English archive · 中文原文

The Grammys Went to the Same Famous Names Again, and People Still Love Watching

杨京楷 · · English translation

The 58th Grammy Awards wrapped up today. Another year, another show that people enjoy but find nothing new in.

The Music Is One Thing; a Good Show Is Another

The 58th Grammy Awards wrapped up today. Another year, another show that people enjoy but find nothing new in.

Album of the Year went to Taylor Swift's 1989, which also won Best Pop Vocal Album, and "Bad Blood," a track from the album, won Best Music Video. But Swift did not take home the most awards: Alabama Shakes won three trophies in the rock categories, and Kendrick Lamar swept all four rap awards.

All of these winners made their names long ago. Alabama Shakes released their first album, Boys & Girls, in 2012 and earned three Grammy nominations that same year. Lamar and Swift need no introduction.

Look beyond the multiple winners and nearly everyone on the list had already made it. Ed Sheeran, who won Best Pop Solo Performance, had been a Grammy also-ran several times; his first single reached No. 3 on the UK singles chart in 2011. Muse, who won Best Rock Album, have been together for more than 20 years, have succeeded in many genres, and already won a Grammy in 2011.

Read down the list and you find one formidable name after another. A major award should go to formidable people, of course. But the Grammys' way is to pick names that tell you how formidable they are before you hear a note, because they became famous long ago. The Grammys do not reward avant-garde or experimental musicians and their work.

Yet even though the Grammys never offer anything new, and you can predict the winners more or less accurately, people rather enjoy watching.

At most award ceremonies, a walk down the red carpet and a few acceptance speeches are enough. Not at the Grammys. Every year a crowd of big-name artists takes the stage to perform, backed by dazzling stage effects and makeup, so the ceremony feels more like a huge music show, broadcast on television and streamed live around the world.

A ceremony this colorful draws a lot of viewers. According to Nielsen, from 2005 to 2009 the Grammys' total audience stayed between 17 million and 20 million. The 56th ceremony, in 2014, drew 28.37 million viewers, and the 1984 ceremony, thanks to Michael Jackson, drew 51.67 million.

This year's "show" was also popular, at least in China. It was the first time the Grammys sold live video rights in China, and the rights went to LeTV Music, so most Chinese viewers watched the ceremony there. According to LeTV, 10.7916 million people watched the ceremony on its platform: 9.2137 million watched the Chinese-language version and 1.5779 million the English version.

The ceremony ran from 7 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., so not everyone will have watched the whole thing. Still, more than ten million people tuned in, which is a considerable number.

Many people's Weibo or WeChat Moments feeds have probably been flooded with Adele's "All I Ask" or Lady Gaga's tribute to David Bowie. Both performances were staged superbly; for her tribute, Lady Gaga even dressed as Bowie, with glam-rock makeup and clothes. This kind of ceremony has clearly won the Grammys a lot of viewers.

We do not yet have overseas figures, though, so the overall ratings are still unknown.

In the end, people like a Grammys full of song, dance and laughter, and what they come to see are the big stars, which the Grammys happen to have in abundance. Hasn't it always been this way? Everyone knows how it goes, but as long as it is fun to watch, that is enough.

Here is the complete list of this year's Grammy winners:

GENERAL FIELD

  1. Record Of The Year: Mark Ronson Featuring Bruno Mars, "Uptown Funk"

  2. Album Of The Year: Taylor Swift, 1989

  3. Song Of The Year: Ed Sheeran, "Thinking Out Loud"

  4. Best New Artist: Meghan Trainor

POP FIELD

  1. Best Pop Solo Performance: Ed Sheeran, "Thinking Out Loud"

  2. Best Pop Duo/Group Performance: Mark Ronson Featuring Bruno Mars, "Uptown Funk"

  3. Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album: Tony Bennett & Bill Charlap, The Silver Lining: The Songs Of Jerome Kern

  4. Best Pop Vocal Album: Taylor Swift, 1989

DANCE FIELD

  1. Best Dance Recording: Skrillex And Diplo With Justin Bieber, "Where Are Ü Now"

  2. Best Dance/Electronica Album: Skrillex And Diplo, Skrillex And Diplo Present Jack Ü

  3. Best Contemporary Instrumental Album: Snarky Puppy & Metropole Orkest, Sylva

ROCK

  1. Best Rock Performance: Alabama Shakes

  2. Best Metal Performance: Ghost, "Cirice"

  3. Best Rock Song: Alabama Shakes, "Don't Wanna Fight"

  4. Best Rock Album: Muse, Drones

ALTERNATIVE

  1. Best Alternative Album: Alabama Shakes, Sound & Color

R&B FIELD

  1. Best R&B Performance: The Weeknd, "Earned It (Fifty Shades Of Grey)"

  2. Best Traditional R&B Performance: Lalah Hathaway, "Little Ghetto Boy"

  3. Best R&B Song: D'Angelo & Kendra Foster, "Really Love"

  4. Best Urban Contemporary Album: The Weeknd, Beauty Behind The Madness

  5. Best R&B Album: D'Angelo And The Vanguard, Black Messiah

RAP FIELD

  1. Best Rap Performance: Kendrick Lamar, "Alright"

  2. Best Rap/Sung Collaboration: Kendrick Lamar Featuring Bilal, Anna Wise & Thundercat, "These Walls"

  3. Best Rap Song: Kendrick Lamar, Kawan Prather, Mark Anthony Spears & Pharrell Williams, "Alright"

  4. Best Rap Album: Kendrick Lamar, To Pimp A Butterfly

COUNTRY FIELD

  1. Best Country Solo Performance: Chris Stapleton, "Traveller"

  2. Best Country Duo/Group Performance: Little Big Town, "Girl Crush"

  3. Best Country Song: Little Big Town, "Girl Crush"

  4. Best Country Album: Chris Stapleton, Traveller

NEW AGE

  1. Best New Age Album: Paul Avgerinos, Grace

JAZZ FIELD

  1. Best Improvised Jazz Solo: Christian McBride, soloist, "Cherokee"

  2. Best Jazz Vocal Album: Cécile McLorin Salvant, For One To Love

  3. Best Jazz Instrumental Album: John Scofield, Past Present

  4. Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album: Maria Schneider Orchestra, The Thompson Fields

  5. Best Latin Jazz Album: Eliane Elias, Made In Brazil

GOSPEL/CONTEMPORARY CHRISTIAN MUSIC FIELD

  1. Best Gospel Song: Kirk Franklin, "Wanna Be Happy?"

  2. Best Gospel/Contemporary Christian Music Performance: Francesca Battistelli, "Holy Spirit"

  3. Best Gospel Album: Israel & NewBreed, Covered: Alive In Asia [Live]

  4. Best Contemporary Christian Music Album: Tobymac, This Is Not A Test

  5. Best Roots Gospel Album: The Fairfield Four, Still Rockin' My Soul

LATIN FIELD

  1. Best Latin Pop Album: Ricky Martin, A Quien Quiera Escuchar (Deluxe Edition)

  2. Best Latin Rock, Urban or Alternative Album (tie): Natalia Lafourcade, Hasta La Raíz, and Pitbull, Dale

  3. Best Regional Mexican Music Album (Including Tejano): Los Tigres Del Norte, Realidades - Deluxe Edition

  4. Best Tropical Latin Album: Rubén Blades With Roberto Delgado & Orchestra, Son De Panamá

AMERICAN ROOTS FIELD

  1. Best American Roots Performance: Mavis Staples, "See That My Grave Is Kept Clean"

  2. Best American Roots Song: Jason Isbell, "24 Frames"

  3. Best Americana Album: Jason Isbell, Something More Than Free

  4. Best Bluegrass Album: The Steeldrivers, The Muscle Shoals Recordings

  5. Best Blues Album: Buddy Guy, Born To Play Guitar

  6. Best Folk Album: Béla Fleck & Abigail Washburn, Béla Fleck And Abigail Washburn

  7. Best Regional Roots Music Album: Jon Cleary, Go Go Juice

REGGAE

  1. Best Reggae Album: Morgan Heritage, Strictly Roots

WORLD MUSIC

  1. Best World Music Album: Angelique Kidjo, Sings

CHILDREN'S

  1. Best Children's Album: Tim Kubart, Home

SPOKEN WORD

  1. Best Spoken Word Album: Jimmy Carter, A Full Life: Reflections at Ninety

COMEDY

  1. Best Comedy Album: Louis C.K., Live At Madison Square Garden

MUSICAL THEATER

  1. Best Musical Theater Album: Hamilton

MUSIC FOR VISUAL MEDIA

  1. Best Compilation Soundtrack For Visual Media: (Various Artists) Glen Campbell: I'll Be Me

  2. Best Score Soundtrack For Visual Media: Birdman

  3. Best Song Written For Visual Media: Lonnie Lynn, Che Smith & John Stephens, "Glory"

  4. Best Instrumental Composition: Arturo O'Farrill, The Afro Latin Jazz Suite

  5. Best Arrangement, Instrumental or a Cappella: Ben Bram, Mitch Grassi, Scott Hoying, Avi Kaplan, Kirstin Maldonado & Kevin Olusola, "Dance Of The Sugar Plum Fairy"

  6. Best Arrangement, Instruments and Vocals: Maria Schneider, "Sue (Or In A Season Of Crime)"

PACKAGE

  1. Best Recording Package: Still The King: Celebrating The Music Of Bob Wills And His Texas Playboys

  2. Best Boxed Or Special Limited Edition Package: The Rise & Fall Of Paramount Records, Volume Two (1928-32)

  3. Best Album Notes: Love Has Many Faces: A Quartet, A Ballet, Waiting To Be Danced

  4. Best Historical Album: The Basement Tapes Complete: The Bootleg Series Vol. 11

  5. Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical: Shawn Everett, Sound & Color

  6. Producer Of The Year, Non-Classical: Jeff Bhasker

  7. Best Remixed Recording - Non-Classical: Dave Audé, "Uptown Funk (Dave Audé Remix)"

  8. Best Surround Sound Album: Amused To Death

  9. Best Engineered Album, Classical: Leslie Ann Jones, John Kilgore, Nora Kroll-Rosenbaum & Justin Merrill, engineers; Patricia Sullivan, Ask Your Mama

  10. Producer Of The Year, Classical: Judith Sherman

  11. Best Orchestral Performance: Andris Nelsons, Shostakovich: Under Stalin's Shadow - Symphony No. 10

  12. Best Opera Recording: Ravel: L'Enfant Et Les Sortilèges; Shéhérazade

  13. Best Choral Performance: Rachmaninoff: All-Night Vigil

  14. Best Chamber Music/Small Ensemble Performance: Eighth Blackbird, Filament

  15. Best Classical Instrumental Solo: Dutilleux: Violin Concerto, L'Arbre Des Songes

  16. Best Classical Vocal Solo: Joyce & Tony - Live From Wigmore Hall

  17. Best Classical Compendium: Paulus: Three Places Of Enlightenment; Veil Of Tears & Grand Concerto

  18. Best Contemporary Classical Composition: Paulus: Prayers & Remembrances

MUSIC VIDEO/FILM

  1. Best Music Video: Taylor Swift Featuring Kendrick Lamar, "Bad Blood"

  2. Best Music Film: Amy (Amy Winehouse)

Cover image: Sina

Translated from the original QDaily article. Original publication date retained.