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Katy Perry

My First Time Encounter At The Electric Zoo Festival

by Ryan Shea

James Teal, Ryan Shea, Manhattan Digest, Electric Zoo Festival

Guest contributor- James Teal

My first encounter with the Electric Zoo Festival was on opening night of the three day electronic music festival- Friday, September 4, 2015. The theme of this year’s zoo was “Transformation” and they really did need a transformation after the backlash the festival received from the last two years after reports of multiple drug overdoses, including one death, and last year’s shut down on day 3 because, contrary to popular belief, the cause was lightning storms, not drug use.   This year saw an increase in overall security- in the crowds, by the bars, by the portable toilets, and especially at the front gate.

James Teal, Manhattan Digest, Electric Zoo Festival
Credit to: Jay Johnson

I was greeted by friendly people wearing their best smiles and their bright pink T-mobile shirts, one of this year’s festival sponsors.  Immediately after the friendly T-Mobile smiles came the search dogs and the legion of security guards at 2 checkpoints.   We stood in line for a good 15 minutes while dogs were forced to walk around us. After the awkward drug sniffing police dogs, came the harassing TSA–like pat-downs. A security guard asked if I had drugs and I responded “Nope, no drugs on me.” Then again with his finger in the air, security said “I’ll give you 1 last chance. Do you have any drugs?” This time I was more annoyed and said in a pointed tone “Do I look like I have any drugs on me!?”  He gave a half frown and rolled his eyes while he patted me down and let me go.  From that point on, the “Transformation” began.

We walked to the MasterCard hut (another sponsor of this year’s Electric Zoo) picked up VIP wristbands, and went straight into the hilltop arena where MasterCard holders had a VIP stage overlooking the entire arena with our own bar.  The MasterCard Hilltop Arena provided the best performances I saw the entire festival.

James Teal, Ryan Shea, Manhattan Digest, Electric Zoo Festival
Credit to: Jay Johnson

We started with Snails, a DJ from the Skrillex label OWSLA.  Snails’ set placed the performance level bar so high that the rest of the day we were looking for someone with even more energy to beat his performance.  One highlight from the Snails set was when the crowd exploded into fist-pumping cheers at his Backstreet Boys remix of “Everybody”. Snails manipulated the bass hook in the original song into a 2015 dance-floor ready dubstep anthem, unquestionably one of his specialties.

After the high energy of Snails, we were ready for a drink. The Electric Zoo Festival creators were smart to make wrist bands with RFID chips that hold money which you load at specific huts marked in the festival.  This year’s festival saw even more food vendors, including taco trucks and Jamaican patties (yum!).  However, to buy anything you MUST exchange your US Dollars for EZ Bucks (EZB) at an exchange rate of $2.22 USD for 1 EZB.  At that rate a 16 ounce can of beer costs 4.5 EZB (or $10 USD), and the tacos cost 2.5 EZB ($5.50 each). The high cost of food and drinks at music festivals is not anything new, but to the average drunk-twenty-something a taco worth 2.5 EZB looks more pleasing to the eye than a small taco for $5.5.  A very tricky, and very smart way of making us spend more money at the festival, not to mention it was fun to wave my wrist in front of the machine to pay for my food and drinks.  I might have to invest in one of those Apple Watches soon…

James Teal, Ryan Shea, Manhattan Digest, Electric Zoo Festival
Credit to: Jay Johnson

Festival highlights from the main stage included eclectic afternoon sets from Don Diablo, Slander, Audien, and the hyper-exciting high-energy 3LAU. These DJs mixed and mangled, twisted and re-tuned familiar popular music with new electronic drops, including original songs, which literally made all of our hearts jump with excitement and obviously faces melted.

Back in the Hilltop Arena, Keys N Krates left people in awe after their jaw dropping live trap music performance on stage with drums and synth/keyboard.  Keys N Krates is definitely a band worth catching live if you ever have the chance.  The Galantis set came right after Keys N Krates.

The one and only performance which stood out from the rest on opening night was the popular Swedish production duo Galantis.  The group, famous for their hit singles Runaway (U & I), You, and Peanut Butter Jelly, is comprised of Christian “Bloodshy” Karlsson and Linus Eklow aka Style of Eye.  Bloodshy is famous for his Grammy winning hits with artists like Britney Spears, JLo, Katy Perry, Kylie Minogue and Madonna. And his partner, Style of Eye, co-wrote Icona Pop’s “I Love It” ft. Charlie XCX. We stood under the hot sun, in the 80 degree tent, with crowds overflowing outside of the tent (a venue too small for the duo), when the lights went down and Galantis came out to the biggest crowd the MasterCard Hilltop Arena saw all weekend. We were lucky enough to beat the crowds to get on the VIP deck and watch the action unfold before our eyes.  Thirty minutes into the performance we were all dripping with sweat, and soaked!  The thousands of people under the tent jumped around, danced, and watched as the Swedish duo’s performance included a pair of drum high-hats for each of them to bang on while they themselves jumped up and down and off of their turn tables.  Their music transitions were less seamless and more like a pre-selected playlist strung together with awkward modulations between the sets. The awkward modulations weren’t too obvious, but enough for me to mention and for a group who will probably make even bigger hits in the future, I’m curious to see how their live sets transform after this small and intimate performance at Electric Zoo.

James Teal, Manhattan Digest, Electric Zoo Festival
Credit to: James Teal

Most people will argue that EDM festivals are all the same and won’t matter who is on stage (because they all play the same music), but I am here to say those people are all wrong.  If they’ve been to the Electric Zoo Festival – Transformed they would have seen that not all DJs are one in the same.  Big-name, multi-day festivals around the world offer bigger stages and bigger crowds, while Electric Zoo focused on the smaller names, which allowed smaller stages, and in turn brought out smaller crowds. At the end of the day what every single festival does right is bring the right audience. Everyone shows excitement, dresses to impress, and shows the utmost respect for each other. The morning after opening night the intense sense of FOMO kicks in, and you absolutely must go back and experience day 2, and 3 just so you can say you saw it all. I can’t wait for the next festival.

For more info on Electric Zoo Festival, check out the official site.

Filed Under: ENTERTAINMENT, MUSIC Tagged With: 3LAU, Audien, Backstreet Boys, britney spears, Charlie XCX, Don Diablo, edm, Electric Zoo Festival, FOMO, Galantis, Icona Pop, James Teal, JLO, Katy Perry, Keys N Krates, Kylie Minogue, madonna, manhattan digest, ryan shea, Slander, Snails

2014 MTV Video Music Awards- Who Will Win

by Ryan Shea

MTV, Beyonce, Manhattan Digest

As sad as it is for me to say this, I was not invited to the 2014 MTV Video Music Awards that are happening tonight in Inglewood, California.  I repped Manhattan Digest to the fullest at last year’s show when they were held at Brooklyn’s very own Barclay Center, and gave us one of the most epic performances in VMA history- Miley Cyrus.  If you don’t know what happened then you have been living under a rock for the past year.  Needless to say, this year’s VMA’s is sure to be unpredictable and insane as it usually is.  The lineup of performances look sick, with the opening being pop divas Jessie J, Arianna Grande and hip-hop songstress Nicki Minaj doing their current top 10 single “Bang Bang”.  Other noteworthy performances of the night should be Taylor Swift, who will be performing her new hit “Shake It Off” from the much anticipated new album “1989” due out October 27th.  And of course, the lady of the night will be eight time nominee and already multiple VMA award winner Beyonce, who will be receiving the Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award later in the evening.  This award has been bestowed on several legends in the industry, from Madonna, Janet Jackson, The Rolling Stones and most recently pop pioneers Justin Timberlake and Britney Spears.  Should be a performance of epic madness and one that I cannot wait to see.

So let’s breakdown the other thing that people are there to see- who will win each category at the 2014 MTV Video Music Awards.  This year’s pack is stacked with some of the biggest artists and songs of the year, and is making it tough for this journalist to choose who will win and who should win.  It is still funny to me that MTV broadcasts something like this when I believe I was wearing JNCO Jeans the last time they actually aired a block of music videos, but it is the most highly anticipated award show of the season, so I can see why they keep it going each year.  Let’s breakdown each category, starting with the “Artist To Watch, Presented by Taco Bell”.

Artist to Watch, Presented By Taco Bell

5 Seconds Of Summer- “She Looks So Perfect”

Fifth Harmony- “Miss Moving On”

Sam Smith- “Stay With Me”

Schoolboy Q- “Man Of The Year”

Charli XCX- “Boom Clap”

Who Will Win- 5 Seconds Of Summer, Who Should Win- Sam Smith

5 Seconds Of Summer really came out of nowhere and has won the hearts of millions of adoring teens, who are the ones voting on this particular category for the most part.  They are One Direction with talent, drums and guitar for the most part, so I sure as heck see them easily winning this won as it is a fan based vote.  Fifth Harmony could’ve been a heavy contender for this if 5SOS wasn’t in it, but they won’t win this one.  Schoolboy Q is amazing, as well as Charli XCX’s song from “The fault In Our Stars” but not enough to garner this.  If Sam Smith doesn’t win this at the VMA’s, he sure as hell will win at the 2015 Grammys and several other prestigious awards.  His solo work this year on “Stay With Me” on top of his brilliant performances with other artists such as Disclosure and Naughty Boy prove what a threat this guy is to the industry, and I hope he gets some love on VMA night.

Best Rock Video-

Lorde- “Royals”

Linkin Park- “Until I’m Gone”

Imagine Dragons- “Demons”

Black Keys- “Fever”

Arctic Monkeys- “Do I Wanna Know?”

Who Will Win- Imagine Dragons.  Who Should Win- Black Keys.

Imagine Dragons have had a pretty awesome two years, and this was only the 2nd song released off of their amazing debut album.  “Royals” is not a rock song, so I don’t get why it is in this category.  Lorde has a better shot in other categories than this one, and sadly I don’t think Arctic Monkeys have a shot in this category either.  Black Keys should win as “Fever” is an amazing video, but no doubt Imagine Dragons will be the one taking this home tonight.

Best Pop Video-

Arianna Grande Featuring Iggy Azealea- “Problem”

Iggy Azalea Featuring Chari XCX- “Fancy”

Avicii Featuring Aloe Blacc- “Wake Me Up”

Jason DeRulo Featuring 2Chainz- “Talk Dirty”

Pharrell Williams- “Happy”

Who Will Win- Arianna Grande & Iggy.  Who Should Win- Pharrell.

This really has been the year for Arianna and Iggy, however I think because Arianna has a bigger tween and teen fanbase she should lock this one up.  “Wake Me Up” should be more in the clubland award than this one, and “Talk Dirty” just seems too urban for this as well, as is “Fancy”.  “Happy” is a freaking brilliant video that screams pop with a R&B flare, and should be the one to win in this.  But expect pop ingenue Arianna Grande to be leaving with not just one but a couple of VMA night.

Best Female Video-

Lorde- “Royals”

Beyonce- “Partition”

Arianna Grande Featuring Iggy Azalea- “Problem”

Iggy Azalea Featuring Charli XCX- “Fancy”

Katy Perry Featuring Juicy J- “Dark Horse”

Who Will Win- “Royals”.  Who Should Win- “Dark Horse/Partition”

I think “Royals”, even though it is quite simple, kept my focus a lot more than the colorful pops that Iggy and Arianne presented in each of their videos, and the song is better than both so based off that it will and maybe should win.  I loved the video for “Dark Horse” as Katy keeps bringing us really unique and out there videos that she has done so well over the years.  “Partition” isn’t the best video from the Beyonce album, but the look and feel of it should really make her a good contender for this category tonight.

Best Male Video-

Ed Sheeran Featuring Pharrell Williams- “Sing”

Sam Smith- “Stay With Me”

John Legend- “All Of Me”

Eminem Featuring Rihanna- “Monster”

Pharrell Williams- “Happy”

Who Will Win- Ed Sheeran.  Who Should Win- All of them (Minus John Legend).

This is quite possibly the strongest category of the bunch this year, as all videos and songs are incredible in their own unique ways.  John’s song is amazing and is this generation’s new wedding song, however the video was basic and more of wedding video than an actual music video.  I happen to love Ed Sheeran’s vocals and video for “Sing” so that gets my vote easily.  I wouldn’t mind multiple VMA winner Eminem winning this for old times sake, however I think this is Ed’s to lose.

Best Hip-Hop Video-

Childish Gambino- “3005”

Drake Featuring Majid Jordan- “Hold On (We’re Going Home)”

Eminem- “Berserk”

Kanye West- “Black Skinhead”

Wiz Khalifa- “We Dem Boyz”

Who Will Win- Drake.  Who should win-  All of them.

Another really amazing category.  I have to say Drake will win just based off of how popular the video and song was, however Eminem might be knocking at Drake’s door for this so don’t be surprised if he pulls an upset.  Kanye’s video is one of his best ever with his own social message that makes this video and song one of the standouts off of his last album.  Wiz hasn’t really had the biggest success since “Black & Yellow”  however “We Dem Boyz” is a great video and keeps his street hustle going in the hip-hop game.  Childish Gambino deserves a lot more success than then man is given, and I am super pumped the “3005” got the nod this year.

Video Of The Year-

Sia- “Chandelier”

Pharrell Williams- “Happy”

Miley Cyrus- “Wrecking Ball”

Beyonce Featuring Jay-Z- “Drunk In Love”

Iggy Azalea Featuring Charli XCX- “Fancy”

Who Will Win- Miley or Beyonce.  Who should win- SIA!!!!!!!!!!!!!

“Chandelier” is such an AMAZING song and video that I really just want to see Sia make a public appearance and win this.  She’s like the female Daft Punk, you really never see her so I think it would make an AWESOME VMA moment if she won.  I don’t get why Iggy is in this, the video is great but not at this level, she’s too new.  As much as “Wrecking Ball” is a great video it is more 2013 than 2014, so I don’t think it deserves to win this.  “Happy” is amazing, but I fear Pharrell may be shut out due to the younger demographic.  Seeing as this is Beyonce’s night, expect her to win her second Video Of The Year trophy (done once before for “Single Ladies” back in 2009).  But this is quite the unpredictable category, so you never know.

Who do YOU think will win tonight?  Comment here and for a full list of nominees check out the official website for more info.

 

 

Filed Under: ENTERTAINMENT, MUSIC, TELEVISION, uncategorized Tagged With: 2014 mtv video music awards, 2chainz, 5 seconds of summer, arctic monkeys, arianna grande, Beyonce, black keys, boom clap, britney spears, Chandelier, chari xcx, childish gambino, drake, Ed Sheeran, eminem, fifth harmony, happy, iggy azalea, imagine dragons, janet jackson, jason derulo, jay-z, john legend, justin timberlake, Katy Perry, linkin park, lorde, madonna, michael jackson, miley cyrus, pharell williams, pharrell, Rihanna, sam smith, schoolboy q, Sia, stay with me, Taylor Swift, video music award, video music awards, vma, VMA's, Wiz Khalifa

2014 Grammy Nominations- Shockers, Delights and Kendrick!

by Ryan Shea

The 2014 Grammy Nominations were announced live last night in Los Angeles at the annual “Grammy Nominations Special” they do each year, hosted by LL Cool J.  They had some pretty off the chain concerts from some of the biggest artists in the world, and it truly set the stage for a great night to come in February.  When I read the list of nominees this year, some I expected, some I was somewhat surprised on, and some I was insanely baffled that got left out.  Let’s break each category down and see what went right and what went really wrong.

Credit to: Mademonoire
Credit to: Mademonoire

Record Of They Year-

Lorde- “Royals”

Imagine Dragons- “Radioactive”

Robin Thicke Featuring TI & Pharrell Williams- “Blurred Lines”

Daft Punk Featuring Pharrell Williams- “Get Lucky”

Bruno Mars- “Locked Outta Heaven”

In my original prediction blog, I had four out of five right (Hooray for me) with Imagine Dragons as an “Honorable Mention” but definitely a contender.  Not surprised by any of these as they were all great nominees.  Justin could’ve made this category, but I will delve much further into that on the next one.  These five songs were really some of the biggest of the year, each of them representing a different genre of music in my opinion.  Lorde on that pop/alternative tip, Imagine Dragons are pure alternative, Robin Thicke as the R&B crooner, Daft Punk bringing in the EDM and Bruno Mars giving us straight soul.  This is going to be an interesting category of sorts because I don’t think there really is a clear cut winner here.  Moving along.

Credit to: Word Press
Credit to: Word Press

Album Of The Year-

Sara Bareilles- “The Blessed Unrest”

Daft Punk- “Random Access Memories”

Kendrick Lamar- “Good Kid, M.A.A.D. City”

Macklemore & Ryan Lewis- “The Heist”

Taylor Swift- “Red”

No Justin Timberlake in this category, I am beyond shocked about that.  I pegged “The 20/20 Experience” as winning this award beyond easily and I truthfully believe he was the biggest snub of the night.  Kind of sad when you have the biggest album of the year and you are left off such a crucial list.  I think Sara and Kendrick are the surprising nominees here, in a good way.  I thought Bruno Mars was a shoo in as well for “Unorthodox Jukebox” but I am somewhat glad to see him left off this list as I think Sara and Kendrick had stronger showings.  Not shocked by Macklemore, Taylor or Kendrick but for the sake of my sanity I pray that Taylor doesn’t win AOTY again because “Red” wasn’t really a strong showing.  It was a continuation of her last album, and I hope when she releases her new effort it has a bit of maturity to it.  This is a tough one to call right now, but if I had to be personal on this- KENDRICK.  Please.

Credit to: Replay The Track
Credit to: Replay The Track

Song Of The Year-

Pink & Nate Ruess- “Just Give Me A Reason”

Bruno Mars- “Locked Outta Heaven”

Katy Perry- “Roar”

Lorde- “Royals”

Macklemore & Ryan Lewis Featuring Mary Lambert- “Same Love”

In my original article, I had three out of five right (Pink, Macklemore, Lorde).  Katy Perry wasn’t really on my radar, and this was the category I thought Sara Bareilles had a chance at with “Brave”, which Katy insanely ripped off for “Roar”.  I actually had Drake in this category for “Hold On We’re Going Home”,  a song he didn’t even get nominated for this year.  That to me is frustrating, as it is one of the best tracks of 2013, and its the same sentiment I felt two years ago when his song with Rihanna “Take Care” got snubbed as well.  This is a pretty standard list, so nothing too surprising.  They could’ve given Miley something in the main categories, especially for the teen voters, and “Wrecking Ball” is in fact a very well written song.  That being said, “Same Love” has got my vote.  The lyrics are incredible and if there is one award Macklemore & Ryan Lewis should win it is this one folks.

Credit to: Fansided
Credit to: Fansided

Best New Artist-

James Blake

Kacey Musgraves

Macklemore & Ryan Lewis

Ed Sheeran

Kendrick Lamar

Two out of five in my original predictions, with Macklemore and Kendrick easily getting nominated.  The others, I don’t really know how I feel about it.  First off, where the heck is Imagine Dragons and Lorde on this?  Ed Sheeran has been around for a while, so I don’t get why he is nominated this year and not last year.  I am beyond floored that Florida Georgia Line didn’t get ANY nominations, and I thought that they would be the perennial country nominee as well over Kacey, but I am glad to see she got in here.  The shocker here is EDM producer James Blake, who is following similar pathways with EDM being recognized in the main categories as Skrillex earned a Best New Artist nod last year.  Fun! won this last year, something that I thought was completely shit as it should’ve been Frank Ocean, but this is a pretty strong group across the board.  Best New Artist has proven to be an award that is never really cut and dry, and many artists that have won in recent years are the one you least expect (Bon Iver over Nicki Minaj, Esperanza Spalding over Justin Bieber).  So James Blake really is the odd one out in this.  Macklemore really isn’t a new artist in my opinion because he has been around a lot longer than people think, so once again I would love for Kendrick to take this one home.  Country nominees never win this award, so it really comes down to Kendrick and Macklemore in my opinion.

Check out the official Grammy website for all the nominees and keep checking on Manhattan Digest for our official prediction blogs in all the categories for months to come.  Congrats to all the nominees, especially Kendrick and my homegirl Kathy Griffin who got a sixth nomination for Best Comedy Album! 🙂

 

Filed Under: BREAKING NEWS, ENTERTAINMENT, MUSIC Tagged With: 2014 grammys, bon iver, bruno mars, daft punk, esperanza spalding, Fun., grammy, grammy nominations, imagine dragons, jay-z, justin bieber, justin timberlake, kacey musgraves, Katy Perry, kendrick lamar, lorde, macklemore, miley cyrus, nate ruess, nicki minaj, pharrell williams, pink, radioactive, robin thicke, royals, ryan lewis, t.i., Taylor Swift

Fall Music 2013- It will be epic!!!

by Ryan Shea

Maybe it’s just me, but the music scene so far in 2013 has been pretty legit for the first time in a long time.  The summer alone has brought us some inescapable and funk’dafied jams from “Blurred Lines” to “Get Lucky” to “Summertime Sadness” to name a few.  It also brought us Miley Cyrus f***ing herself with a foam finger and wearing a Gaga latex rip off Sunday night.  I think I am going to vomit.  Regardless, with the fall season rapidly approaching it also is a reminder that some of the biggest names in music will be dropping their records in the upcoming months, thus making this guy here very excited for what is to come for 2013 and beyond.  Seeing as the VMA’s was a preview for some of the incredible music we are about the unveil in the upcoming months, one can only hope that it will segue into an amazing 2014.  Let’s start off with the news that got me insanely giddy.

Credit to: Rap-Up.com
Credit to: Rap-Up.com

Eminem- The Marshall Mathers 2. 

Eminem as far as I am concerned was MY GENERATION.  He was everything to so many of us growing up in the late 90’s and early 2000’s and has continued to be a dominating force not only in the hip-hop industry but in the music industry period.  At the Video Music Awards it was announced that his highly anticipated new album, the follow up to 2000’s “Marshall Mathers LP” will be dropped on November 5th and the first single off the album called “Berzerk” has already shot to number one in less than a day of it debuting on iTunes.  “Berzerk” is such an insane throw back for so many different reasons yet has a modern edge to it.  It also proves why he is the fucking man still practically fourteen years after his debut in 99.  Expect this album to do some severe damage on the charts and for him to educate a whole new generation of people on the school that is Eminem.

Credit to: Bop and Tiger Beat
Credit to: Bop and Tiger Beat

Katy Perry- Prism

Katy Perry has come quite a way since her days of kissing a girl (I never liked it personally.  Not her, kissing girls.)  Her last album “Teenage Dream” did the unthinkable in that she tied (and almost topped) Michael Jackson’s record of the most number one singles off of a single album (California Girls, title track, E.T., Last Friday Night, Firework) and received numerous awards and a pivotal nomination for “Album of the Year” at the Grammy’s.  Well after a semi-quiet year from her after the long haul of her sophomore album success, she has come back full throttle with the first single off of Prism called “Roar” which quickly debuted at number one on the iTunes charts and raced up to number two on the Billboard Charts (expect it to dethrone “Blurred Lines” this week).  The album “Prism” is set to hit shelves on October 22nd and the second single called “Dark Horse” is set to hit airwaves in a couple of weeks. “Blur” is a slower paced version of a lead off single than she normally does but somehow it works as she is very good at belting out a pop hit or two and this album will no doubt compete with Eminem and a couple others for the top spot in the fall.

Credit to: Idolator
Credit to: Idolator

 

Lady Gaga- Artpop

As much as I love Lady Gaga, and I really do, she needs this album to be freaking phenomenal compared to what I and many people think was a lackluster third effort with “Born This Way”.  That album just felt very rushed and ill planned and conceived as well as it didn’t really hold a candle to what “The Fame” and “The Fame Monster” really did.  “Artpop” is set to be released right before Thanksgiving on November 22nd and the leadoff single “Applause” really isn’t taking off like a lot of people thought it would.  The song debuted at number 6 on the Billboard Charts where as its biggest competitor “Roar” by Katy Perry debuted at number two instead.  She has an insane fan base so it is a given that this album will do well but I don’t think “Applause” was the right start off single.  Hopefully her follow up songs will prove why she is one of the best out there right now and a force to be reckoned with in the world of pop.

Credit to: Broadway World
Credit to: Broadway World

 

Justin Timberlake- The 20/20 Experience Part Two

What a comeback year this has been for the prince of pop ey?  Part one of “The 20/20 Experience” debuted at number one back in early 2013 with an impressive near million first week sales and nothing has stopped him since.  Things really took it to another level with his EPIC VMA performance on Sunday night which included a very abbreviated reunion of the band that made him famous in the first place, NSYNC.   He also was the recipient of two major awards that night, The Michael Jackson “Video Vanguard Award” and the ultimate- Video of the Year for his second single off “20/20” called “Mirrors”.  Well now expect to hear much more from Justin as part two of “20/20” is scheduled to be released on September 30th with the leadoff single “Take Back The Night” already released last month.  Hard to believe you can do two albums in one year, but then again this is a man we haven’t heard any new material from in 7 years, so bring it.

 

Filed Under: BREAKING NEWS, ENTERTAINMENT, MUSIC Tagged With: applause, berzerk, eminem, justin timberlake, Katy Perry, lady gag, lady gaga, michael jackson, miley cyrus, mtv, roar, vma

Chatty Talk with Elise

by Elise Pentz

Jonathan Taylor Thomas

Happy Hump Day, all!  Lets jump right in with some yummy news, shall we?!

 

Jonathan Taylor Thomas(you know who he is, cute boy from Home Improvement) may be returning to the small screen.. He guest starred on Tim Allan’s show ‘Last Man Standing’ & who wouldn’t want a gorgeous man like this back on the television?? Swoon!!

Jonathan Taylor Thomas
Credit to: fandncarpenter.blogspot.com

John Mayer & Katy Perry have called it quits, again after about 7 months! I’m sad for them, them seems so in love.. Maybe a little time apart will make third time, a charm?  We can hold out hope!

John Mayer
Credit to:justjared.com

Eli Manning & his gorgeous wife, Abby, are expecting their second child!  This baby has got some great genes & like their first baby, will be absolutely gorgeous, not to mention some football skills, if anything like all the other Manning men!  Congratulations Manning family!

Eli Manning
Credit to:nypost.com

Filed Under: BREAKING NEWS, ENTERTAINMENT, uncategorized Tagged With: Abby Manning, Baby, breakup, Eli Manning, Eli Manning baby, Home Improvement, John Mayer, Jonathan Taylor Thomas, Katy Perry, New York Giants, Splitsville

Boobs or Snooze; The 2013 Grammy Awards

by Ryan Shea

Katy Perry Grammys

This year’s Grammy awards brought out an array of fashion.  Despite CBS’s comical dress code, the stars still looked hot this year.  CBS sent a notice that the attendees of the Grammy awards should not wear anything revealing; no plunging necklines, side boobs, or butt views.  Although CBS tried to control the fashion, many artists clearly disregarded the networks warnings. This is the 2013 Grammy Fashion review.

One artist who visibly paid no attention to the dress code was Katy Perry.  Perry’s revealing mint green Gucci dress was skin tight and the peep hole at her chest was anything but censored.  Her cleavage was fully exposed!  The dress was unattractive and Katy Perry looked a little undone.  Not her best.

 

Katy Perry Grammys
Katy Perry at the 2013 Grammys

Another artist who ignored the no “bare skin’ rule was Kelly Rowland in Georges Chakra.  The fitted black gown was beautiful and had many, many revealing lines.  If she moved the wrong way all of her naughty parts would have been on display.  Thankfully there were no slips, but it was obvious Rowland was unfazed by the clothing regulations this year.

 

Kelly Rowland Grammys
Kelly Rowland at the 2013 Grammy’s

I have to admit I was slightly let down by the fashion at the Grammy’s this year.  Nothing really astounded me.  That being said, there were a few celebrities whose choice of dress was beautiful and warrants mentioning.

My best dressed this year goes to; Rihanna!

 

Rihanna Grammy's
Rihanna at the 2013 Grammy’s

I must admit I fully expected Rihanna to completely go against the dress code and shock us all, but she decided to keep it tasteful.  The singer rocked a dazzling red Azzedine Alaia gown, sheer panels’ criss-crossed over the chest and haltered on the neck.  The skirt was full and flowing chiffon.  She looked elegant and still made a statement.

Carrie Underwood looked striking last night.  She was put together from head to toe.  The strapless Roberto Cavalli gown hugged her curves and accentuated her toned arms.  The pattern on the dress was elegant and the beading on the skirt was breath taking.

 

Carrie Underwood Grammy's
Carrie Underwood at the 2013 Grammy awards

Faith Hill really surprised me this year.  The knee length frock she wore fit her perfectly and the sheer, embroidered top was lovely.  The lace jacquard on the skirt was so subtle you could barely see it.  This J. Mendel dress looked stunning on Faith Hill.

 

Faith Hill
Faith Hill at the Grammy Awards

And now for my favorite part of the Grammy’s… the WORST DRESSED.  The Grammy’s always brings out some of the most outrageously heinous fashions.  And, oh, they did not disappoint me this year!  I’ll try and narrow it down to my top 5 this year.

#5 – Jennifer Lopez

 

Jennifer Lopez Grammy
Jennifer Lopez at the Grammy’s

 

J.Lo’s dress looked like a hefty bag.  The cut out for her leg to stick through made no sense!

#4 – Nicole Kidman

 

Nicole Kidman Grammy's
Nicole Kidman at the 55th annual Grammy awards

Her dress aged her and the muted colors washed her out.

#3 – Adele

 

Adele Grammy's
Singer Adele at the 55th annual Grammy’s

I feel wretched naming Adele as one of my worst dressed, but the pregnant Grammy winner looked like she was wearing curtains!

#2 – Solange Knowles

 

Solange Knowles Grammy's
Beyonce’s little sister Solange

Beyonce’s younger sister looked like a cracked out Diana Ross.  The sparkly green dress was cheap looking and the orange heels were horrible.

#1 – Ashanti

 

Ashanti Grammy
Ashanti at the 2013 Grammy Awards

Ashanti’s floral dress was too revealing and looked cheap.

Lastly, I want to shout out a few of the men who rocked it last night…

 

Hunter Hayes
Country Cutie Hunter Hayes

Country cutie Hunter Hayes looked handsome in his Hugo Boss black suit.

Justin Timberlake in Tom Ford at the 2013 Grammy awards

 

Justin Timberlake rocked his Tom Ford suit and had all of us ladies swooning.

 

The fashion at the Grammy’s this year was toned down compared to previous years.  No one really amazed me.  I remember tuning into the Grammy’s and being dazzled by the unique costumes the musicians would adorn.  I look forward to the outrageous red carpet and can only hope that next year will be more eventful.

Filed Under: BREAKING NEWS, FASHION, MUSIC, OPINION, REVIEWS, STYLE, TELEVISION, U.S. Tagged With: 2013 grammy awards, 55th annual grammy awards, adele, Annual Grammy Awards, ashanti, best and worst dressed, Carrie Underwood, CBS, dress code, fashion, Fashion Reviews, grammy, grammy awards, Grammy Fashion, Grammy Winners, Grammys, Hunter Hayes, j.lo, Jennifer Lopez, justin timberlake, Katy Perry, kelly, Kelly Rowland, music, nicole kidman, red carpet, Rihanna, solange, solange knowles, television, The Grammy Awards, worst dressed

55th Annual Grammy Awards Live Coverage!

by Michael Tyminski

Source: Wikipedia

8pm Eastern Time tonight, CBS                  

CBS standards and practices is desperately trying to avoid a repeat of this (Photo Source: Wikipedia)
CBS standards and practices is desperately trying to avoid a repeat of this (Photo Source: Wikipedia)

7:30 pm Eastern: Good Evening! Welcome to what will be the first of many Manhattan Digest awards ceremony liveblogs! LL Cool J hosts the ceremony, which starts at 8 pm Eastern time on CBS. This should be an interesting evening tonight, with the Album of the Year award showing a surprisingly rock heavy slate with Mumford and Sons’ Babel, Fun.’s Some Nights, The Black Keys’ El Camino, and Jack White’s Blunderbuss, with Frank Ocean’s Channel Orange being the sole R&B outlier. Personally, I think that Babel and Channel Orange are the clear favorites, with Channel Orange being my pick to win the whole thing.

That being said, I’m here mostly to look at the show in terms of its’ presentation than to heavily critique the award choices themselves. The Grammy’s are known mostly for being the safest show on the February awards season, often only garnering attention for a killer performance (such as Elton John and Eminem’s killer performance of  “Stan” in 2001), or some truly horrendous fashion calls (see Jennifer Lopez’s infamous green dress from the 2000 show). The latter is under intense scrutiny this year, as earlier this week CBS standards and practices sent out a letter vilifying the use of thongs or costumes that allow for exposed “breasts and buttocks”, singling out that earth-shattering corrupter of morals: the thong. Needless to say, my gut instinct is telling me that someone is going to find a way to defy this (odds on favorite here? Rihanna).

I would love for tonight to be a dialogue as we all react to the show together (and get different opinions at the same time), so feel free to use the comments section below and get involved in the conversation! Stay tuned to Manhattan Digest for more updates as the ceremony unfolds!

 

Taylor Swift at the Grammy Red Carpet (Source Grammys.com)
Taylor Swift at the Grammy Red Carpet (Source Grammys.com)

7:45 p.m.: Some early updates from the red carpet. Generally speaking it looks like the artists are complying with the S+P guidelines, with only a handful of particularly deep plunging necklines (including Miranda Lambert and Ashanti). Similarly the men seem pretty buttoned up, with a surprisingly large number of skinny ties. I think Taylor Swift’s dress was pretty impressive from a fashion standpoint. Conversely, Adele’s floral print design leaves a lot to be desired.

For me though, the highlight of the red carpet was Jennifer Lopez’s angry shrieks of protest after Ryan Seacrest noted that her dress was skirting the lines of what CBS was allowing screaming “I’m just showing a little leg and a little shoulder!”.

 

7:57 p.m.: Three minutes to the curtain and a large number of the awards have been given off camera already. Notable award winners included Gotye (who won two awards including Best Alternative Music Album, and Best Duo/Group Pop Performance – the latter with Kimbra for “Somebody that I Used to Know”), Skrillex (who also wont two awards for Best Dance Album and Best Dance Recording both for Bangarang), Rihanna (for her video for “We Found Love”), and Taylor Swift (for Best Song Written for Visual Media ).

Additionally it was announced on the red carpet that Ms. Swift will be the opening performance tonight, so expect to see her on your TV screens sometime in the next few minutes.

8:15 PM: And on cue we open with a weird man on a bike with a torch to introduce Taylor Swift who opens the show with “We are Never (Getting Back Together)” in a very sideshow circus vibe that involved a boyfriend strapped to a carnival wheel, trapeze artists, fire spinners and a large amount of pyrotechnics. The performance itself was pretty mediocre in spite of the spectacle, but it seemed like a fine way to amp up the crowd for tonight’s show.

Afterwords, we see our first appearance of show host, LL Cool J. He devotes his somewhat meandering opening monologue discussing music as a vehicle for bringing people together before pitching it to Eddie Sheeran and Elton John to perform Sheeran’s song “A Team”. I love Elton John as much as anyone, but it seemed like he was off for most of the song and it adversely affected the vocal harmonies. I did enjoy the off in the crowd staging aspect that they used, as it seemed to highlight the “lighter song” vibe that one gets when listening to “A-team”.

Fun. Performing Carry On (Source Grammys.com)
Fun. Performing Carry On (Source Grammys.com)

8:27 PM: LL  Cool J asks us to use #Grammys when talking about tonight’s show before kicking it to J-Lo and Pitbull (with a split screen to the infamous green dress from 2000) with Pitbull fawning over J Lo before announcing the nominees for best solo pop performance:

The nominees are:
“Stronger” (Kelly Clarkson), “Set Fire to the Rain” (Adele), “Wide Awake” (Katy Perry), “Call Me Maybe” (Carly Rae Jespen) and “Where Have You Been?” (Rihanna)

AND THE WINNER: Set Fire to the Rain by Adele.

Adele gives a very brief speech (in which she called back to last year’s six wins) before Neil Patrick Harris enters to introduce Fun. (whom have six nominations this evening). Fun. then took the opportunity to play “Carry On.”, which started a little slow but picked up once the instruments kicked in. Once it built, we got a performance with a very strong cinematic vibe, including the obligatory downpour towards the end. One thing did bother me about the performance however, and that is why frontman Nate Ruess wore those Capris?

8:48 PM: Bonnie Raitt and John Mayer appear to introduce Miranda Lambert and Dierks Bentley. The duo play a couple of country tracks in “Over You” and “Home”. Their performance was perfectly fine and fairly low key compared to the immediately preceding performance before cutting to LL Cool J on American Bandstand in an awkward transition. LL then takes the opportunity to pay tribute to Dick Clark.

LL Cool J then makes an another abrupt transition, introducing Miguel and Wiz Khalifa, whom perform “Adorn” . The performance was sizzling, with Miguel showing off his pipes and performing the standard issue R and B theatrics. From there, our performer then announced the nominees for…wait for it…best country solo performance (because that made sense to me too right?)

The nominees for best country solo performance:
“Home” (Dierks Bentley), “Springsteen” (Eric Church), “Cost of Living” (Ronnie Dunn), “Wanted (Hunter Hayes), “Over (Blake Shelton), and “Blown Away” (Carrie Underwood)

AND THE WINNER IS: “Blown Away” by Carrie Underwood.

8:58 PM: LL Plugs social media again before telling everyone in the Northeast to stay warm and kicking it to Tim McGraw and Faith Hill, whom are presenting song of the year.

The nominees are: “Adorn” (Miguel), “The A-Team” (Ed Sheeran), “Call Me Maybe” (Carly Rae Jespen), “We are Young” (Fun. Feat Janelle Monae), and “Stronger” (Kelly Clarkson).

AND YOUR WINNER: “We Are Young” by (the now completely dry) Fun.

Nate Ruess gives a speech that has the first real crack of the night in “I don’t know what we’re thinking writing this chorus, now that we’re in HD and you can see our faces, we are clearly not young.”. They then thank Jay-Z (who mouths a “You’re Welcome” from the crowd) and Chick Corea before the orchestra kicks in to introduce Johnny Depp. I want them to win more awards now because they are clearly the only people so far who have not taken this awards show too seriously tonight.

Depp is there to introduce Mumford and Sons in 20 words or less. They play their hit “I will wait” in front of a large display of lights and had an excellent performance aside from some sound issues that seemed to keep the backing vocals from coming through, though the remainder of the sound was very impressive.

Justin Timberlake performs at the 2013 Grammy Awards (source: Grammys.com)
Justin Timberlake performs at the 2013 Grammy Awards (source: Grammys.com)

9:15 PM: We return to Ellen Degeneres and Beyonce (in a pantsuit tonight) whom do a shticky introuction for Justin Timberlake, whom is here to perform “Suit and Tie”. The screen goes black and white, which is probably not a right call because it makes Justin Timberlake look disturbingly like Rick Astley. Jay-Z then climbs on stage to perform his verse. The screen then goes color befor Justin does a new song with a full orchestra and band (Update: The song is titled “Pusher Love Girl”). All internet memes aside, the performance is excellent and realizing the irony in saying this about someone whose only a few years older than myself, he still clearly has it.

Following that performance, we next see presenters Kelly Rowland and Nas, whom announce the nominees for a new category: Best Urban Contemporary Album

Fortune (Chris Brown), Kaliedoscope Dream (Miguel), Channel Orange (Frank Ocean)

AND THE WINNER: Channel Orange by Frank Ocean

9:30 PM: 

During the commercial, we saw a hard release date for Justin Timberlake’s new album, which will drop on March 19th.

Dave Grohl and Pauley Perette (Abby from NCIS) whom are here to announce that Dan Auerbach won producer of the year earlier in the day, before presenting the award for best Rock Performance

“Hold On” (Alabama Shakes), “Lonely Boy” (The Black Keys), “Charlie Brown” (Coldplay), “I Will Wait”, (Mumford and Sons) and

“We take care of our own” (Bruce Springsteen).

AND THE WINNER: “Lonely Boy” by the Black Keys

Following that, Maroon 5 and Alicia Keys perform “Room on Fire” and “Daylight”. While Maroon 5’s performance of Daylight was fine, “Girl on Fire” felt a little flat at points. This was a bit troubling as if there are two vocal artists who not only can, but are expected to let their vocals soar, it’s Adam Levine and Alicia Keys.

Kaley Cuoco and Keith Urban next came out to introduce the award for “Best Pop Vocal Album”. The nominees were:

Stronger (Kelly Clarkson), Ceremonials (Florence and the Machine), Some Nights (Fun.). Overexposed (Maroon 5), and The Truth About Love (Pink).

AND THE WINNER: Stronger by Kelly Clarkson

Kelly comes up and wings an acceptance speech, where she mentions being “stuck to Miranda Lambert” and expressed interest in working with Miguel. It was truly spontaneous and very welcome in this very overstuffed and seemingly overscripted show.

9:55 PM:  After a performance from Rihanna that had shades of Adele’s performance of “Someone Like You” from last year, Carly Rae Jespen and Ne-Yo come out to present the award for best Rap/Sung collaboration

“Wild Ones” (Flo-Rida f. Sia), “Tonight” (John Legend f. Ludacris), “Cherry Wine ‘ (Nas f. Amy Winehouse), “Talk that Talk” (Rihanna f. Jay Z), and “No Church in the Wild” (Jay-Z/Kanye West feat. Frank Ocean and the Dream)

AND THE WINNER: No Church in the Wild by Jay-Z and Kanye West featuring Frank Ocean and the Dream.

In a classy move, Jay-Z gave most of the speech to Frank Ocean and the Dream, whom both give quick shout outs. Jay-Z on the other hand, simply thanks “The swap meet, because that’s where he (The Dream) got that hat.”

10:02 PM: The Lifetime Achievement award was announced with The Temptations, Carole King, Ravi Shankar, Patty Page, Glenn Gould, Charlie Haden, and Lightning Hopkins amongst the recipients.

After the break, Kat Dennings comes out to introduce the Black Keys, Dr. John, and the New Orleans Preservation Hall Band. All parties involved come out rocking, performing the Black Keys’ hit “Lonely Boy”. While I am typically not a fan of brass instruments in Rock Music. Adding to the proceedings was Dr. John, whom was dressed about as outlandishly as one could possibly be on a grammy stage, in full Hoodoo gear. It was a great performance, I do with it would have highlighted Dr. John a little more.
This was then followed up by Kelly Clarkson performing a medley including “Tennessee Waltz”, “Natural Woman”, in order to honor Patti Page and Carole King. This then segued into the nominations for best country album.

The nominees are: Uncaged (Zac Brown Band), Hunter Hayes (Hunter Hayes), Living for a Song: A Tribute to Hank Cochran (Jamey Johnson), For the Record (Miranda Lambert), The Time Jumpers (The Time Jumpers)

AND THE WINNER: The Zac Brown Band’s Uncaged.

Bruno Mars and Rihanna during the Bob Marley Tribute (Source Grammys.com)
Bruno Mars and Rihanna during the Bob Marley Tribute (Source Grammys.com)

10:13 PM:  We now get the Grammy’s tribute to Bob Marley with Bruno Mars, Sting, Damian and Ziggy Marley. The tribute started with Bruno Mars, who performed his hit single “Locked out of Heaven”. After the first chorus Sting came out in a fun moment as “Locked out of Heaven” is really Bruno Mars’ attempt at writing a police song. This then segued into The Police’s “Walking on the Moon”. This performance has been the best of the show so far, as Bruno hung out there with Sting and didn’t look out of place, though it looked like Sting initially hindered by the fact that “Locked out” was sped up.

Midway through the performance, Rihanna, Damian and Ziggy Marley came out and performed “Could You be Loved”. This actually created a largeness to the performance that made it feel more worthy of the Grammy stage, eclipsing even Rihanna’s prior appearance 15 minutes earlier.

10:30 PM: LL introduces The Lumineers, whom perform their hit single “Ho Hey”. The performance seemed perfectly servicable, and it seems like they have fixed the microphone problems from earlier. This then swept into Jack White’s performance of “Love Interruption”. After the completion of “Love Interruption.” Jack then exploded into “Freedom at 21”, giving the perfect loud kick after two quieter songs.

Katy Perry is now out to present the Best New Artist award. She marvels at the dedication it takes to get to that point before offering a little solace for those who didn’t win, saying: “I didn’t even get nominated for best new artist, but now I have my own eyelash line!”

The nominees are: Alabama Shakes, Fun., Hunter Hayes, The Lumineers, Frank Ocean

AND THE WINNER: Fun. (Fun has taken two Grammys tonight, I think they are now very much in the discussion for Album of the Year).

I think this one is a little bit of a shocker, I was pretty sure Frank Ocean was going to be a mortal lock for this one.

Hour three right now seems to have been a lot kinder to this show than the first two hours.

Carrie Underwood and her projection screen dress (Source: Grammys.com)
Carrie Underwood and her projection screen dress (Source: Grammys.com)

10:45 PM: And apparently I jinxed everyone (sorry!).

Hunter Hayes is out to sing (I wasn’t impressed, but I’m not a country guy) before introducing Carrie Underwood, who then sung two of her songs. Carrie’s vocals did not feel particularly impressive, but the lighting for this was particularly impressive as they used Carrie’s dress as a proxy for a projection screen, allowing for a neat visual that worked out superbly.

After this, Prince made a rare appearance to present Record of the Year, looking like a hybrid of Michael Jackson, Stevie Wonder, and Puff Daddy.

The Nominees are:
“Lonely Boy” (The Black Keys), “Stronger” (Kelly Clarkson), “We are Young” (Fun.),“Somebody That I Used to Know” (Gotye f. Kimbra), “Thinking About You” (Frank Ocean), “We are never ever Getting Back Together” (Taylor Swift).

AND THE WINNER: “Somebody That I used to Know” by Gotye f. Kimbra.

11:04 PM: We come back to “Take Five” (no introduction, but it’s one of my favorite Jazz songs of all time, so uh, I know it…and now you do too.) for what I’m assuming is the tribute to Dave Brubeck as performed by Chick Corea, Stanley Clarke, and Kenny Garrett.

Neal Portnow and Ryan Seacrest (who’s now the honorary chairman of the Grammy Foundation) are out to introduce Justin Timberlake. Mr. Timberlake comes out to shill for the Grammy Foundation and the new “music educator” award.

We now get the in Memorian Montage, which includes Dave Brubeck, Donna Summer, Andy Williams, Chuck Brown, Robin Gibb, Patti Page, Davy Jones , Dick Clark, Fontella Bass, Hal David, Marvin Hamlish, Richard Adler, Andy Griffith, Ravi Shankar, Adam Yauch (Adrock of the Beastie Boys), Levon Helm and others. Looking back at that last sentence, it seems like every genre of music took a heavy loss in 2012.

This then leads to a tribute to Levon Helm fronted by Elton John, Zac Brown, Mumford and Sons, T-Bone Burnett, Mavis Staples, Brittany Howard of Alabama Shakes as they played “The Weight”. This performance had a looser jam band performance due to the larger nature of this collaboration. Elton seemed a lot stronger in this performance than his earlier performance with Eddie Sheeran. This performance is easily in the upper echelon of performances tonight.

11:18 PM: We return to Juanes paying tribute to Elton John singing “Your Song” in English and Spanish in a very intimate acoustic vibe before kicking it to Frank Ocean, who’s performing his single “Forrest Gump”. They start with a cool visual effect where Frank is running on a video screen before completing his run up a hill to his keyboard in person. Frank wrenched a ton of emotion into this one and it created an excellent and haunting performance

We’re down to one last award, Album of the Year, and Adele is here to award it after making a quick crack about she got knocked up after winning Album of the Year last year.

The Nominees are:

El Camino (The Black Keys), Channel ORANGE (Frank Ocean), Blunderbuss (Jack White), Some Nights (Fun.),Babel (Mumford and Sons)

AND YOUR WINNER: Babel by Mumford and Sons.

A pretty deserving winner and one of my favorites from earlier. They managed to spread the love around somewhat with only Jack White not making the winner’s podium during the course of the show tonight.

11:42 PM: We’re down to the grand finale, a performance by LL Cool J, Chuck D, Tom Morello, Travis Barker, and DJ Z-Trip, whom performed “Whaddup”, which was a fun way to end the show if only because Chuck D’s voice IS rap to me, and LL was game. It was a pretty solid performance and I would kill to see the single, though it would not have killed CBS not to stick fee plugs in the middle of the song.

My Final Thoughts: This year’s Grammy ceremony felt a little overstuffed with tons of abrupt transitions and sequences and with a little bit of breathing room we could have cut some of the weaker performances (notably the lacking Maroon 5/Alicia Keys collaboration and Hunter Hayes’ introduction of an introduction). Additionally, at times the show had a somber, joyless feel at points during a night that should be the biggest party for the music industry of the year. That being said, what you expected to deliver did deliver (the Marley and Levon Helms’ tributes, as well your Album of the Year candidates’ performances), so check out those seven performances.

Also some enjoyable moments I didn’t get to point out amid the I Love Lucy Conveyor Belt pace of the show:

  • Taylor Swift was rocking out to EVERYTHING. I’m not sure why, but this is really amusing to me.
  • The full extent of Kelly Clarkson’s gushing about R+B artist Miguel
  • Once the show hit hour three and it slowed down a little bit, it seemed like the show was able to gel a little more as the orchestra wasn’t cutting off awards speeches at the 30 second mark as it did for Fun.’s first speech

Final Verdict: If you haven’t seen the whole show, it’s probably not worth watching all three hours. You owe it to yourself to YouTube up the Marley tribute though, and I would probably check out Fun.’s , Jack White’s, and the Black Keys’ performances as well. LL Cool J was passable as a host, but the role of host honestly felt superfluous with the rapid pace that the show took.

Filed Under: BREAKING NEWS, ENTERTAINMENT, MUSIC, OPINION, TELEVISION Tagged With: 55th Grammy Awards, Alicia Keys, Beyonce, Carrie Underwood, CBS, Ed Sheeran, Elton John, Faith Hill, Frank Ocean, Fun., Gotye, Hunter Hayes, Jack White, jay-z, Jennifer Lopez, justin timberlake, Kaley Cuoco, Katy Perry, Keith Urban, Kelly Clarkson, Live Coverage, LL Cool J, Maroon 5, Mumford and Sons, nas, Neal Patrick Harris, Pitbull, Taylor Swift, The Black Keys, The Lumineers, Tim McGraw, TV

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