2016 Grammy Awards Performance Review

On Monday night, the 58^th annual Grammy awards aired on CBS. They were hosted by LL Cool J, who I thought was a pretty good host. We're not going to get a whole lot into that. Instead, let's just take a look at our performances. Her we go!

• Taylor Swift – Out Of The Woods

Review: And that my friends, is how you kick off a music award show! That was a fun and energetic performance by the artist that has been KILLING it this past year. Jack Antonoff, who co-wrote and co-produced the song, even performed with her. Overall, it was a really fun performance. I definitely really liked it.

Overall Grade: 9.5 out of 10

• Sam Hunt/Carrie Underwood – Take Your Time / Heartbeat

Review: This felt like Luke Bryan's performance of Home Alone Tonight from the 2015 AMAs with Karen Fairchild. It certainly was not a bad performance. But it was really long for a simple duet. Overall, it was a pretty mediocre performance.

Overall Grade: 6.5 out of 10

• The Weeknd – Can't Feel My Face / In The Night

Review: Very disappointing that he had to perform his two mediocre songs, but not The Hills. He had good moves when performing Can't Feel My Face, so I give him that. His performance of In The Night was pretty bad. It was way to stripped down and I don't think that fits The Weeknd. Sure, he has a great voice and all, but it sounded annoying at some moments and that was legit the only thing that was standing out during that performance. Very disappointing that the Can't Feel My Face portion was the best.

Overall Grade: 3 out of 10

• Andra Day/Ellie Goulding – Rise Up / Love Me Like You Do

Review: These ladies both have really nice voices. So this performance was enjoyable. It's very similar to Sam Hunt and Carrie Underwood's earlier performance in the sense that these two were constantly switching between their songs. I liked it and all, but it's nothing that stood out as amazing or anything.

Overall Grade: 8 out of 10

• John Legend/Demi Lovato/Luke Bryan/Meghan Trainor/Tyrese/Lionel Richie – Lionel Richie Tribute Medley

Review: (Almost) Every artist did a nice job on their pieces of this performance. Some voices (John Legend and Demi Lovato) stood out more than others (Meghan Trainor). But in the end, it was a good performance. Again, nothing outstanding. But certainly not bad.

Overall Grade: 7.5 out of 10

• Little Big Town – Girl Crush

Review: This is still a really sweet song and I thoroughly enjoy their performances of this song. It was definitely one of the better performances. It wasn't too much, but I really think it's a nice song. Overall, it was a sweet performance.

Overall Grade: 8.5 out of 10

• Stevie Wonder/Pentatonix – That's The Way Of The World

Review: Steve Wonder still has a voice that really stands out. Pentatonix did a nice job as well. It was a short and sweet performance.

Overall Grade: 7.5 out of 10

• The Eagles/Bernie Leadon/Jackson Browne – Take It Easy

Review: I'm borderline with this performance between good and mediocre. Possibly more mediocre. It was interesting, I guess. But to be honest, I was getting bored while watching this.

Overall Grade: 6 out of 10

• Tori Kelly/James Bay – Let It Go / Hollow

Review: This performance started out really slow, boring, and bad. James Bay's voice was actually pretty irritating to me. However, about halfway into the performance, Tori Kelly started to shine with that amazing voice I know she has in her. Even James Bay's voice started to pick up as well and it actually sounded pretty good. Unfortunately, I still had to deal with the very boring first half of the performance. But I'm glad things picked up and it wasn't a total snoozer.

Overall Grade: 5 out of 10

• Hamilton Cast – Alexander Hamilton

Review: I zoned out multiple times throughout this performance. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't enough to keep me interested which led to my continuous zoning out. I guess it was okay. But it was certainly not something I would've spent money to go see.

Overall Grade: 6.5 (maybe 7) out of 10

• Kendrick Lamar – The Blacker The Berry / Alright

Review: I know what you guys are thinking. "Oh this was a hip-hop/rap performance, so he probably hated it." I'll admit, I do tend to continuously bash on the hip-hop/rap genre because a good chunk of that genre is bland, annoying, boring, and just uninteresting. How about we dig into this performance? But let me just start out by saying that this performance was excellent and here's why. Rappers nowadays tend to rap about drugs, sex, girls, and money. We cannot deny that. Kendrick Lamar, on the other hand, raps from the heart. I only recently listened to To Pimp A Butterfly and frankly, I almost think it was deserving for Album of the Year. The lyrics in these songs really stand out as meaningful. Frankly, I think he sets a perfect example for a rapper. But yeah. His music is full of meaning. To me, it sounded almost like poetry. Now how about that amazing rapping capability? That was like 20 words per second at some parts. It was really cool to watch. I know I bash on the hip-hop/rap genre a lot and make it seem like I don't like any rapper at all. But when I find a rapper that really stands out in this way like Kendrick Lamar, it's pretty obvious he is worth coming back to whenever a new album comes out. I haven't heard a rapper like him since Eminem. Overall, it was an amazing performance and easily the best performance of the night. Yes, even I didn't see that coming.

Overall Grade: Definite 10 out 10

• Miguel/Greg Phillinganges – She's Out Of My Life

Review: I like Miguel's voice. That's about it. This was really short for a performance. So there really wasn't anything else to it.

Overall Grade: 6 out of 10

• Adele – All I Ask

Review: There was a lot of talk about how there were technical issues during this performance that drowned Adele's voice out. I think she still sounded like she usually does. This performance wasn't too special. It was pretty much just Adele's voice, which I do get tired of listening to after a while. It definitely was not a bad performance. It just wasn't something I would pay to go see.

Overall Grade: 6.5 (maybe 7) out of 10

• Justin Bieber/Skrillex & Diplo – Love Yourself / Where Are Ü Now

Review: Justin Bieber started out very nicely with a performance of Love Yourself on the acoustic guitar. I loved this part of the performance almost as much as I love the song. I just love his voice. I could listen to it for a long time nonstop. Then Justin joined our friends Skrillex and Diplo to perform Where Are Ü Now, which I'm on the edge about. It was definitely different as the two DJ's were playing actual instruments. But I think it was a little too different. Justin still had a nice voice and all. But I did not like the work from Skrillex and Diplo. I thought this would be the best performance of the night. But unfortunately, I was a little disappointed about that second half.

Overall Grade: 8 out of 10

• Lady Gaga/Nile Rodgers – David Bowie Tribute Medley

Review: So many people hyped up way too much about this performance. Yes, she can sing. But what I want out of Lady Gaga is another hit like Bad Romance, Alejandro, Telephone, Just Dance, etc. This tribute to David Bowie certainly was not bad. But tributes are not what I want to see or hear. How about we get some new music from this lady? Overall, this performance was decent. Not much else to say.

Overall Grade: 6.5 out of 10

• Chris Stapleton/Bonnie Raitt/Gary Clark Jr. – The Thrill Is Gone

Review: Another tribute. Great. This time to B.B. King. This was pretty mediocre. I see no uniqueness in Chris Stapleton. I don't see what makes him stand out so much to the point where he gets nominated for Album of the Year. But yeah. Overall, pretty mediocre performance. I was kind of falling asleep.

Overall Grade: 5.5 out of 10

• Alabama Shakes – Don't Wanna Fight

Review: To all the Alabama Shakes fans, please do not judge me but I had no idea there was a female member of the band up until this performance. This performance was actually more on the interesting level. I had low to no expectations and Alabama Shakes easily exceeded them.

Overall Grade: 8 out of 10

• The Hollywood Vampires – As Bad As I Am / Ace Of Spades

Review: Interesting that you call yourselves The Hollywood Vampires when your lead singer looks like a zombie. While this was one of the most unappealing performances of the night, I didn't flat out hate it. It was only somewhat interesting because for whatever reason, I went into full on music appreciation mode during this performance. Basically, that means during the performance I was pretty much simply appreciating the music for what it is. It wasn't good, but it wasn't bad either. So yeah. The performance was pretty much the same thing. Not good, but not awful either. But compared to the other performances, it was one of my least favorite performances.

Overall Grade: 5 out of 10

• Joey Alexander – Piano Solo

Review: Excellent job on the piano, kid. It was nice to watch. To be honest, if I had to pick ONE musical instrument to learn how to play, it would definitely be the piano. There's just something about the piano that makes me want to take piano lessons and learn how to play.

Overall Grade: 8 out of 10

• Pitbull/Robin Thicke/Joe Perry/Travis Barker – El Taxi / Bad Man

Review: Mr. Worldwide continuing to kill it! If you listen to the lyrics in El Taxi, you'd know that there is a Sofia Vergara reference in the second verse. And during the performance, Sofia Vergara comes on stage in a taxi costume. How clever. I loved the performance of Bad Man, which is my new jam at the moment. They definitely made a good decision having this last.

Overall Grade: 9.5 out of 10

So I hope you guys enjoyed my review of the performances from the 2016 Grammy Awards.

My Top 5 Picks

1. Kendrick Lamar – The Blacker The Berry / Alright

2. Pitbull/Robin Thicke/Joe Perry/Travis Barker – El Taxi / Bad Man

3. Taylor Swift – Out Of The Woods

4. Little Big Town – Girl Crush

5. Justin Bieber/Skrillex & Diplo – Love Yourself / Where Are Ü Now

My Bottom 5 Picks

5. The Eagles/Bernie Leadon/Jackson Browne – Take It Easy

4. Chris Stapleton/Bonnie Raitt/Gary Clark Jr. – The Thrill Is Gone

3. The Hollywood Vampires – As Bad As I Am / Ace Of Spades

2. Tori Kelly/James Bay – Let It Go / Hollow

1. The Weeknd – Can't Feel My Face / In The Night