MARCH 2000 | VOL. 4, NO. 3



CURRENT

FEATURE
42nd Grammy Awards

RELATED ARTICLES
Lou Bega review

Limp Bizkit review

ALSO THIS MONTH
Dixie Dregs live show a portrait of high-end musicianship

LAST MONTH
Rick Danko of The Band lived his life to make music

Jethro Tull starts anew

Mary Lou Lord: Live at the Tune-In

ARCHIVES


Sound Bites

GRAMMY GOLD

Record Of The Year: "Smooth" - Santana Featuring Rob Thomas

Album Of The Year: "Supernatural" - Santana

Song Of The Year: "Smooth" - Rob Thomas

Best New Artist: Christina Aguilera

Female Pop: "I Will Remember You" - Sarah McLachlan

Male Pop: "Brand New Day" - Sting

Pop Group: "Maria Maria" - Santana

Pop Collaboration: "Smooth" - Santana Featuring Rob Thomas

Pop Instrumental: "El Farol" - Santana

Pop Dance: "Believe" - Cher

Pop Album: "Brand New Day" - Sting

Female Rock: "Sweet Child O' Mine" - Sheryl Crow

Male Rock: "American Woman" - Lenny Kravitz

Rock Group: "Put Your Lights" - On Santana Featuring Everlast

Hard Rock: "Whiskey In The Jar" - Metallica

Metal: "Iron Man" - Black Sabbath

Rock Instrumental: "The Calling" - Santana Featuring Eric Clapton

Best Rock Song: "Scar Tissue" - Red Hot Chili Peppers

Best Rock Album: "Supernatural" - Santana

Alternative Music: "Mutations" - Beck

Female R&B: "It's Not Right But It's Okay" - Whitney Houston

Male R&B: "Staying Power" - Barry White

R&B Group: "No Scrubs" - TLC

Best R&B Song: "No Scrubs" - TLC

Best R&B Album: "Fanmail" - TLC

Traditional R&B: "Staying Power" - Barry White

Rap Solo: "My Name Is" - Eminem

Rap Group: "You Got Me" - The Roots

Best Rap Album: "The Slim Shady LP" - Eminem

Female Country: "Man! I Feel Like A Woman!" - Shania Twain

Male Country: "Choices" - George Jones

Country Group: "Ready To Run" - Dixie Chicks

Best Country Song: "Come On Over" - Shania Twain

Best Country Album: "Fly" - Dixie Chicks

Contemporary Jazz: "Inside" - David Sanborn

Jazz Vocal: "When I Look In Your Eyes" - Diana Krall

Soundtrack: "Tarzan" - Phil Collins

[Grammy Nominees 2000 CD]



 

CD-NOW

A SHAM OF AN AWARDS SHOW
[ 1, 2 ]

Cher and Barry White, who both reached their height of success in the '70s, received their first Grammys from the committee this year. Sorry guys, we were waiting to see if your careers would have legs. White actually won twice -- although I'm pretty certain that they just decided to include the Traditional R&B category to award some of the forgotten old-timers.

The biggest joke of them all -- other than Rosie -- was once again the Metal category (see previous paragraph for background). Black Sabbath won this Grammy for "Iron Man" off their live Reunion album. "Iron Man" was originally recorded by them in 1971, appearing on their Paranoid record. This was their first Grammy. Ever. Oddly the Grammys didn't feel the need to recognize the exact same song 29 years ago.

 
Grammy Nominees 2000
GRAMMY NOMINEES 2000
(BMG/RCA)
13 Tracks

BUY IT


Santana - Supernatural
SANTANA
Supernatural

(Arista)
13 Tracks | Running time: 69:04

Rating: A-
BUY IT

The committee has begun playing favorites in other categories as well. Both Shania Twain and the Dixie Chicks (harmless, pleasant performers) are destined for long careers filled with Grammy gold. Both artists took home two awards for the second year in a row -- in the exact same categories as last year. The Dixie Chicks may have spunk, but the lip-synched joke that they performed "live" wouldn't have won on MTV's "Say What Karaoke."

You may have noticed a few notable names missing from the winners circle, namely Britney Spears, Ricky Martin and the Backstreet Boys. They were probably equally as surprised. Martin lost out to Sting (normally a great performer, but disappointing on his winning Brand New World album) not once but twice in the Pop Vocals categories. In fact, the whole Latin contingent (Lou Bega, Martin, Marc Anthony) were swept by the former Police frontman. Spears (not to mention Macy Gray and Susan Tedeschi) lost to valley girl wannabe Christina Aguilera, who only has one song released, for Best New Artist. Aguilera played her airhead schtick perfectly as she accepted her trophy, tossing off brilliant sound bites like "Oh my God you guys" three times.

Note to Rosie: no one needed to see you attempting to dance like Spears following her (blatantly lip-synced) performance (the microphone goes in front of your mouth, not your eyes). And while we're at it, there's no need for you to attempt to sing like Whitney Houston either, if you could sing and were a decent performer you would be a nominee, not the host.

  Jennifer Lopez and David Duchovny at the Grammy Awards
UNDRESSED FOR SUCCESS Jennifer Lopez turned some heads when she wore her grandmother's porch table cloth as a "dress."

As far as the live aspect of the show went it can be summed up simply: Jennifer Lopez (right) and lip-synching. Everyone, I'm sure, has seen or at least heard about Jennifer Lopez' might-as-well-be-nude outfit. As the first presenter (with David Duchovny), she brought down the house with her trampy table cloth-like dress that covered just enough to remain legal. With his girlfriend dressing like that in public, maybe there's a reason why Sean "Puff Daddy" Combs carries around a gun as a fashion accessory.

Lip-synching was the point of order for most of the 16 "live" performances with Spears and the Dixie Chicks being the most obvious. Why even feature and advertise these performances if the artists aren't actually going to be doing anything other than smiling prettily into the camera and wiggling through choreographed dance moves? At least Santana's performance of "Smooth" was performed live, and the musicians actually looked like they were enjoying themselves, which was reflected in the music. Other notable non-lip-synched performances included the aforementioned Kid Rock, the Backstreet Boys with their a cappella tribute to past winners and a jazz quintet of very talented kids, who showed more skills than most of the nominees.

Well, at least the Grammy Awards are over for another 12 months. Music can return to its natural state and the committee can start their list of old overlooked artists for 2001. I'll be looking to the MTV music awards, which does a much better job of awarding the most deserving artists year after year. Geez, they even realize that music is taking a giant step towards change (a rock/rap hybrid) and award bands like Limp Bizkit and Korn. And they call themselves a music awards show.

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KEVIN RIDOLFI, a graphic designer and Web programmer from Pawtucket, Rhode Island, is the creator and editor of Renaissance Online Magazine.

PICTURES copyright © 2000 IBM and The Recording Academy.



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