Roundtable: What’s your reaction to the grammy awards this year? 

Last week, the Recording Academy held the 67^th Annual Grammy Awards. As always, there was heated debate about the winners and losers, many great performances, some very weird fashion choices on the red carpet and so much more celebrity drama. So, for this week, the Opinion Section gives out their biggest reactions, surprises, and hot takes following one of pop culture’s biggest nights of the year. 

Patrick Minnerly, Weekly Columnist: 

This year’s Grammys paid a lot of attention to the devastating Los Angeles fires, so of course there would be some twists. It was certainly interesting to see Taylor Swift leave the Grammys empty-handed, but it was also completely justified, because to be honest “The Tortured Poets Department” didn’t resonate with me in the way her other albums have. Did Cowboy Carter deserve to win Album of the Year? Maybe not, but the win seemed to be the Academy’s way of apologizing to Beyonce for snubbing her so many times, so unfortunately everyone else was collateral damage. It was gratifying to see Chappell Roan get her flowers as Best New Artist, and for Sabrina Carpenter to win Best Pop Album. No comment about Kanye and his girlfriend Bianca Censori’s…groundbreaking…wardrobe choices.   

Amber Greene, Contributor 

For the first time in a while the Grammy’s gave awards to people who were doing something different and not what was popular and people did not like it. Album of the year was among of the heaviest contested winners with many on TikTok pointing out that Billie Eilish’s “HIT ME HARD AND SOFT” should have won over “Cowboy Carter”. The popularity of Eilish’s album had fans assuming she would win, however it was not completely out of the box for a pop singer, or even a Billie Eish album. “Cowboy Carter” was at the top of debates since the day it came out with people questioning if it was even country at all. This contest continued for months and for those who did not listen all the way through did not understand.   

Athena Brown, Contributor:  

Taylor Swift lost every single award and I am happy about it. Now I’m no Swift hater, but I also don’t love when another “Taylor’s version” comes out to knock a new artist off the charts or sweep another awards ceremony. Taylor is extremely talented, and her music wildly and rightfully popular, but she is also quite the crafty businessman. Her newest album felt cramped, and honestly undeserving of being called the best of any category. So, it made me happy to see artists like Doechii and Chappell Roan win their respective awards.  It is also so funny that Kendrick Lamar won so many awards for rap beef. Drake is never recovering from that. A MINOOOOOOOOOORRRRRR. 

Raegan Skelly, Contributor: 

I, for one, love award shows, and the Grammys are no different. I was elated to see Chappell Roan win Best New Artist and Sabrina Carpenter take home two awards. My main issues weren’t with who won what awards, but the ceremony itself. Only presenting 9 awards in a nearly 4-hour ceremony is ridiculous. The time periods between each award being presented felt like an eternity each time. I was also sad to see that Best Pop Solo Performance yet again fell into the pre-show ceremony; I would’ve loved to see Carpenter’s reaction to winning her first Grammy for “Espresso.” My main hope for next year’s Grammy ceremony is that they debut a new host, five times in a row for Trevor Noah is too many. An award show can only be dominated by a host when they are the highlight of the night, think of Ricky Gervais or Tina Fey and Amy Poehler at the Golden Globes. Trevor Noah just doesn’t command the stage in the slightest and I would love if he stopped begging me for money. 

Noa Climor, Social Media Outreach Coordinator 

Honestly, I was thrilled with the Grammy’s this year. Doechii, the third woman to win ‘Best Rap Album’ (the other two being Lauryn Hill and Cardi B), gave an incredibly powerful speech and one of the best performances that evening, cementing herself as a powerhouse of an artist and someone to keep an eye on. Chappell Roan, who won ‘Best New Artist,’ was genuinely one of my favorite artists this year, and I’m proud of her speech and how strong she was in delivering it, especially on this stage. “I told myself if I ever won a GRAMMY and I got to stand up here in front of the most powerful people in music,” she said, “I would demand that labels and the industry profiting millions of dollars off artists would offer a livable wage and healthcare, especially to developing artists.” She ended by saying, “Labels, we got you, but do you got us?”  I think Beyonce winning Album of the Year was justified, as she said in her speech, “It’s been many, many years.”