Amy Winehouse tried to go to the Grammys, but the government said “no no no.’’
Visa problems stopped the controversial Brit _ best known for living up to her hit single “Rehab’’ _ from actually attending the 50th Grammy Awards. Yet, nothing could stop her from having a huge night on Sunday at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. Winehouse nabbed the most trophies of anyone, winning five of the six categories she was nominated in, including a triumph over Oakland’s own R&B-jazz sensation Ledisi in the hotly contested Best New Artist field. Her song “Rehab’’ won for Song of the Year, Record of the Year and Best Female Pop Performance and its parent album, “Back to Black,’’ scored Best Pop Vocal Album.
Kanye West was the other big winner during “music’s biggest night,’’ an evening that some had speculated might be canceled due to the Hollywood writers’ strike. Fortunately, the writers agreed not to picket the Grammys and West was able to properly celebrate his victories. The hip-hop star aced four of the five rap categories _ Best Rap Solo Performance, Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group, Best Rap Song and Best Rap Album. It could have been a clean sweep of the genre, but Rihanna and Jay-Z’s “Umbrella’’ beat out West for Best Rap/Sung Collaboration.
West, however, was once again shut down in the race for Album of the Year. He was the heavy favorite in that category, since he also lost Album of the Year in 2005 (for “The College Dropout’’) and 2006 (“Late Registration’’) and it was assumed voters would reward him for his continued excellence this year. Winehouse’s “Back to Black’’ was considered a strong contender as well. Instead, however, they gave it to Herbie Hancock’s “River: The Joni Letters’’ _ marking the first time in 43 years that a jazz artist won the top award.
West and Winehouse, however, did deliver two of the event’s best performances. West combined with Daft Punk to put on a visually stunning version of the Grammy-winning “Stronger,’’ during which the rapper wore a spacey suit with glow-in-the-dark sunglasses and sang amid bursts of pyrotechnics, and then followed with a touching take on “Hey Mama.’’
Winehouse performed via satellite from London and wowed the assembled masses with renditions of “You Know I’m No Good’’ and “Rehab.’’ The British singer was originally scheduled to appear live in Los Angeles, but she was apparently judged to be a risk to national security. Her visa was denied, reportedly, for her “use and abuse of narcotics.’’ It was later approved, but not in time for her to make it to L.A. for the event. (Thank goodness that our government is spending millions to keep us safe from partying rock stars and juiced-up baseball players. We can all sleep safely now.)
Other notable winners among the 110 Grammy categories included Bruce Springsteen, who nabbed three awards in the rock field, and the Foo Fighters, who scored twice, also in the rock field.
In all, it was one of most diverse nights for music in Grammy history. This year’s batch of nominations in the biggie categories _ the four “general field’’ competitions _ drew from several major genres. Most significantly, the top prize, Album of the Year, was a fight between country (Vince Gill’s “These Days’’), rock (the Foo Fighter’s “`Echoes, Silence, Patience and Grace’’), pop (Winehouse’s “Back to Black’’), rap (West’s “Graduation’’) and jazz (Herbie Hancock’s “River: The Joni Letters’’).
Interesting, all five of the Album of the Year nominees won in their respective genre-specific categories (Hancock’s “River’’ won Best Contemporary Jazz Album, Gill’s “Days’’ took Best Country Album, etc.).
As delightfully diverse as the Album of the Year category was this year, it would take some time for that kind of musical variety to have an impact on the actual show. At first, it seemed like we were just watching the Alicia Keys show.
The soul singer led off the show with her own performance and then stuck around to welcome the crowd and introduce the next act, Carrie Underwood. Prince was the third star to take the stage, wearing a decidedly un-purple red suit, and he gave out the first award, for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance. The recipient was _ you guessed it! _ Keys. The show was barely 10 minutes old, yet Keys had already nabbed more Grammy airtime than some major acts score during entire careers.
To her credit, Key’s Grammy opening performance was one of the show’s finest musical moments. The vocalist-pianist performed a sentimental duet with Frank Sinatra on “Learning the Blues.’’ Keys performed in person, while the Chairman of the Board was shown via skillfully edited archival video footage. That technologically-enhanced trick is a Grammy favorite _ the most memorable occurrence came back in 1992, when Nat King Cole would perform a posthumous duet with daughter Natalie on “Unforgettable’’ _ and the trick still works in 2008. (Keys wouldn’t fair quite so well later in the show when she joined with pop star John Mayer on “No One.’’)
Overall, the performances were mostly solid _ and, at times, spectacular. On a purely musical note, nothing topped the dual piano work of jazz giant Hancock and classical child prodigy Lang Lang on George Gershwin’s epic “Rhapsody in Blue.’’ What a triumphant moment _ the embrace between the two men at the end of the piece said it all. The biggest crowd pleaser, however, had to have been the pairing of Beyonce and Tina Turner early in the show.
The much ballyhooed Time reunion, marking the first time the band’s original members had performed together in 15 years, also lived up to the hype. The old-school funk group was joined by new-school R&B star Rihanna, who added her vocal talent and other charms to the mix. Also, it was a nice bit of synergy to have a woman known for the song “Umbrella’’ perform with a band known for the film “Purple Rain.’’
The Grammys’ track record with Beatles’ tributes has been, to be generous, inconsistent. There have been some great moments (such as when Dave Matthews, Vince Gill, Sting and Pharrell Williams combined forces on a rollicking version of “I Saw Her Standing There’’ in 2004) and some shoddy showings (Jay-Z, Linkin Park and Sir Paul McCartney himself demolish “Yesterday’’ in 2006). The one early in the show that featured the combined casts of Cirque Du Soleil’s “Love’’ and the film “Across the Universe’’ (both Beatles-themed artistic statements) fell somewhere right in the middle.
