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FEBRUARY 26, 2007 VOL. 20. NO 20 |
| The Magic of Grammy! Once again, America honours its music greats, showcasing new talents in the just- concluded annual Grammy Awards By Osamudiamen Ogbonmwan For Natalie Maines, Martie Maguire and Robison Emily, all members of the group, Dixie Chicks, the just- concluded 49th edition of the annual Grammy Awards which was held penultimate Sunday, February 11, was a veritable stepping stone to achieving the impossible, as they emerged the biggest winners, going away with five awards in all five categories they were nominated in. The Chicks, which got entangled in a controversy four years ago when lead singer, Natalie openly criticised President George Bush on the eve of the Iraq war, ironically had to pay dearly for the seeming indisscretion, as the sale of their record drastically reduced. But their last effort won them among the five awards, album of the year for Taking the Long Way, song of the year, and record of the year both for Not Ready to Make Nice. “I think people are using their freedom of speech with all these awards. We get the message,” Natalie said as she paid tribute to other nominees, with indirect acknowledgement that the group was being honoured as much for its stand, as its music. “I’m very humbled. We wouldn’t have made this album without everything we went through, so we have no regret.” The Source gathered that the group after being abandoned by country radio stations and pilloried by many fans announced that they don’t consider themselves country artists anymore, but incidentally, their other awards included best country performance by a duo or group, with vocal and best country album for Taking the Long Way. Also, Mary J. Blige, who led all nominees with eight Grammy nods, took home three awards, winning R&B performance of the year, R&B album of the year and R&B song of the year. In her acceptance speech, Blige outlined some personal problems which she had to overcome before recording her album, The Breakthrough. “This is a great night for me. Success exposes who you really are and I want to use this success to build bridges, not to burn them.” The Red hot Chili Peppers won four Grammys, for best rock song, best performance by a duo or group, with vocal both for Dani California, best rock album and best limited edition package for Stadium Arcadium. Carrie Underwood, a former “American Idol” (a musical competition) champion, picked up Grammys for best new artiste and best female country performance. John Mayer won best male Pop vocal performance and best Pop vocal album for his continuum album. On the other hand, 65-year-old Bob Dylan's Modern Times album was named Best contemporary/Americana album and also best solo rock performance. Gnarls Barkley won best urban/alternative performance and alternative music album. In addition, Tony Bennett and Stevie Wonder won the first award of the evening, a pop collaboration with vocals, For Once in My Life. “This is amazing moment for me. Its amaizing to know that I did this song when I was 17, a whole’nother way and to come back and do it with the greatTony Bennett,” said Wonder. Other Grammy winners included Ludacris, who won best rap album, Ike Turner, who won traditional blues album for Risin’ With the Blues and Yolanda Adams, for Gospel performance for her album Victory. Gospel song of the year was won by Kirk Franklin for Imagin Me and he also went away with contemporary R&B gospel album. The Grammy Awards are prizes given annually in the United States of America by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (NARAS), for excellence in the recording industry. The name is derived from an early phonograph called a gramophone. The Grammy Awards are presented in February for recordings released during the previous eligibility period, which runs from October 1st to September 30th. It recognise outstanding performances in various types of music including rock, folk, jazz, country, gospel, rhythm and blues, popular and classical. In addition, NARAS bestows honours for music videos, spoken-word recordings, motion album packaging and album notes and promising new artists, as well as for composition, musical arrangement, engineering and production. In the intervening years, while new categories are added, old categories are dropped as the industry changes and grows. NARAS was created in 1957 and the following year, it gave out the first Grammy Awards. In this year’s awards, there were 108 categories. Late in the show, James Brown, acclaimed god father of soul, who passed on last year, received a tribute with Christina Aguilera performed his (Brown’s) “It’s a Man’s Man’s Man's world. Though the show featured a medley with bright new stars such as John Mayer, John Legend and Corinne Bailey Rae, it relied heavily on the classics: Nominee, Lionel Richie, sang his 80’s hit “Hello” and Smokey Robinson sang the Motown classic The Tracks of My Tears, in a tribute to R&B. |
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