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Main >> Previous Updates >> February 2004 >> Article ID 3979
 Singers And Songs Rule On 'Almost Live' Grammy Telecast | Type: Internet Article |
| | Singers And Songs Rule On 'Almost Live' Grammy Telecast | Feb 09, 2004 | by Mike McDaniel
Beyoncé dominated. JT apologized. Christina worried about falling out of her dress. Janet was a no-show.
The best thing about Grammy 2004? The singers and the songs, performed "almost live" Sunday night at L.A.'s Staples Center.
Prince and Beyoncé with Purple Rain. Sting, Dave Matthews, Pharrell Williams and Vince Gill with a tribute to the Beatles. The Black Eyed Peas with Where Is the Love. Sting and Sean Paul with Roxanne.
Queen Latifah had it right.
"Sometimes it's not about celebrity, it's not about controversy, about gossip -- sometimes it's just about the music and the power of the human voice," she said while introducing Christina Aguilera, who performed Beautiful.
CBS allowed for a five-minute tape delay, a move the network made in response to the uproar over the Super Bowl XXXVIII halftime show. That fiasco -- which ended with Justin Timberlake baring Janet Jackson's right breast -- was the elephant in the hall.
Queen Latifah referred to it, and so did JT.
"I know it's been a rough week on everybody," said Timberlake, accepting the best male pop vocal Grammy for Cry Me A River. "And what occurred was unintentional, completely regrettable and I apologize if you guys were offended. This is officially the greatest moment of my life."
CBS released a statement, saying Timberlake and Jackson's appearances were linked to on-air apologies for what happened Feb. 1.
"CBS had serious reservations about their scheduled appearances," the statement said. "However, we respected the Recording Academy's wishes to produce the program they originally intended. Ms. Jackson and Mr. Timberlake were invited to participate in the show as long as they agreed to apologize on the air for what happened" during the Super Bowl halftime. "Ms. Jackson declined the invitation. Mr. Timberlake accepted."
Aguilera, meanwhile, risked having a Jackson-like moment of her own.
"I don't want the same thing that happened to Janet ... ," she said looking down, her breasts threatening to slip out of her low-slung dress. The CBS camera averted its eyes.
Jackson had been scheduled to attend, to introduce a tribute to Luther Vandross. But with Jackson not there, the duty instead fell to Patti LaBelle. Alicia Keys sang A House Is Not a Home, and Celine Dion performed Dance With My Father.
Considering the tape delay, it appeared odd that CBS didn't excise an audio snafu during Dion's moment on the stage. Then again, the delay was put into effect to censor off-color moments, and what happened wasn't off-color. Dion's microphone simply wasn't working, and someone backstage could be heard saying, "Should I take it up? Should I take it up?" Finally, someone in the CBS broadcast booth said yes, and an unidentified man appeared onstage and handed Dion a new mike.
Otherwise, the telecast went off without a hitch. And the music reigned, a rich mix of nostalgic and new.
Samuel Jackson introduced a "Funk Is Back" segment that spanned generations of talent, with Earth, Wind & Fire performing with OutKast's Big Boi, Robert Randolph & the Family Band. They, in turn, were followed by the rainbow-haired George Clinton & Parliament Funkadelic.
And Beyoncé performed Dangerously in Love 2 in an elaborate stage tableau that brought to mind a framed painting.
Nostalgia ruled at evening's end. There was a video salute to those who died in 2003, from June and Johnny Cash to Celia Cruz and Warren Zevon. It was followed by Zevon's Keep Me in Your Heart performed by several of his friends, including Jackson Browne.
And with that, the telecast almost died. It was three hours long and flailing after a long-winded sermon from a preachy Recording Academy member.
But -- hooray! -- OutKast resuscitated the evening with a raucously fun, over-the-top rendition of Hey Ya!, complete with dancing Indian maidens and, yes, a marching band. The energy was back, only to be punctuated moments later by the awarding of the night's final Grammy, Album of the Year.
OutKast, come and get it. |
 Source: Houston Chronicle | |
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