Nominations for the 65th Grammy Awards were announced on Nov. 15, 2022 and the anticipation of who would walk home with a golden gramophone increased as yesterday drew nearer. The Grammys are my Super Bowl, so here are my unsolicited thoughts from the biggest night in music.
Taylor Swift’s beautiful blue two-piece gown was a perfect ode to her latest album “Midnights.” If you could put taking a nap in a field of flowers into a gown, that’s how I would describe Lizzo’s coral colored, floral gown, which honestly looked really comfortable. Cardi B looked gorgeous and elegant in a royal blue dress.
There were few misses on the red carpet this year. Unfortunately, Blac Chyna’s black, sparkly and glittery outfit looked like a cursed version of the iconic black tutu from “Black Swan.” The only other notable miss was specifically Shania Twain’s oversized, polka dotted hat. As soon as the hat came off her head, the rest of her black and white ensemble looked great with her red hair.
There are always years where one artist sweeps all of the categories. This year felt like one of the first Grammys in awhile where the awards were pretty evenly distributed. Beyoncé led with four wins and broke the record for most Grammy wins ever with 32 in total. Was it a little weird to watch James Corden of all people get to announce her making history? Absolutely, but she gave a beautiful speech and truly deserves the honor.
Now for the “Big Four,” a.k.a., Song of the Year, Record of the Year, Album of the Year and Best New Artist. Song of the Year shocked a lot of people, including the winner herself, Bonnie Raitt for “Just Like That.” Generally speaking, I am pretty well-versed in the music side of pop culture, but this was honestly the last song I had expected to win. Yes, Raitt is a legend, but she is fairly unheard of for younger generations, as reflected on Twitter. However, Raitt also seemed surprised as she looked around in disbelief for several seconds after it was announced that she won.
Lizzo. An absolute legend. Her win in the Record of the Year category made her the first Black woman to take home the award since Whitney Houston did for “I Will Always Love You” in 1994, once again proving that she never ceases to amaze. Her performance was flawless, every single outfit she wore was amazing and her selfies with fellow stars throughout the evening were everything.
Samara Joy winning Best New Artist was a pleasant surprise. The category has been dominated by hip-hop and pop artists for a long time, so it was nice to see a jazz artist win, especially considering she is only 23-years-old and just released her second album on Sept. 16, 2022.
Yes, I have seen the outrage on Twitter over Harry Styles’ Album of the Year win over Beyoncé. As a big fan of Styles myself, I could not predict who would win because it logically made sense for any of the albums nominated to win. I am beyond happy for Styles because I think the award was well-deserved, but I think it was well-deserved by everyone nominated.
I can absolutely understand the disappointment when one’s favorite artist loses, but there is a line that needs to be drawn when it comes to public decorum at an event like the Grammys. A video reminiscent of the infamous Kanye incident at the 2009 VMAs circulated on social media of someone shouting that Beyoncé should have won as he gave his acceptance speech. You can disagree with who won all you want, but it’s important to be respectful and let artists take their moment to show their appreciation for their win.
History being made
In addition to Beyoncé once again breaking records, history was made when Sam Smith and Kim Petras won Best Pop Duo/Group Performance for their song “Unholy,” making Petras the first transgender woman to win a Grammy. Swift winning Best Music Video with “All Too Well: The Short Film” made her the first artist to win the award with the sole directing credit for their own video. Viola Davis earning her EGOT after winning Best Audio Book, Narration, and Storytelling Recording for the audiobook of her memoir “Finding Me” made her the third Black woman following Whoopi Goldberg and Jennifer Hudson to do so, respectively. The world heals a little bit every time women make history.
A bonus win for fans of Styles and Swift
While not directly related to the awards, a personal win for me from the Grammys this year was the footage captured of Styles and Swift having a conversation during Steve Lacy’s performance of “Bad Habit.” Skipping all of the drama about when they dated over 10 years ago, they are my two favorite artists of all time and seeing them together made my night. Fans of both Swift and Styles experienced this at the 2021 Grammys as well, but I can guarantee that none of us expected them to reunite a second time.
Overall, this was a pretty good Grammys with a lot of great wins and performances all around. While we all wait for what I will predict will be a night full of wins for Swift’s “Midnights” and SZA’s “SOS” at the 66th Grammy Awards, moments from the 65th Grammy Awards will hold us over.
Tate Raub is a junior studying journalism at Ohio University. Please note that the views and opinions of the columnists do not reflect those of The Post. Want to talk more about it? Let Tate know by tweeting her @tatertot1310.
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