The 67th annual Grammys took place on Sunday, Feb. 2, and featured various flamboyant performances and awards for the musical stars of the year.
Senior Aditi Gupta expected this year’s show to be disappointing since she disliked them in previous years, Gupta said. This year’s did come with its flaws, but was better overall, she said.
“There were many commercial breaks on this one, and Trevor Noah as a host was ‘eh,’” Gupta said. “I just think most of the people who got the awards deserved it. In past years, there’ve been moments where you feel like someone really deserved it but didn’t get it.”
However, the Grammys this year weren’t satisfying to her, junior Chehak Batra said.
“I was a little bit more disappointed, but I think the performances were very nice,” Batra said.
In her opinion, “Cowboy Carter” by Beyoncé shouldn’t have won Album of the Year, Batra said.
“I think Billie Eilish deserved to win more awards,” Batra said. “I didn’t really listen to Beyoncé’s album as much as she was given credit for.”
Beyoncé’s award was undeniably deserved, Gupta said. Eilish’s album, ‘Hit Me Hard and Soft’, didn’t hit the mark for her, Gupta added.
“Personally, I didn’t really like ‘Hit Me Hard and Soft’ that much. I thought it was kind of similar to all of Billie’s other work,” Gupta said. “I think Beyoncé was the clear deserving winner of Album of the Year. And anyone who’s campaigning otherwise just has not listened to ‘Cowboy Carter’.”
Kendrick Lamar’s song, “Not Like Us,” was good, but didn’t merit five awards, Gupta added.
“’I’d say ‘Not like Us’ winning five times is a little crazy,” Gupta said. “I like the song, but I think there were a couple of categories where it could have been given to someone else, even in Kendrick’s own discography this year.”
Doechii’s performance during the Grammys was her favorite and her Best Rap Album award was justified, Batra said.
“I think she totally deserves it,” Batra said. “I’m very happy for her.”
He was disappointed by the award winners but was pleasantly surprised that the winners weren’t all white people, senior Amey Gulati said. He thought the performances and awards were fine, overall, Gulati added.
“It was fine, for the most part. My expectations were pretty low,” Gulati said. “It felt like they just looked at a couple artists, and then forgot some big ones.”
As for performances, Sabrina Carpenter’s stood out the most, Batra said.
“It was just the way she portrayed herself and the showmanship she had,” Batra said. “I think they were all pretty cool.”
The performances were good overall, Gupta said.
“I didn’t like Teddy Swim’s; he’s a TikTok artist,” Gupta said. “Sabrina Carpenter’s performance was good. Charli XCX’s performance was good.”
Olivia Rodrigo’s outfit was the best of the night, Batra said. She disliked Kanye’s controversial pairing with his wife Bianca Censori in an extremely sheer and revealing dress, Batra added.
“I think that might have been against her will,” Batra said. “I don’t know, I think it was really, really weird.”
Altogether, the winners of this year’s Grammys show how, despite our country going one way politically, the music industry is swinging the other way, Gupta said. In addition, music is becoming more experimental and diverse, shown by the popularity of albums like “BRAT,” Gupta added.
“Women have always been in the music game, and I think we’re just seeing that trend continue because all the performances that were good were by women,” Gupta said.