HOW SUCCESSFUL WAS THE LA FIRES TELETHON?
otherwise known as the 2025 Grammy Awards
GRAMMY’S RECAP
Was it just me or were the Grammy’s this past Sunday… good? Perhaps I was already in a benevolent mood, having spent the day celebrating my roommate’s birthday. Perhaps it was because I spent the entire broadcast in Hunter Harris’s infamous group chat, which crackled with the funniest people I’ve never met getting jokes off at the speed of light. Perhaps it was just a really good year for music and surprisingly, the Grammy’s were finally up to the task of honoring that. Whatever the reason, I had a time. I loved the Best New Artist medley that showcased all the nominees (and not just the obvious front-runners). What would I have done without the opportunity to make fun of the back-flipping Mormon or the white man that is apparently not Jelly Roll. What would the Grammy’s have done without another helping of Raye’s vocal acrobatics and Doechii’s incredibly fine-tuned artistry?
Was the Quincy Jones tribute cringe as hell? Yes. Was the award show itself entirely too long? Absolutely. But Kendrick swept every category he was nominated for and we got to watch all of Drake’s peers dance to the final nail in October’s Very Own’s coffin. And of course, we all bore witness to the Queen Mother, Beyonce Knowles Carter, First of Her Name, finally receive her due.
What didn’t I like? Trevor Noah has a very ingratiating hosting persona that I find offputting. I’ve long believed that comedians are not always funny people. Anyone can fine tune a joke. But breezy, off the cuff hilarity is another skill altogether, more nuanced and definitively lacking in some of your faces. Trevor Noah is not a funny person. And whoever was writing the jokes for the Grammy’s missed way more times than they hit.
It probably didn’t help that he was begging us for money nearly half the time he was onscreen. The fires that rocked LA and destroyed entire neighborhoods like the historically black Altadena were devastating, and it’s a testament to the town’s resilience that so many are coming together to help their neighbors in need. But it struck a discordant chord with me, seeing Noah stand in a room of some of the richest members of the impacted community and ask us for money. A nod or two to the QR code for donations is one thing, but it was starting to feel like we were watching a charity gala and not an awards show. Especially when only 9 of the over 100 categories were televised in the broadcast. But according to a representative of the Recording Academy who spoke with CNN, the broadcast raised about $9 million. So, what the hell do I know?
FALLOUT ZONE
I’ll be honest, when the camera landed on Billie Eilish’s tear-filled gaze as Beyonce went up to collect her well deserved and long overdue Album of the Year award for Cowboy Carter, I though that she (like me!!!) was overcome with emotion at finally seeing the Recording Academy get something right. It wasn’t until I logged into Twitter two days later that I learned her fan base was in an uproar, and the tears that I’d interpreted as solidarity were being interpreted by her stans as bitter disappointment. Apparently, on some corner of the internet far from mine, the general idea was that AOTY was Billie’s to lose.
Listen. I really don’t care what anyone has to say about this win. I’ve been Beyhive long enough to know acutely how it feels to watch your fave not get what you believe is rightfully theirs. But like… really? You thought Billie was going to take that category? I liked her album well enough, but between Sabrina, Chappell and the ever looming specter of Taylor Swift, Billie’s name was hardly a whisper in the back of my mind.
Unsurprisingly, her fandom is now being intolerably racist online. And to that I say: STAY MAD HOES HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHHHAHAHAHAHAHA
I was going to go on tear about the Current State of Things but I figured I’d save that for when I’m in a better frame of mind. What I will leave you with, is this video essay from Ezra Klein, a journalist and podcaster for the New York Times. It really helped me focus my thoughts on what’s happening right now. There’s so much nonsense building on top of nonsense. It was nice to be reminded that there is still some sanity, however small, left.
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xx,
april