They say if you don't have anything good to say, than don't. Is that don't say anything or don't say anything good?
I had nothing good to say about the Grammy's yesterday so I said nothing.
Suddenly today I'm inspired.
Thing is, I tuned in Sunday night on the spur of the moment, in the haze of the weekend, having forgetten it was going to be on. I watched with suspended prejudice, thinking that somehow it might be different/better/good. My girl and I lasted 20 minutes and then simultaneously looked at one another and said, ' that's about enough', and clicked on by.
This morning came the bit of inspiration to blog via Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails, via his Twitter account over the weekend, which read:
"Grammy asshole weekend in LA. Yuck... The Grammys = the old guard / old media propping up their puppets trying to convince the outside world (and each other) they're relevant."
Nicely put.
Now, let's consider the mandate of the annual awards spectacle. According to The Grammys official website, The Grammys (as opposed to other awards shows i.e. the American Music Awards) are there to "honour artistic achievement, technical proficiency and overall excellence in the recording industry, without regard to album sales or chart position". You can put that theory to the test by looking no further than the category of 'Album of the Year, with nominations including Black Eyed Peas, Beyonce, Lady Gaga, the Dave Matthews Band and Taylor Swift. Guess who won it? The latter - the one that sold the most.
Of course, none of this is shocking. The Grammys like most awards shows are simply a platform for bandwagoning, little more than a formality an industry in need of a night to put on their best duds and spill a little champagne in memory of the glory days.
In the New York Times last week, Neil Portnow, president of the Recording Academy, summed up the Grammys as "Ultimately, it's the amazing performances that are the trademark."
I didn't see any of those in the 20 minutes that I lasted Sunday night, unless you count Elton John and Lady Gaga's duet. Like Madonna, she can't sing either. One thing will never change - in the absence of "artistic achievement, technical proficiency and overall excellence in the recording industry", face paint and a nice ass goes a long long way.