Top 10 highlights from the Grammys

The nominees for the 59th Grammy Music Awards, hosted by James Cordan, promised that the night would be a night full surprises and lots of talent. The day of the Grammy’s is the most important night for music artists, and it fulfilled all of its promises as the line up for the show was stacked with performances by popular artists Adele, Chance the Rapper, Bruno Mars, on the massive stage. However, there was more to the night than just the performances. The night was full of surprising winners, heartwarming speeches, and hilarious segments. Here are the top ten highlights from last night’s Grammy awards:

1.) James Cordan’s Epic Introductory Rap

Cordan flaunted his singing and rapping skills, which is often seen in his Carpool Karaoke, and brought it to the main stage while missing a shoe. The Late Late Show’s host staged a rough start, but excited the crowd with his humorous rap where he poked fun at all the artists, making jokes about Rihanna and Drake’s dating situation, and many more artist related things. Always a comedian, Cordan.

2.) Twenty One Pilots’ Underwear Acceptance Speech

How heartwarming! The duo explained their reason for ditching their pants before they accepted their award for best pop duo performance for “Stressed Out”, touching everyone watching at home. They shared a story of how they used to watch the Grammy’s at home in their underwear and made a promise that if they ever won a Grammy, they would accept the award in that same way. They ended their acceptance acknowledging that the viewers at home could make it to the Grammy’s too one day. Well done boys, and nice undies.

3.) Ed Sheeran’s One Man Band

Ed Sheeran never fails to stir up emotions from the audience. With two new singles, Sheeran chose to perform the catchy “Shape of You” live, without a band. All he needed was a little help from technology, as he played and sang every bit of the song live while using repeating pedals to complete the song. The song requires a piano part, two backup singer parts, a beat, a guitar part, and a soloist part. Sheeran is only one man, but he was able to perform the song to equal standards, if not better than the recorded single. After recording each of these sounds, with a move of his feet, Sheeran could control which sounds come in when, in perfect control of his song. Talk about a one man band!

4.) Kelsea Ballerini and Lucas Graham’s Mix

“7 Years” by Lucas Graham is a song about planning out a life based on your childhood while “Peter Pan” by Kelsea Ballerini talks about how they’ll never grow up. Although the lyrics contradicted each other, the medley exemplified the importance and confusion that happens while growing up. Perfect mix, am I right? It was a wonderful blend of growing up and life lessons, and the blend of the songs worked marvelously.

5.) Beyoncé performed and slayed as usual

Beyoncé’s performance was confusing yet mesmerizing with incredible projections. She looked like a goddess, as always, strutting around the stage in a gorgeous gold dress matched with a stunning gold crown that deserves to always be around her head. She had a beautiful speech about motherhood as she expects twins. With a repeated “you look nothing like your mother, you look everything like your mother” Beyoncé made a statement how everyone comes from different backgrounds and becomes different people. She sang songs “Sandcastles” and “Love Drought” which emphasized struggles millions of people face each day. Her performance itself deserved a Grammy!

6.) James Cordan’s Walk Around Carpool Karaoke

Talk about a massive carpool! Looks like Cordan could have used a bus instead of a small car with all the singers he had with him. He was joined first by Jennifer Lopez, then invited Neil Diamond, John Legend, Faith Hill, Jason Derulo, Ryan Tedder, Keith Urban, and Tim McGraw to join the overflowing carpool. The group belted out a spur of the moment “Sweet Caroline” by Neil Diamond, which stirred up all sorts of nostalgia from the audience around them to join in on belting the iconic song.

7.) Adele had a show-stopping performance

While singing her dedication to George Michael, Adele accidentally blurted out a swear word and apologized immediately. Her apology was more than words, as she restarted the song to be respectful. Because she’s Adele and everybody loves and admires her respectfulness, the crowd was wowed by her do-over, as she never seems to hold back. Despite the slip of the tongue, the George Michael tribute will go down in Grammy history.

8.) The Unforgettable Prince Tribute

The George Michael tribute surely wasn’t the only tribute to amaze the audience. The Prince tribute was performed by insanely talented artists Morris Day & The Time, Bruno Mars, Tori Kelly, and Demi Lovato. The tribute left the audience feeling all sorts of emotions, as they danced the night away.

9.) Chance the Rapper won big!

Chance the Rapper won three Grammy’s, all of which he thanked “the Lord” profusely for. The rapper has made it huge in the music industry without a record label, showing up all the labels who denied him a record deal. Those Grammy’s weren’t the only things to show for Chance’s success, as he performed on the stage with a performance that people are still talking about today. His folksy gospel performance included him rapping about the nature of life in the country’s current state, relating to many audience members who believe in the same cause of equality.

10.) Adele Won Over Beyoncé!

Adele took home not one, not two, but three Grammy’s last night! She won best song of the year for “Hello”, best record of the year also for “Hello”, and to top it all off, she won the biggest award for the night, album of the year for 25. Adele was gushing with joy and thankfulness as she thanked everyone, and dedicated her awards to Beyoncé. The two had a real heart to heart as Adele asked her, “can you be my mum?” Adele was surprised she won in two categories Beyoncé was nominated for, but acknowledged the great power and stories Beyoncé entailed in her album Lemonade. Feeling that Lemonade spoke of more current issues that needed to be publicized, at the end of the night, Adele broke her Grammy for album of the year, and gave half to Beyoncé as she too deserved it.

It’s amazing how one night of music can have so many incredible things about it. As artists opened the audience’s eyes to their music, they opened their eyes to the world of love, issues, and current (especially political) events. The 59th Grammy Music Awards so far has been the most memorable, and this time not for what each artist was wearing. The award show will go down in history as one of the best Grammy’s because everything had a deeper meaning. 2016 was about being aware of everything around us, and standing up for what is right, and the music definitely reflected that. Next year will be tough to top, but they seem to be able to do it every year.