Watching The Grammys

For me the highlight was Kanye West’s electronic suit. The still photo attached doesn’t do it justice. The little lights raced up his chest. His glasses glowed as if they were pulled from the surface of the Sun.

kanye_suit.jpgI sat with Helaine tonight as she watched the Grammys.

These phrases, uttered by me, put my night in context: “Who is she?” “I don’t know that song.” “Never heard of him.”

Helaine, answering one query, said, “They don’t play him on NPR.”

Touché mon petit!

Yes, Tina Turner was on… and dancing. Just as big a deal, maybe bigger, was Keely Smith, still hitting the notes and staying on key with Kid Rock on the classic “Old Black Magic” (sans Louis Prima and Sam Butera and the Witnesses)&#185.

Ringo Starr looks great. So does Cher. Andy Williams looked old and pasty. Stevie Wonder looks heavy.

How many hits did Ann Marie Calhoun’s website get tonight? More than last night… or last year?

For me the highlight was Kanye West’s electronic suit. The still photo attached doesn’t do it justice. The little lights raced up his chest. His glasses glowed as if they were pulled from the surface of the Sun.

He would not have been able to bring his outift had he flown commercially, passing through TSA screening!

&#185 – Of course, Youtube has a classic, 50 year old Louis Prima/Keely Smith video. It’s easy to forget how talented she was. God bless the Internet and poor copyright enforcement.

5 thoughts on “Watching The Grammys”

  1. Geoff, I’m surprised you didn’t make note of the brilliant opening used on last night’s show. An in-his-prime (meaning he was around our age) Frank Sinatra, in black and white footage from a 1960s Grammy-cast, explained the importance of a Grammy as representing achievement instead of merely selling a ton of records. Then, as footage of Sinatra and the statuette fades, Alicia Keys at the piano plays the opening bars of Ol’ Blue Eyes’ ’50s gem “Learnin’ the Blues” — joined in a virtual duet by the filmed Frank on a screen behind her. Incomparable.

  2. What really made this year’s Grammys a home run was the acknowledgement of past accomplishments. While most of the 1958 winners (save Keeley Smith) have passed on, it might have been nice to have her (and the surviving members of The Champs, whose “Tequila” was named the Best R&B Song) stand with selected winners from ’68, ’78, ’88 and ’98.

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