Music's Biggest Night- Grammy Awards 2011

I'm not going to go through every artist's performance, nominations or awards in this blog posting. I'm also not going to try to explain the difference between "Album of the Year" and "Record of the Year." However, I am going to tell you my views on the one performance I feel was over promised and under delivered, and my two favorite performances of the night. I'm trying to keep this short and sweet but would love to hear your comments about Music's Biggest Night. Feel free to comment on who you think were best and worst dressed. Don't even get me started on the outfits...


Lady Gaga showed up in an egg that apparently she had been incubating in for 72 hours. I was expecting great things from her. While I enjoyed her performance, I wasn't blown away. I like her newest single "Born This Way" despite the critiques saying that it sounds like Madonna's song. I can definitely understand the comparison to Madonna so I thought it was funny that in her acceptance speech she mentioned envisioning Whitney Houston when she was recording it. Whitney, no. Madonna, definitely. I'm not saying I don't think she deserved that award, I absolutely do. I'm saying that she didn't "wow" me as I was anticipating. I love Lady Gaga and her crazy, wacky performance art. I think the reason why I was disappointed in this Grammy performance was because she wasn't as "out there" as I had imagined. She was rather tame and I wasn't ready for it. Can't wait to see what she does next year.

"Last year she had an outfit of meat, this year she showed up in an egg....she is 'this' close away from being a Denny's grand slam breakfast!"- Courtesy of Click 98.9





As far as my favorite performances, Bruno Mars takes the cake. I thought Bruno Mars did a fabulous job. I loved the black and white theme and the way that he completely changed the song "Grenade." The sound was so fresh and his performance was just fun. Not to mention the other performers in the sequence, Janelle Monae and B.O.B., were also outstanding. I thought the performance was original, fresh and fun. I loved watching Bruno play keys, then sing and then play drums. He's a triple threat!





Runner up has got to be "Forget You" performed by Cee Lo Green and Gwyneth Paltrow. Only Cee Lo Green could dress up as a colorful chicken and make it look good. It just fits him. Gwenyth, stunning as always, wore all black with extremely high pumps and pink feather earrings for a splash of color. Man, that woman can sing! The reason why this performance was one of my favorites has got to be the puppets! The back up singers and the rest of the band were all puppets. Cee Lo stepped out of the box with this performance. Even though the puppets have absolutely nothing to do with the song, the originality and the spunk kept me entertained through the whole performance.




What were your favorite Grammy moments? What were your least favorite Grammy moments?

Music Is My Therapy

I feel like I have a therapist with me 24/7 because I can crank up the radio, turn on my iPod, log in to Pandora or listen to music on my phone anytime of day. I can't imagine going a day without music. I've always felt that music has healing powers but I decided to discuss it today because a well known non-profit (that I found out about through musicians wearing their merchandise and by going to shows) tweeted about this very subject.

To Write Love On Her Arms (TWLOHA) is "a non-profit movement dedicated to presenting hope and finding help for people struggling with depression, addiction, self-injury and suicide." The line in the blog that particularly caught my attention is "We believe music can help us find words when we feel there are none, and support us when we feel alone." You can check out the rest of the blog, and music selection at www.twloha.com or follow them on twitter @TWLOHA.

Sometimes I wonder if music controls my mood or if my mood controls the music I listen to. Really, it's a parody of the whole "chicken or the egg" question. Personally, I think it's a bit of both.

I'm about to let you in on a nerdy secret, but here it goes... I have play lists on my iPod called "Heart Broken" and "Girl Power!" When things go wrong in a relationship I allow myself to listen to the "Heart Broken" play list, but only for a week. I don't let myself listen to the music that keeps me in my wallowing state for long. Instead, I move on to my "Girl Power" play list which helps to get me out of my slump (and out of the ice cream bucket) and on to bigger and better things. It gives me the confidence and the boost I need, in order to realize it's not the end of the world.

With Valentine's Day approaching, I don't want to be heart broken, I want to feel powerful. Below are some songs off my list, along with their powerful lyrics.

Top picks on my "Girl Power" list:

Reba McEntire- Strange
"Strange. Talk about luck I woke up and the sun was shining. Strange. I ought to be in bed with my head in the pillow crying over us, but I ain't, ain't love strange?"

Jo Dee Messina- My Give a Damn's Busted
"I really wanna care. I wanna feel something. Let me dig a little deeper. No, sorry. Nothing."

Emerson Drive- Running Back to You
"And I know that giving in is easier than starting over again but don't expect to hear me call your name...Don't ask me where we went wrong, you were weak, baby, now I must be strong...I won't come running on back to you."

Finally, my absolute favorite song out right now is "A Little Bit Stronger" by Sarah Evans. It was also sung by Leighton Meester in the film "Country Strong" starring Gwyneth Paltrow and Tim McGraw. If I added my favorite lyrics from this song I would be copying and pasting the whole thing. I promise you won't be sorry if you watch it on YouTube.




Maybe you'll even get a little bit stronger...

What songs would you put on your "Girl Power" list? What song puts you in a good mood every time you hear it?