You’d be forgiven for viewing nominations for the 59th Grammy Awards, announced Tuesday morning, as a battle between two powerhouse singers: Beyoncé, whose Lemonade leads the field with nine, and Adele, whose 25 has been a sales juggernaut since its release late last year. Both received Album Of The Year nods…
Given how many genres the Grammys attempt to cover, it’s hard to get too hung up on snubs, but the late David Bowie’s widely praised final testament Blackstar — released in January, only two days before the singer’s death — was surprisingly shut out of Album Of The Year contention.
(NPR, December 6, 2016)
Actually, Beyoncé and Adele both received nods for Record Of The Year, Song Of The Year, and Best Pop Solo Performance as well.
To be fair, though, Beyoncé competing against Adele for Grammys is rather like T.D. Jakes competing against Pope Francis for souls: Beyoncé and Jakes are all about shaking your body – the better to take your money; Adele and the pope are all about nourishing your mind – the better to save your soul.
In any event, before I place my bet, here’s a little of what I’m on record saying about both divas.
Regarding Beyoncé:
Beyoncé always exudes boundless sexual energy (something “Sasha Fierce”) during her performances…
But here’s a tip for all of you wannabe Beyoncés out there: The reason I found her particularly hot tonight is that I saw for the first time – during an extended interview on a pre-Grammy broadcast of 60 Minutes – how poised, articulate, and disarmingly intelligent she is.
(“52nd Annual Grammy Awards,” The iPINIONS Journal, February 1, 2010)
Regretfully, Beyoncé’s performances in recent years have seemed choreographed more to titillate than entertain – complete with simulating sex acts that would make some porn stars blush:
For some incomprehensible reason, the serene Bey is trying (way too hard) to be to I’m-sexy-and-I-know-it thirty-somethings what twerking Miley is to don’t-know-much-about-sex Gen-Xers, and what cradle-robbing Madonna is to desperately-seeking-sex AARPers. Got that?
But we can really do without Bey acting out on stage what she does in her bedroom, making mockery of Michelle Obama hailing her as role model little girls can look up to…
I missed Adele.
(“The Grammys (or the Mr. and Mrs. Carter Show?),” The iPINIONS Journal, January 27, 2014)
But nothing turned me off in this respect more than the way she exploited her marriage and her fans to promote Lemonade, which snared her the Grammy nods referenced above. In fact, her money-grubbing pursuit of album sales was so immoral, she even ignored the clarion call to boycott North Carolina to protest its anti-gay laws. This moved me to denounce her and her promotional stunts in “For LGBTs in North Carolina, Beyoncé Is a Sellout,” May 6, 2016.
Regarding Adele:
Adele not only sings like an angel, she might just be the music industry’s saving grace. Unfortunately, this [industry has] so little to do with musical talent these days that Adele performing [on any music awards show] is rather like Andrea Bocelli performing on So You Think You Can Dance.
(“2011 MTV Video Music Awards,” The iPINIONS Journal, August 30, 2011)
Clearly a drop-the-mic statement, if ever there were one!
That said, music awards have become so patently contrived, I’m willing to bet that, in their head-to-head competition, Beyoncé will win Album Of The Year and Best Pop Solo Performance; and Adele will win Record Of The Year and Song Of The Year. Each will undoubtedly win additional Grammys in other categories where they singularly headline the nominees.
Finally, I did not include reference to David Bowie in the NPR quote above to serve as an undercard or opening act. I did so because this Grammy snub validates my cynical take on the idol worship that occasioned his death:
Don’t get me started on his self-professed fans taking to social media to share how much his music meant to them. After all, if just a fraction of them had actually purchased his music, Bowie’s last hit single would not have been “Let’s Dance” … over 30 years ago.
(“David Bowie, Gender-Bending Performing Artist, Is Dead,” The iPINIONS Journal, January 12, 2016)
How soon they forget, eh.
Related commentaries:
Beyonce…
MTV…
Mr and Mrs Carter…
Bey is a sellout…