By Chiara Piacentini
Staff Writer
Just like any other year, the 2024 Grammy Awards met our expectations without fail. The Feb. 4 event, hosted by former “Daily Show” host Trevor Noah, featured performances by Billie Eilish, Miley Cyrus, Dua Lipa, Travis Scott and more in the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles.
An astounding 94 trophies across 94 categories were awarded that night. There were also three new categories that debuted this year: Best African Music Performance, Best Alternative Jazz Album and Best Pop Dance Recording. SZA earned the most award nominations for this year’s ceremony for a total of nine nominations.
It came as no surprise that Taylor Swift set a record by winning Album of the Year for the fourth time. She also used this moment to announce her new album, “The Tortured Poets Department,” which some speculate is throwing shade at her ex-boyfriend, Joe Alwyn, because he had a groupchat with a similar name, “The Tortured Man Club.”
Unlike Swift, who, according to Slate, got a bad rap by making the awards ceremony about herself, SZA rocked her awards speech when she won best R&B song award for “Snooze” and best pop/duo group performance for “Ghost in the Machine.” Instead of starting off with a well-rehearsed speech, she rushed on stage, breathless.
“I was changing, and then I took a shot and I ran here,” she said. She started to get emotional, at one point interrupting herself mid-sentence to say what would become a core memory of the night. “I’m not an attractive crier — have a good evening!”
Not to be outdone, Miley Cyrus made her mark when she performed “Flowers” clad in a risqué outfit and bouffant hairstyle that resembled Cher. This song helped her earn her two first-ever Grammys, which were best pop solo performance and Record of the Year.
On the other hand, Travis Scott’s renditions of “My Eyes,” “I Know,” and “Fe!n” with Playboi Carti were not well-received. The performance’s climax was especially weird and violent when the stage was set aflame and some folding chairs were smashed. Scott also appeared to complain about losing the Grammy for best rap album, considering that he inserted the line, “They slept on me ten times” while singing “Fe!n.”
Scott is not alone though, as U2’s televised performance didn’t go down well either. The clip was meant to showcase the inside of the $2.3 billion Las Vegas Sphere, but the camera was far from doing its inner beauty justice. While the director tried to compensate by giving an endlessly sweeping view of the arena, it left the audience constantly disoriented and borderline vertiginous.
To end on a good note, Celine Dion made a surprise appearance despite her ongoing battle with stiff person syndrome. This neurological disease forced her out of the spotlight so much so that she had no choice but to cancel her 2023-2024 Courage World Tour. Dion entered the stage, decked out in a golden-brown coat, to talk about her 1997 win for “Falling Into You” and to announce Swift for her award.
While this year’s Grammys had its hiccups, there were just enough good and unique moments to make it a relative success.
