Written By Milee Jain (Grade 8)
The 63rd Grammys, 2021 is certainly one to make history. It switched between the indoor performance stage for the show’s set pieces and the outdoor set-up around the Los Angeles Convention Center surrounded by small tables of artists. The Grammys this year as well, brought along its share of snubs and surprises.
Hosted by the talented and highly effervescent Trevor Noah, the 2021 Grammys broke the gender bias with women winning the “big four” while Megan Thee Stallion became the first female winner of the best rap song prize since its inception in 2004. “There’s been a lot of female empowerment and lots of women are winning awards tonight,” said Dua Lipa backstage after winning the best pop album. She added, “It’s been absolutely amazing to feel that energy.”
One of the major breakthroughs was Beyonce setting a new record being the most-awarded woman in Grammy’s history with her 28th win, overtaking bluegrass singer Alison Krauss. “I am so honoured, I’m so excited,” she said while accepting her record-breaking trophy, for best R&B performance.
Another moment that made history was Taylor Swift – becoming the first female artist ever to win album of the year three times. She was rewarded for her outstanding album “Folklore” and previously won “Fearless” in 2010 and the “pop opus 1989” in 2016.
Billie Eilish took home 2 Grammys and became the first soloist this century to win Record of the Year two years in a row. While accepting this grammy, Billie and her brother Finneas O’Connell were completely stunned at the back-to-back win. Billie began her speech by shouting out to the best new artist winner – Megan Thee Stallion, whose “Savage” was nominated for record of the year. She also won Best Song Written for Visual Media – “No Time to Die,”.
Some of the other Grammy winners are –
— Best pop vocal album: “Future Nostalgia,” Dua Lipa
— Best rap song: “Savage,” Megan Thee Stallion, featuring Beyoncé
— Song of the year (songwriter’s award): “I Can’t Breathe,” H.E.R., Dernst Emile II and Tiara Thomas
— Best pop solo performance: “Watermelon Sugar,” Harry Styles
— Best new artist: Megan Thee Stallion
— Best pop Duo/Group Performance, “Rain on me”, Lady Gaga and Ariana Grande
Along with these winners, as always, there were snubs — first and most prominently, the fact that The Weeknd, who is one of the most successful artists of the past decade and whose multiple singles and albums have shattered various chart records, received no nominations in any category. Usually, artists who have achieved Adele-Beyonce-Taylor Swift levels of commercial and critical success, take home 4 to 6 Grammy wins. So, what happened? As countless theories and explanations continue to solve this, it comes down to 2 possibilities – corruption and/or dysfunction.
The “secret committees” consist of professionals, executives and insiders that determine some — but not all — of the nominees for the top Grammy categories. Rumours have it that such committees are often biased and the Weeknd revealed on Thursday that he would no longer allow his label to send his music to the Grammys until the secret committees are addressed. The Weeknd has previously won three Grammy Awards, but the current controversy isn’t about an artist’s hurt feelings, enraged fans, or one’s view of his music; it’s about serious flaws in the nominating process.
Along with this, there were many other artists who were nominated multiple times but still went back home with no trophies. Five-time nominee Roddy Ricch, four-time nominee Phoebe Bridgers and DaBaby being some of them. BTS one of the top 10 Boy Bands in the world was only nominated once for Best Group Performance and yet lost their win.
Leaving aside the snubs – which are almost always a part of the Grammys, this event was said to be “the most fun and the least baffling”. Also, as previously stated the 63rd Grammys made huge breakthroughs by having multiple women winning many awards and various black artists getting nominated and accepting their awards. While watching the Grammys myself, I felt each and every artist deserved an award, nominated or not. It was wonderful seeing the artists vibe to each other’s music and the amazing reactions of the winners while accepting the Grammy.
Featured Image Courtesy – Grammy.com
