It's The Singer Not The Song

'When it's comin' from the heart

All the people sing along

It's the man behind the music

It's the singer not the song'

There were a lot of interesting sights and sounds at this years Grammy Awards, including the usual parade of CBS actors the network pushes out to cross promote their shows. Although it's always nice to see Josh Duhamel (above) it is really time for CBS to switch out LL for a new host.. I usually don't post much about the Grammy's as so much of today's music is so manufactured I remember as a kid cranking Survivor's Vital Signs CD and the lyrics to It's The Singer Not The Song, frequently run through my head. To me music should be about the auditory, what you hear and feel and often the beauty of a powerful voice singing a great song gets pushed to the sidelines.

The two performance from Madonna and Annie Lennox perfectly illustrated this. I like and respect Madonna, but she is a visual performer first and foremost. I have heard Madonna sing well, but she is not by any stretch of the imagination, a strong singer. As a dancer, and visual musician, Madonna has to be more careful than others in her choices for stage performances, especially on award shows. Singers, like Lennox, Tom Jones and Tony Bennett are able to continue singing, even when and if walking becomes a struggle, Madonna does not have that luxury.

Although I know she will be criticised no matter what she does, there were some truth in many of the slams she got this year. Some of her biggest fans commented that her Grammy performance was awkward. Many sited her age, but I would more kindly say it has more to do with Madonna refusingto  utilize her maturity, instead of fighting it. As we all get older, we need to refocus and I hope Madonna learns to embrace her strengths as she matures as her Grammy performance did not do that, it only served to highlight weaknesses. The woman still has game, but she just has to figure out the right field to play it in.

And randomly just because... Mary J Blige's award show appearances have passed their expiration point, Why do they getting Gwyneth Paltrow on, Beyonce was boring, Pharrell remained consistently creepy, Kanye predictable, Ariana Grande wasted her moment, Kristin Wiig was surprising and incredible, and Taylor Swift not as annoying as usual. I initially felt the violence against women PSA too much for an award show, but ended up feeling the Grammy's were actually the perfect place, Super Bowl aside, for it.

One of the highlights of the night for me though, was Enrique Iglesias presenting. I loved he presented to Sam Smith, but for some reason, Iglesias coming out in casual wear had me all hot and bothered. I have always like Enrique, but never felt him especially swoon worthy. Sunday night though, when his cuerpo sexy caliente walked out, in those pants and grey sweater... I took notice.