Katelyn Tarver Talks Everything Grammys

I love the Grammys. As an aspiring artist who dreams of holding her own grammy one day, they still seem magical to me.

Last night's Grammys was no exception. I loved seeing Fun. take home Best New Artist and Song of the Year. Proving that 12 years of work eventually does pay off! I only have about four years under my belt so.. eight more years?! Oh no… I also can't stop loving Adele. Can we talk about how great she is? Her live vocal won for best pop solo performance, and her disarming demeanor always makes her that much better. I guess she is from England so I shouldn't be too surprised. They're always a little cooler, right? Mumford And Sons and Ed Sheeran...loved both of their performances. Kelly Clarkson proved that she can still sing her face off, her voice is unreal.  But, if I have to choose favorites, my top picks were Rihanna, Mickey Ekko, Justin Timberlake, the Levon Helms tribute, The Black Keys, and Bruno Mars. Rihanna standing there in a simple, tasteful black dress (which reminds me, who WASN'T wearing a black dress?!!?) singing a beautiful ballad filled with emotion reminded me that she CAN strip the song down and still own it. She was mesmerizing. That SONG, you guys. … it's perfect. I know we all were dying about seeing JT back where he belongs, how I've missed him! Thankful that he's back. Although I wanted a little more "oomph" from his performance, the guy can sing and captivate an audience and he did that. The Levon Helms tribute was SO awesome.. Elton, Zac Brown Band, Mumford, Brittany Howard, Mavis Staples (who was uh-mazing). I thought it was such a strong performance, but I wanted more Brittany Howard! Why didn't Alabama Shakes have their own slot for their own song?! They were one of my favorite new bands this year.

The Black Keys are so freaking cool, adding Dr. John (with maybe the best outfit of the night?) and the Preservation Hall Jazz Band to their performance made it one of my favorites. But if I had to choose just one favorite, it would be Bruno Mars. The voice, the song, the dancing band… it all just WORKS! I can't get enough of him lately, is album is on repeat in my car, and he's endlessly inspiring to me in my own songwriting. Now in performing, I just loved it. Adding Sting, Rihanna, Damian, and Ziggy Marley to the Bob Marley tribute made for my favorite performance of the night. Bravo! 

If I have to choose low points… LL Cool J. His hosting and performance, just wasn't into it. I felt like he zapped the energy out of the room with his opening monologue, and he told me to hashtag one more thing I was going to lose it. I love social media but, please stop telling me to "hashtag grammy's!" with every tweet. I was so excited to see Frank Ocean, but his performance was sadly disappointing. Loved the graphics but, I wish he hadn't changed his song up so much. "Forrest Gump" is a great song, play it as is! As I said before, I really wanted  a performance by The Alabama Shakes, I didn't love fun. 's performance, I wanted a John Mayer performance… big thanks to Katy Perry for dating him and bringing him to the show, but I can't wait to see him on stage again. I thought "Born and Raised" deserved some nominations. I also don't think I was the only one a little surprised at Mumford taking home Album of the Year for "Babel".

I was rooting for Frank Ocean but, all the nominees in that category were deserving. Just didn't think Mumford would get it. Good for them though! Lastly, I think this could be said with any event ever but, I can always use more Beyonce! :)

Overall, I thought The Grammy's were a good representation of popular music today, with mostly solid performances from everyone. Looking forward to seeing what 2013 brings in music!

Happy Monday!