With the tragic death of famous vocalist, Whitney Houston, it made for more of a difficult night for LL Cool J to host than he could ever imagine.  Held at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California, the 54th Grammy awards had a wide array of positive and negative moments. These moments went down in history.

BEST MOMENTS:

Tribute to Whitney Houston– Jennifer Hudson’s cover of the moving song “I Will Always Love You” by Whitney Houston is a must-see.  This tribute was extremely appreciated because it was produced in such short notice. As hard as it is to be compared to someone with such incredible vocals like Whitney’s, Jennifer Hudson simply nailed it.

Bruno Mars’s 50’s performance– The talented young singer is known for his radio hits “Just The Way You Are,” “Grenade,” and “It Will Rain.”  No one knew he could pull out his rock style and do a full out split on stage.  With the background dancers, the rock and roll music, and the gold-colored jackets, this performance was strikingly unique.

Adele’s Perfection–  With six Grammy trophies, Adele was “rolling in the gold,” winning every category in which she was nominated.  Her “Someone Like You” performance was especially touching, proving her miraculous recovery from vocal cord surgery.  Her appropriate black dress emphasized her performance, keeping the audience focused on her singing.  With every note hit perfectly, Adele impressed millions.

 Rihanna and Coldplay– Rihanna’s decision to start her performance off with her most recent single “We Found Love” was smart.  Dressed in leather and lace, she had the place enlivened. Soon, Coldplay came onstage and they sang their radio duet, “Princess of China.”  Rihanna then left the stage and Coldplay had a solo performance, performing their song “Paradise”, with Chris Martin on vocals and playing the piano. The songs sounded almost identical to their respective studio versions.  This displayed their superior vocals, which is often all you need to satisfy an arena.

 WORST MOMENTS:

Bruce Springsteen’s Opening Act– The 62-year-old singer took the stage to start off the show.  Thinking he would increase the audiences enthusiasm, Bruce Springsteen shouted spontaneously  “Anyone alive out there?”  Obviously, after the tragic death of Whitney Houston, it made for an extremely awkward room, making viewers quiver.  Springsteen should stick to singing.

Dance Party– Chris Brown belting out the notes to “I Can Only Imagine” is comical, because he doesn’t actually sing.  His dancing skills are unbeatable, but it would be nice if he could put some voice into it.  David Guetta, an incredible DJ, did his job of energizing the crowd to end the show, and Lil Wayne assisted on bettering the performance with his big slippers, and colorful outfit, actually doing what he is known for, rapping.  No hard feelings against Chris Brown, but if he wants to be known as a singer, he should actually sing.

Roman Holiday–  Watching Nicki Minaj’s performance was tough.  It was like watching a musical of a horror film, but it was only 5 minutes. (Thank goodness.)  Her definition of creativity is scaring the American population.  The exorcism, the priests, the gown. It was all too much for an awards show, never mind a theater performance.  Nicki has talent.  Maybe some day, she’ll use it.

Mean– Taylor Swift sings her not-so-newly-released single “Mean.” The song was nominated for “Song of the Year”   To make her hillbilly-like performance, it was finished by her gazing out into the audience, shocked by the clapping.  If one has seen Taylor live, one should know she does that after almost every performance.  Most people aren’t falling for it anymore, knowing she does large arenas every night.  To make her appearance worse, her dress looked like it was bought at a second hand store.  It’s time for Taylor to hire someone else to dress her and let her know to cut the artificial smiles.  Be yourself, Taylor. That’s why people like you.