, record and song of the year, the first time in 39 years that an artist had swept the four top prizes.
(The New York Times, January 27, 2020)
Remarkably, Eilish just accomplished a feat that superstars like Paul Simon, Michael Jackson, Madonna, Whitney Houston, Beyoncé, Lady Gaga, Adele, and Justin Bieber never accomplished. And now, for obvious reasons, none of them ever will.
That said, in reading Billboard’s review, I couldn’t tell whether the bigger shock was Lizzo getting shut out of “the four top prizes” or people tuning out the show. She had to console herself with a few wins in R&B categories. But the white wizards behind the Grammys might say those should imbue her with as much pride as a black winning Miss Black America or Miss Black USA, no?
Anyway, don’t be disappointed if you couldn’t tell the difference between Eilish and the band Phish to save your life. Because, if you’re not into streaming, you’re missing out on much of what raves as popular music these days.
Accordingly, I streamed some of Eilish’s songs to hear what made her so worthy. I didn’t hear it. Truth be told, she sounds like what I imagine Sylvia Plath would’ve sounded like if she sang her confessional poetry. In other words, after listening to Eilish’s songs, I too felt like killing myself.
The point is that there must be some X-factor, or secret (racial) code, that resulted in her sweep. Because only a rigged system like that explains Eilish shutting out equally talented and far more entertaining performers like Ariana Grande and Lizzo in each category.
In recent years, especially as major black musicians like Beyoncé and Kendrick Lamar have lost out in the top categories, the Grammys have become a target of critics arguing that the Academy was falling out of touch — or worse, using stars to boost ratings without acknowledging their art. …
As [host Alicia Keys] bade the audience good night, she said: ‘We got a lot to change. We got a lot to do.
(NPR, January 27, 2020)
Alas, the more things change, the more they stay the same. Apropos of which, the first time a star was born in this nebulous fashion was in 1981 when Christopher Cross, a male version of Eilish, swept the top four prizes. Christopher who? Exactly.
Except, to be fair, she may have already assured herself of greater longevity than Cross with this additional feat:
‘No Time To Die’ by Billie Eilish has become only the second-ever James Bond theme song to reach the top of the UK singles chart. Sam Smith had the only other 007 chart success, when ‘Writing’s On The Wall’ from Spectre went top in 2015.
(BBC, February 21, 2020)
Enjoy it while you can, Billie.
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Grammys rigged…