Grammy 2024: a triumph for Taylor Swift and pop feminism

The main awards of the ceremony went into women’s hands

The sixty-sixth Grammy Awards took place in Los Angeles. More records were broken, bold statements and intriguing announcements were made, dresses from pop divas tickled the nerves of the impressionable. But overall, nothing too unexpected happened.

Taylor Swift continues to collect awards and at the end of the Grammy Awards, she became the record holder for victories in the Album of the Year category. Now the singer has four such trophies, one more than former record holders Stevie Wonder, Paul Simon and Frank Sinatra. Is Taylor’s Midnights album as good as people say it is? Rather, the artist herself is unconditionally good, who became “Person of the Year” according to People magazine not so much for her music as for her brilliant victory in a business traditionally considered male.

Taylor conquered everyone with her world tour, changed the rules of relations with the industry by re-recording her albums and thus returning full rights to them, and put the middlemen in the film business on the shoulder when she decided to show a tour film by negotiating directly with theaters. In general, now she is a size and authority, so it is simply impossible to ignore her.

Victories in other key categories clearly hinted that this year’s Grammys are Women’s Day. Trophies for “Record of the Year” and “Best Pop Solo Performance” went to Miley Cyrus (as Flowers celebrated her), “Song of the Year” went to Billie Eilish for “What Was I Made For”, Victoria Monet was named “New Artist”, singer SZA became the heroine in the r’n’b nominations, and even in the rock section, the main attention was given to Boygenius, an indie trio that united the legendary Julien Baker, Phoebe Bridgers and Lucy Dacus.

The most striking moments of the ceremony are also associated with famous and very famous women. Olivia Rodrigo performs Vampire against the backdrop of streams of fake blood, Miley Cyrus rattles chains and sparkles in transparent dresses, Dua Lipa opens the event with a whirlwind show that further warms up passions for her upcoming album, 59-year-old Tracy Chapman and 80-year-old Joni Mitchell take the stage With a veteran yet astonishingly powerful performance, Celine Dion makes her first public appearance three years after she was diagnosed with an incurable neurological disease.

The main male performance looked rather ridiculous. Jay Z, receiving a special prize from Dr. Dree Global Impact Award, did not forget to mention the terrible injustice that haunts his wife Beyoncé. They say she has more than three dozen Grammys, more than everyone else here, but she was never awarded for “Album of the Year,” what an injustice. With such a speech, Jay Z once again reminded that there is nothing more pathetic than star complaints about insufficient attention.

Among the abundance of impressive concert numbers of the ceremony, a whole block stood out, which became a tribute to all the musicians who left last year. Stevie Wonder with a tribute to Tony Bennett, Annie Lennox in memory of Sinead O’Connor, Lenny Kravitz remembering the late godfather of black music Clarence Avant, Fantasia Barrino with Proud Mary in honor of Tina Turner. There was little chance of not shedding tears.

The high-tech noise and hubbub associated with U2’s performance. The Irish rock legends did not come to Los Angeles and went on air from Las Vegas, where they have been performing at the Sphere hall since the end of last year, pushing forward all the wildest ideas about a rock show. Their fresh single Atomic City thundered and sparkled, allowing you to keep your faith in rock and roll.

There were few scandals this time. Apparently, last year Madonna and Sam Smith more than exceeded the norm.