Heart of the year – Newspaper Kommersant No. 22 (7467) dated 02/07/2023

The 65th Grammy Awards took place at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles. The Recording Academy of America has honored the writers and performers of works released between October 1, 2021 and September 30, 2022. At the end of the evening, Beyoncé became the record holder for the number of Grammys received during her career, but her colleagues surpassed her in the main categories. Tells Igor Gavrilov.

Throughout the Grammy ceremony in Los Angeles, its host Trevor Noah stressed that the main intrigue of the evening is whether Beyoncé will become the most titled person in Grammy history. Beyonce, whose album “Renaissance” was released in the summer of 2022, was nominated in nine categories, and it was enough for her to win in four to set an absolute record. Two of the necessary awards were presented to her even before the start of the television broadcast, at the so-called premiere ceremony, which took place in a nearby hall and was available to viewers on the Internet. Two more live.

In total, Beyoncé now has 32 Grammys in her collection.

Among other things, Beoyonce’s song “Break My Soul” won in the nomination “Best Dance/Electronic Recording” over the track “I’m Good (Blue)” by David Guetta and producer of Russian origin Timofey Reznikov. Nizhny Novgorod pianist Daniil Trifonov, nominated in the nomination “Best Classical Instrumental Solo Recording” for the album “Bach: The Art Of Life”, was also left without an award.

Along with Beyoncé’s record, which has already become part of the history of the music industry, it is worth noting the victory of Sam Smith and Kim Petras with the song “Unholy” in the nomination “Best Pop Duo/Group Performance”. Sam Smith and Kim Petras performed the song at the ceremony at the Crypto.com Arena, celebrating the first ever Grammy for a trans person in this category. The award was presented to Sam Smith and Kim Petras by Madonna.

Beyoncé’s record doesn’t mean that she won the general fields, the top four most prestigious nominations, which include Record of the Year, Song of the Year, Album of the Year and Best New Artist. On the contrary, here she lost to everyone.

In general, the results in the general fields have become a disappointment for fans of many nominees and a reminder that the Grammy is not a “people’s” award, it is awarded by industry professionals, guided by their own considerations.

So, “Record of the Year” – Lizzo’s “About Damn Time” The American singer won here against ABBA who returned to the stage, as well as Adele, Beyoncé, Kendrick Lamar and Harry Styles. Styles took his to the nomination “Album of the Year” (“Harry’s House”), beating ABBA, Adele, Coldplay, Lizzo and Kendrick Lamar along with Beyoncé.

“Best New Artist” – young jazz singer Samara Joy. In 2019, Ms. Joy won the Sarah Vaughn International Vocal Competition, and in 2021 Jazz Times magazine named her “Best New Artist”. At the end of 2022, she outperformed popular indie girl duo Wet Leg, Brazilian social media star Anitta and Europe’s favorite band Maneskin, among others.

Finally, in the nomination “Song of the year” Beyoncé, like all the forwards of today’s music industry, lost the lead to singer and guitarist Bonnie Raitt. The award was presented to her by US First Lady Jill Biden.

You had to see Bonnie Raitt’s face in close-ups on the TV broadcast to believe that the award was as much of a surprise to her as it was to everyone in this room, on TV screens and monitors. She walked onto the stage and looked through the eyes of other nominees in the hall to express her respect and surprise to each of them. In her acceptance speech, Bonnie Raitt thanked everyone who supports her “type of songwriting.” This was appropriate, as most of the Grammy nominees and winners traditionally represent different varieties of the pop mainstream, and this year, as part of the ceremony, they staged a large-scale celebration of the 50th anniversary of hip-hop with the participation of stars of the genre from different years.

The Grammy-winning title track from “Just Like That” is a very standard Americana number that doesn’t even have a music video (there’s only lyric video). It’s a predictable “Dylan” string of verses (Raitt herself cites the late folk singer John Prine as her main source of inspiration), a simple human story, told slowly and full of empathy. “Just Like That” is about a man who meets a woman whose son becomes his heart donor. It is hardly possible to immediately remember when a song on such a topic took Grammy in the main nominations.

And another important point. The song “Just Like That” has only one author – Bonnie Raitt. While for other nominees, the author’s group, which includes a dozen writers and producers, is a common thing.

By giving the award to Bonnie Raitt, members of the American Recording Academy seemed to remind the world that a good song is basically something that happens in the soul of one person and can be told in simple words.

It is possible that the decision of the academicians was also influenced by criticism from journalists who believe that every year at the ceremony less and less attention is paid to country music. Strictly speaking, “Just Like That” is not country, but it definitely belongs in the category of award-winning music.