As the Staples Center packed its 18,118 capacity limit, the 55th Grammy Awards kicked off with six time Grammy winner Taylor Swift performing her hit single “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together.” Swift’s performance contained an Alice and Wonderland themed scenery with costumes to match.
“My favorite performance was Taylor Swift. I like how she did the ‘talking’ part of the song in a British accent. I think it was to mock Harry Styles of One Direction [her latest boyfriend],” senior Paige Britton said.
Host LL Cool J introduced what was to come for the night for performances and awards. This was Cool J’s second time hosting the Grammy Awards.
The show then turned to mid-crowd where UK rock artist Sir Elton John sat behind a piano and UK singer songwriter Ed Sheeran began singing his well known hit “The A-Team.” The song was nominated for Song of the Year, but fell short to Fun.’s “We Are Young.” The band Fun. also took home the award of Best New Artist, a category Sheeran was also nominated for.
Next we saw English artist Adele take home her seventh Grammy in two years for Best Pop Solo Performance. Following Adele’s win, the now two-time Grammy winners Fun. took the stage to play “Carry On,” where at a point in the song water came down on them to make the impression that it was raining. The center gave them a long standing ovation after their performance.
To change up the sound of the show, country stars Miranda Lambert and Dierks Bentley took on Miranda’s CMA Song of the Year “Over You,” slowly transitioning into Bentley’s song “Home.” With that country performance, the next award was Best Solo Country Performance, which went to Carrie Underwood. Being the only girl in the category along with Dierks Bentley, Eric Church, Ronnie Dunn, Hunter Hayes and Blake Shelton.
The next couple performances were filled with extreme talent with Mumford & Sons’ “I Will Wait,” who took home the most prestige award of the evening, Album of the Year. Following them was the return of the one and only Justin Timberlake. Introduced by Comedian Ellen DeGeneres and artist Beyonce, giving the audience a laugh.
“I loved Justin Timberlake’s performance, I love his singing and I’m so glad he’s writing music again. He’s just amazing,” junior Katlyn Pozdol said.
Next was Maroon 5 and Alicia Keys, singing Maroon 5’s song “Daylight,” and Keys’ song “Girl on Fire.” Before the next artists took the stage, Zac Brown Band was awarded Best Country Album with “Uncaged.”
“My least favorite performance was Carrie Underwood’s. She had a dress with weird holograms projected onto it, and I thought it took away from her performance,” junior Allie Vogus said. “ She is pretty enough and a good enough singer, so they should have just made it simpler.”
One of the most anticipated fan favorites of the show was the Tribute to Bob Marley. Marley’s own sons Damien and Ziggy Marley took on the challenge to sing their father’s song. Along with them were Rihanna, Bruno Mars and Sting.
“I also really liked The Lumineers, I wish they would have won Best New Artist. But they still had a great performance, and I think they’ll get really big soon,” Britton said.
With several more performances and awards throughout the night, to say the least, this was one of the best Grammy shows in a long time.
