Saving Country Music’s 2020 Grammy Awards LIVE Blog

Random Notes 134 Comments

Welcome ladies and gentlemen to the 2020 edition of the Saving Country Music Grammy Awards LIVE blog! For the next three hours or so, we’ll be following along with the live broadcast, sharing completely unscripted and off-the-cuff quips, criticisms, praises, and observations as the dog and pony show transpires on CBS.

Please understand this is all in good fun, and there will be dirty words and syntax errors as the presentation transpires.

If you want an update on what transpired during the Grammy Premier Ceremony where most of the country and Americana Awards were given out, CLICK HERE.

(All times CENTRAL time)

11:00 – Amid all the controversy leading up to the 2020 Grammy Awards, the artists, who understand more than many onlookers ever could just what these awards mean, came together, presented a generally positive message, and tried to unite people in a divided time. Aside from a few terse political statements from Gary Clark Jr. and a couple of others, the 2020 Grammy Awards were mostly about healing, and the music itself. Alicia Keys doesn’t deserve her own Grammy for hosting, she might deserve a Nobel Prize. Undoubtedly, she and many other performers were feeling the pressure to back out, and they stayed. Taylor Swift was the only one who decided to vacate due to the allegations from the suspended Grammy CEO Deborah Dugan that the Grammys are rigged and full of sexism, and it felt more like her loss than the Grammys.

Kobe Bryant’s death casted a pall on the awards as well. But ultimately it was the lack of engaging moments, and what seemed like an incredible amount of commercials that killed any flow the awards had. The Grammy Premier Ceremony was much more intriguing, and more and more each year seems to be the more interesting Grammy event to pay attention to.

Billie Eilish was the big winner, which means Lil Nas X wasn’t. This will likely lead to accusations of racism and homophobia in the Grammys, but it was the right decision. Lil Nas X has all the earmarks for a one hit wonder, while Billie Eilish, despite her somewhat simple approach, still speaks to something deeper. Lil Nas X did win an award earlier in the day, but didn’t wow Grammy voters when it came to the big awards.

10:40 – Well folks, that’s it for me. Thanks to everyone who followed along. I will compose some final thoughts and get out of here.

10:39 – The 2020 Grammy for Record of the Year goes to Billie Eilish for “Bad Guy,” again beating out Lil Nas X.

10:37 – The Billie Eilish monopoly has the side effect of locking out Lil Nas X from all the major awards. In the end, voters chose substance over hype.

10:35 – The 2020 Grammy for Album of the Year goes to Billie Eilish.

10:34 – Okay, Ken Ehrlich is great. Now hand out the rest of the awards and let’s go home. We all got shit to do.

10:31 – Hey, there The War and Treaty. Cool to see them get some face time.

10:30 – This Ken Ehrlich tribute feels a little schmaltzy.

10:27 – Billie Eilish was a pretty obvious pick for Best New Artist. Was hoping for Yola, but she was a big long shot. Pretty blown away Yola walks away 0 for 4. Thought this was going to be her night right beside Tanya Tucker.

10:26 – The 2020 Grammy Award for Best New Artist goes to Billie Eilish.

10:23 – The Grammy Awards also was do a better job with their In Memoriam segments than most, but I didn’t really see any country artists. Weren’t a lot of big names that passed away last year, but Earl Thomas Conley, Mac Wiseman, and others deserved a mention, unless I missed them.

10:19 – Bonnie only got like 30 seconds. But hey, John Prine got his face time, so it’s all good.

10:11 – Bonnie Raitt! Only 1 hour and 10 minutes, and 27 commercials since they first teased her.

10:04 – Dude, H.E.R. is a boss. She shredding harder there than Joe Perry did.

10:00 – I remember H.E.R. from last year’s Grammys. She was one of the better acts.

9:58 – Ozzy Osborne has no idea where the fuck he is right now.

9:57 – “Best Rap/Sung Performance”? Know a few country acts who most certainly qualify.

9:50 – 50 minutes ago I got excited when they teased Bonnie Raitt and Gary Clark Jr. 50 minutes later, they’re still teasing them. The Grammy Awards have become as tedious as the Oscars. Too many commercials.

9:47 – Brittany Howard! Thinks she’s having a tough time recapturing the original coolness and magic of The Alabama Shakes, but I still root for her.

9:45 – So Taylor Swift isn’t even there. There was a time where The Grammy Awards were everything she wanted.

Just in case you didn’t see the reports, she apparently canceled a surprise performance she had planned after all the behind-the-scenes controversy with the Grammy’s suspended CEO.

9:42 – Oh gosh. Don’t tell all the kids they can make a record in their bedroom and win Song of the Year. That’s how we got Walker Hayes and Little Nas X.

9:40 – The 2020 Grammy for Song of the Year goes to “Bad Guy” by Billie Eilish.

Tanya Tucker loses out, but had to be considered a long shot, and has received plenty of love today.

9:37 – Los Angeles must have more backup dancers than homeless.

9:34 – It appears Rosalia’s madre ran out of material for her Grammy garb when it got time to make the ass. Not entirely complaining, though.

9:32 – Diddy just got a shout out, even though he just railed on the Grammys for not supporting black artists.

9:28 – Dude seriously, at least 1/3rd of this thing has been commercials. CBS squeezing their money’s worth out of this. How do people ingest their entertainment like this?

9:26 – I’m getting chest pains just watching DJ Khalid prance around.

9:22 – Good stuff from Meek Mill tributing Nipsey Hussle. Do people really hear something like that, and then listen to Lil Nas X and see them in the same league?

9:21 – More John Prine face time as they run through the list of Lifetime Achievement winners this year after 7 minutes of commercials.

9:11 – Demi with that high note! Good recovery after she lost her composure at the beginning.

9:08 – Demi Lovato, Camilla Cabella, and Billie Eilish have been the highlights so far. People come to music to be inspired by watching people do things they can’t, and hear people express themselves in ways they wish they could.

9:05 – I just feel sick and a little dead inside from watching most of this stuff. What has happened to popular music? You used to have pop stars that could at least sing good, rock stars who would shred, hip-hop artists that had something to say. Now you have Tik-Tok performers who struggle to fill anything beyond 30 seconds. Just do a bunch of crazy shit on stage while a drum loop drones in the background and call it “music.” It’s completely uninspiring and basic. I refuse to be convinced music is evolving.

9:00 – Ooh, performance coming up for Bonnie Raitt and Gary Clark Jr. Something to look forward to.

8:58 – Future generations will give us all kinds of shit for this Lil Nas X guy. He’s a mullet on a pet rock.

8:55 – Wonder if Ellen can fly with those things …

8:54 – Like Tyler The Creator a lot more hearing him talking than performing. Probably the best acceptance speech so far.

8:52 – Best Rap Album goes to Brantley Gilber . .. . Tyler The Creator.

8:45 – Run DMC make it a little more interesting, but this still feels like your dad showing up to your favorite karaoke bar.

8:42 – I’m a product of the 80’s, and have some Aerosmith stuff in my file of guilty pleasures, but this performance feels very geriatric. Stiff.

8:38 – Everything I’ve seen from Billie Eilish heretofore has been a bunch of seizure-like histrionics busting through paper walls. That performance was a really good. Amazing how just writing and performing a good song and distinguish you today with so much plastic crap.

8:36 – I tend to like popsicles that are the color of Billie Eilish’s hair.

8:34 – Whoa! Y’all see John Prine hanging out in the crowd wearing sunglasses like a boss when Alicia Keys was introducing Billie Eilish?

8:31 – Also, there’s been a shitload of commercials during this thing. Way more than normal. It’s only 8:30?

8:25 – Got nothing on this Ariana Grande thing. Don’t really understand what’s going on, and I’m not sure they do either. Lots of choreography and stage design can’t make up for not really expressing anything, and bogging down a performance with weird pauses. I’m lost.

8:15 – Who ever thought they’d see Tanya Tucker accepting a Grammy Award for Dave Chappelle?

8:14 – Excellent, intimate performance by Tanya Tucker and Brandi Carlile. Represented country well.

8:11 – Tanya Tucker!

8:10 – Camilla Cabello! A great voice, a touching song that says something, and a performance that people might remember beyond the next commercial break. Here here!

8:06 – Jim Gaffigan is hammered.

8:02 – Oh, and a Prince tribute happened. Was too busy mean typing about Dan + Shay getting Tanya’s face time to interject any observational humor.

8:00 – Tanya will have another opportunity to get an award on stage if she wins Song of the Year, but I frankly think she’s a long shot for it. Fingers crossed though.

7:57 – Tanya Tucker should have been allowed to accept one of her awards on the broadcast. They straight up moved Duo or Group of the Year to the main show because they believe Dan + Shay are more popular. They did the same to Sturgill Simpson when he won Album of the Year for “A Sailor’s Guide to Earth.”

7:52 – The Grammy for Best Country Duo/ Group Performance goes to Dan + Shay’s “Speechless” – as if we didn’t know that happen when they moved this award to the telecast.

7:50 – Blake Shelton, Shania Twain, and Bebe Rexha all in the same 30 seconds. This is worse than the CMA Awards. The cabal of country music destruction.

7:43 – The problem with so much of modern music is that it’s not much more than performance art with a soundtrack instead of actual music. Maybe this Tyler The Creator stuff is a great stage show. But any “music” feels like an afterthought.

7:40 – Oh awesome! I always loved Cedric The Entertainer. Oh wait, What?

7:37 – Am I supposed to know who “Zane Lowe” is?

7:34 – I agree Lizzo is a good success story. Don’t have a problem with her. Don’t even have a problem with people being inspired by her story. But there are just so many better people to present as “role models.” How many times did she have to be censored in her acceptance speech? Not the time or place for that. Keep that for your album cuts.

7:31 – Half an hour in, and we’ve already had to interface with Blake Shelton and Keith Urban. I thought I’d get a respite from these pop country losers on an awards show for once.

7:29 – Was gonna say that boy bands should be disbanded by the time they have hair on their balls. But I’m not totally sure that would disqualify The Jonas Brothers yet.

7:27 – The Jonas Brothers styled like Spanish bullfighters. Where’s a herd of those Pamplona steers trampling down tourists when you need em?

7:24 – Tough transition between being touching, and then funny in Alicia’s performance, but she pulled it off well.

7:21– Alician Keys is pure class, and always has been. With all the bullshit going on in politics, with the Grammy themselves with the suspended CEO and all the accusations, she’s keeping it positive, and she’s totally right about music being the thing that can bring us all together. She can riff better than most people can compose.

7:19 – By the way, I’ve given pure hell to Mitchell “Bitches” Tenpenny for referring to women as “bitches.” I’m no prude, but it’s just not something that should be celebrated, especially under the guise of “empowerment.”

7:13 – Felt gutted watching Alicia Keys and Boyz 2 Men paying tribute to Kobe. Then saw Blake Shelton walk out on stage, and got even more gutted #oldfartsandjackasses

7:09 – Alicia Keys points out something very important. Not only are the Grammys coming from Los Angeles, but from The Staples Center, where Kobe helped raise so many banners. Very classy for the Grammys to pull together a tribute hours after his tragic death in presentation they take a year to plan.

7:06 – Seriously, do you want your kids to watch a show that starts of with a woman in her skives yelling “Welcome to the Grammys BITCH!” Nothing classy. cool, empowering, or inclusive about that. It’s just crude.

7:05 – Sure, Lizzo’s popularity is great for the whole body image concern thing, but I don’t exactly see how a song referring to women as “bitches” is empowering to women.

7:03 – Just when I was about to compliment Lizzo for actually dressing classy for once…

7:01 – Kobe Bryant dying does suck.

7:00 – Here we go!

6:58 – Though most of the country awards have been handed out so far, there is still some rooting interest in the all genre categories for country and roots fans. Tanya Tucker could win her 3rd Grammy if “Bring My Flowers Now” wins for Song of the Year, and Yola and the Black Pumas are up for New Artist of the Year. Tanya is also performing.

6:56 – Another note from the Premier Ceremony, they almost always hand out Best Country Song or Best Country Album during the telecast proper. Clearly they bumped Tanya Tuckers big moment for a mainstream artist that is sure to win for Best Duo or Group Performance, likely Dan + Shay. Tanya is the big winner already. She deserved to get her “flowers” on live TV.

6:55 – If you want to find out what happened during the premier ceremony where most of the country and Americana Awards were already given out, click here. Long story short, Tanya Tucker won big, taking home both Best Country Album for While I’m Livin’ and Best Country Song for “Bring My Flowers Now. Willie Nelson also won for Best Country Solo Performance for “Ride Me Back Home,” so traditional country did very well.

I thought that Yola would sweep the Americana Awards, especially since she was tapped to perform during the Premier Ceremony, but instead they went to Keb’ Mo’, I’m With Her, and Sara Bareilles. All fair picks, though I think Keb’ Mo’ got picked more for the name recognition. Really, Yola got screwed here. She was the fan and critical favorite.

6:52 – Just as a warning going in, I’m usually a bit more prepared for these things, but have been attending the Folk Alliance International Festival all weekend and have been rode hard and put away wet, so if I’m a little off my game, I apologize. But I’m usually good for a second win, and am energized by some of the early winners.

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