Each year, fans around the world wait in anticipation for the Grammy Awards, long been described as the biggest night in music. With performances from Olivia Rodrigo, Silk Sonic, Billie Eilish and BTS, this year was no different. This year’s ceremony took place on April 3, broadcast live on CBS.
Whether it be the awards themselves, celebrity looks or spectacular performances, there is something everyone can take away from the show.
“I watch it some years depending on the nominations [and performances]. I love music, so I tend to really like to watch my favorites win awards,” senior Olivia Pletter said.
This year’s show was opened by Silk Sonic, the popular duo made up of Bruno Mars and Anderson .Paak. They sang their hit song “777” and went on to win a Grammy for Record of the Year following the performance.
“It’s not really my style of music but I thought it was a pretty good opening because it was high-energy and got people excited,” sophomore Ella Montano said.
Someone many people were looking forward to seeing this year was Olivia Rodrigo. With her unprecedented level of success this past year, she was able to secure three Grammys: est New Artist, Best Pop Vocal Album and Best Pop Solo Performance.
“I feel like she wasn’t as revolutionary as the Grammys tried to make her. I think she definitely should’ve gotten awards though,” senior Sam Williams said.
Every year, the award show comes with its disappointments. One of the most unexpected occurrences this year was the fact that Billie Eilish didn’t win any awards this year following her overwhelming success in previous years.
“I like her album; I just think it’s not for the masses. I don’t think that you need to consistently place and get Grammys every single year to be called a relevant artist. Not all your music has to have the same level of achievement,” Williams said.
In addition, rapper Lil Nas X, who rose to fame in 2019 with his hit Old Town Road, didn’t win any awards either. This was disappointing to many as he has put out some of the biggest songs of the year.
“I wanted Lil Nas X to win a Grammy, but he didn’t even though he was nominated for four which I thought was weird since he is such a big artist,” freshman Zina Nguensi said.
One of the most shocking moments of the show this year was when Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky made an appearance. In a pre-recorded video, he emphasized the importance of music around the world amid the war in Ukraine. The speech was followed by a performance from John Legend and Ukrainian musicians.
“I wasn’t expecting the president of Ukraine to speak at the Grammys, so that was kind of shocking. I thought it was a pretty good speech, and I think the song afterwards was also really good,” Montano said.
Apart from the music, another large component of the Grammys are the red carpet looks. Some stars such as rapper Jack Harlow kept it simple with an all black suit while others like Lil Nas X went all out.
“I really liked how Dua Lipa and Doja Cat were matching because they both have very different styles of music, so it was cool to see,” freshman Valeriya Hadjiyska said.
