The Grammy Surprise
An enjoyable Grammy Awards show indeed..! Excellent performances throughout – better than we recall from the last few years – and even some good humor from Cher with her “singing when Lincoln was president” remark.
As for the actual awards, they went mostly as the Connoisseur had expected and discussed earlier. Amy Winehouse stole the show with her performance from England (she was not able to acquire a travel visa in time) as well as her 5 award wins, including Record of the Year.
Kanye West also did well with 4 wins, including best rap solo performance for “Stronger”.
The big surprise of the evening didn’t come until the very end of the show. When the Album of the Year winner was read, a shocked Herbie Hancock heard his name called for his CD River: The Joni Letters. I think the rest of the audience was stunned as well.
The album is a collection of elegantly done covers of Joni Mitchell tunes. Saxophone great Wayne Shorter appears with Hancock throughout, as well as guest vocal appearances by Norah Jones, Corinne Bailey Rae and others. The Connoisseur applauds this choice, as it shows that the Grammy voting is not always swayed by commercial success.
As for the actual awards, they went mostly as the Connoisseur had expected and discussed earlier. Amy Winehouse stole the show with her performance from England (she was not able to acquire a travel visa in time) as well as her 5 award wins, including Record of the Year.
Kanye West also did well with 4 wins, including best rap solo performance for “Stronger”.
The big surprise of the evening didn’t come until the very end of the show. When the Album of the Year winner was read, a shocked Herbie Hancock heard his name called for his CD River: The Joni Letters. I think the rest of the audience was stunned as well.
The album is a collection of elegantly done covers of Joni Mitchell tunes. Saxophone great Wayne Shorter appears with Hancock throughout, as well as guest vocal appearances by Norah Jones, Corinne Bailey Rae and others. The Connoisseur applauds this choice, as it shows that the Grammy voting is not always swayed by commercial success.