Not Totally Sucking, with the 2008 Grammys

Normally I don’t give two hoots about the Grammys. I’m mildly amused when someone I like wins, indifferent when someone I don’t like gets accolades, and I’m willing to invest time into a few websites to see what everyone wore. However, this year was different. I own several of the CDs and songs that were up for nominations and I have a deep love for that 68-year-old vixen, Ms. Tina Turner (who did a splendid “Proud Mary” duet with Beyonce, who looked like she was struggling to keep up with Ms. Private Dancer). I decided that if she could still show up to knock them dead, then the least I could do was show up to watch.

There was all kinds of Amy Winehouse drama leading up to this year’s ceremony and it’s unavoidable to anyone who checks People.com 20 times a day (*cough* me). I am a fan of her nominated album, Back to Black, and have never seen her perform live so I was looking forward to a performance by her, via satellite or live, it didn’t matter. She gave a refreshingly lucid, earnest performance, giving many shout outs to her incarcerated Blake. The fact that she won all but one of the awards that she was nominated for will hopefully show her that, despite the crack and legal troubles, people do enjoy her music and would appreciate another album or two instead of her slowing killing herself (I was, however, not impressed with her back-up vocalists, but they didn’t distract too heavily from Ms. Winehouse’s performance).

Kanye West delivered another notable performance of “Stronger” with a touching tribute to his Mama with “Hey Mama” at the end. I will say that I was incredibly excited to see him perform, light-up glasses and all, but I felt a little sad because I kept expecting some awesome Daft Punk action to erupt from the space volcanoes that were on the stage, but all we got was the Tron-inspired duo inside the volcano messing with some touch screens. Fine, but not as rad as it could have been.

In addition to Kanye, the Foo Fighters rocked my effing socks off and managed to make me more excited for their upcoming March concert than I knew was possible. Their new album is awesome, deserving of the Grammy love they received, and I thank the Foos for delivering consistently awesome, ass-rocking albums every time.

There were a few oddball pairings that made me raise my proverbial eyebrow (since I can't actually do it):

Rihanna and Morris Day and the Time: …? I’m not quite sure that I enjoyed the Time remix of Umbrella, but it could have been worse I guess.

Worse: Keely Smith and Kid Rock. I’m not sure what was going on here, but if they needed to kill time, I’m sure they could have stretched out the My Grammy Moment segments a little longer.

Miley Cyrus and Cyndi Lauper: I’m forever thankful that they didn’t do a ‘best of both worlds’ “True Colors” duet, because I would have died in front of my TV (a la “The Ring”) but they both looked so awkward that I was thankful that they were just presenting an award.

In my opinion, this year the Grammys didn’t suck so hard. Way to go Grammys. And, with the writer’s strike at an end, maybe the Oscars will be the next one to not suck so hard. Keep your fingers crossed America!