64th Annual Grammy Awards

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Olivia Rodrigo during one of her speeches.

The 64th Annual Grammy Awards ceremony was held at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas on April 3, 2022. It recognized the best recordings, compositions, and artists of the eligibility year.

Each year, record companies and academy members submit entries for consideration to become a nominee in one of the 84 music categories. This year there is a lot of controversy over not just music but outfits as well.

Alliyah Munoz, a 9th grader at Hidden Valley thinks the best and worst dresses were clear. “Justin Bieber was the worst dressed. His oversized tux and neon beanie was a style I don’t think belongs on a red carpet. But the best dressed was Dua Lipa. This year’s look is different from what we usually see from her. I think it met the expectations for class and elegance at the Grammys though.”

This year many new artists were introduced. The highest rising artist is Olivia Rodrigo. She was nominated for 7 awards and won 3. Winning best new artist, best pop vocal album for “Sour” and pop solo performance for her hit “Driver’s License”.

Alliyah says, “I think Olivia Rodrigo really deserves the awards she won. She is a great artist with songs that people can actually relate to. She has worked hard to get where she is even through all the hate she gets.”

Now even though many deserving artists won awards this year, not everyone has an opportunity to win Grammys due to the lack of categories. Because of the lack of a K-pop categories artists like BTS and Blackpink don’t have the same opportunities as other artists. Bill Freimuth, the chief awards officer at the Recording Academy, said that both he and the “community” find it hard to define Korean music enough from ordinary pop music to justify its own category.

Now even though there are no K-pop categories bands like BTS have other opportunities at the Grammys. Jayda Donahue, a 9th grader at HV thinks that “BTS should have won the best group performance. I am not a huge BTS lover, but I do like their performances and how entertaining it is.”

Even with major categories, like K-pop, missing they wanted to ensure music creators are voting in the categories in which they are most knowledgeable and qualified, the number of specific genre field categories in which Grammy Award Voters may vote has been reduced from 15 to 10.

There are a lot of disputes over if this was the right move or not. Jayda says that she doesn’t agree because it limits the different types of music and talent that can be shown in the music industry. “I don’t agree, I like more variety in music because people really have amazing talent in those extra categories but now people won’t be able to see that, and the artists won’t be awarded for their talent.”

Regardless, the Grammys are an amazing way to appreciate and acknowledge many artists and song writers for their talent and hard work.