Grammys Air Sunday After Being Delayed

After being delayed due to COVID concerns, the 63rd annual Grammys will kick off on March 14, 2021 on CBS, hosted by comedian Trevor Noah. The 2021 Grammys will have performances from big names like Taylor Swift, BTS, Dua Lipa, Billie Eilish and many more.

While some people are excited for the Grammys, others aren’t as excited.

“I don’t think the Grammys really mean anything, and I haven’t watched it in many years. I really don’t watch any award shows,” said English teacher Jeff Church.

The 2020 Grammys were supposed to take place on Jan. 31 but were canceled due to COVID-19. The new ceremony will take place at the Los Angeles Convention Center without an audience. While Trevor Noah and some live performances will take place, some performances will be pre-recorded and aired during the show.

Performers and presenters will be tested for COVID prior to attending and they must social distance and use PPE. Also, unlike previous years, no eating or drinking will be allowed.

The Grammys are awarded to artists for any recordings between Sept. 1, 2019 to Aug. 31, 2020. They will go over all 83 categories and give awards throughout the night.

This year, the top nominated artists are Lizzo, Billie Eilish, Lil Nas X, Ariana Grande, H.E.R., and FINNEAS. Billie Eilish and Lizzo have been nominated for all General Field categories; Record of the Year, Album of the Year, Song of the year, and Best New Artist. Singer Rosalia, who is in contention for Best New Artist is also the first Grammy nominated singer to sing only Spanish.

Freshman Henry Reeves, who will be watching the Grammys, said, “I’d like ‘The Bigger Picture’ to win Rap Song of the Year and Rap Performance of the year. Honestly, I think ‘The Bigger Picture’ and more songs by Lil Baby should be in contention for Song of the Year.”

Lil Baby is nominated for two Grammys and has tied Prince and Paul McCartney for Billboard Hot 100 hits.

The award nominees for best Record of the Year are Beyonce with “Black Parade”, Black Pumas with “Colors”, DaBaby and Roddy Ricch with “Rockstar”, Doja Cat with “Say So”, Billie Eilish with “everything i wanted”, Dua Lipa with “Don’t Start Now”, Post Malone with “Circles” and Megan the Stallion and Beyonce with “Savage”.

“For song of the year, I think “The Box” by Roddy Ricch should win. I also think rapper Polo G should be on the nomination list for Best Album and Best Song,” said Reeves.

Roddy Ricch is nominated for six awards tied with Taylor Swift and Dua Lipa. Only Beyoncé has more nominations with nine.

The Grammys will have performances by music artists from many different genres, countries and backgrounds. These include performances by Nigerian artist, Burna Boy, and Youtube star turned music artist, Poppy. This year, the Grammys will only allow presenters and performers to attend the award show in person but it will be broadcasted for everyone to see.

Freshman Elijah Vinson said he loves forward to watching “Lil Baby perform. His music is amazing. I would also love to watch Billie Eilish perform because her personality is a vibe.”

Of course with award shows comes conspiracy. Some people feel award shows are negligible, and some artists feel like they have been snubbed or ignored for selection. A notable artist who feels this way is The Weeknd. His album After Hours peaked at #1 on the charts from major countries like the United States and Britain, and went 2x Platinum in the United States, and Platinum in Canada.

“Popular musicians are already all over the media, and the Grammys is just another platform for them. You can see that by the limited number of people who are nominated. For ‘Album of the Year,’ or ‘Record of the Year,’ or ‘Song of the Year,’ etc., etc. etc. it’s the same people,” said Church.

Despite the controversy, the 2021 Grammys should be exciting to watch, and hopefully the artists that deserve awards the most get their win. The Grammys air March 14, at 7:00 p.m. on CBS.