1750 Chapter 1750 Head-to-Head Confrontation
For a long time, the country genre has been the mainstay of the American music market. It was so thirty years ago, and it will still be the same thirty years later. Despite the vicissitudes of life, the country has always occupied an irreplaceable place in North America. Jazz, folk, disco, rock, rap, dance, etc., which were once smashing hits, have more or less experienced peaks and valleys, and even gradually withdrew from the mainstream market in the course of history, but country has never declined. Always the same.
In previous years, Grammy has always habitually put the country department in the second half of the awards ceremony, because this will guarantee the ratings, and try to keep the main audience group for the second half of the awards ceremony-the country department The audience has always been stable. But this year is a bit different. The Grammys moved up the rural sector early on, and it seems that they are not worried about the loss of viewers at all.
There are many reasons for this, but the summary is: country is weak, rock is strong!
Facts have also proved this. All awards in the country department lack suspense and sparks. The 14-year-old girl LeAnn Rimes has completed the domination of the entire department with her debut album "Blue (Blue), and will be the most Best Country Female Singer and Best Country Song won two heavyweight awards, which not only made her the youngest winner in Grammy history, but also made people feel that this year's Grammy is extraordinary. breath.
Neither the jazz department nor the rap department were able to bring further surprises. After halfway through the award ceremony, the rhythm and blues department at the beginning was still the most lively. What follows, though, is enough in the pop department to cheer up all viewers.
The Best Pop Band Award, which debuted first, became the focus of the topic as soon as the waiting list came out. The nominations of Glory to Death, The Beatles, and the Smashing Pumpkins made the "pop" genre appear suspiciously "rock" According to the signs, three rock bands that have achieved outstanding achievements in their respective fields are all shortlisted for the best pop band award, which is really dumbfounding.
If you add Journey, one of the most commercially successful bands in American rock history, you have four rock bands in the division. Such a scene is indeed one of the wonders of this year's Grammys. The only true pop group, the Neville Brothers, were the least contender for the award.
In the end, in this unidentified award competition, the Beatles had the last laugh. They won the award with "Free as a Bird" from the best collection. When Paul McCartney took the stage to accept the award as a representative, The audience gave a collective standing ovation for the first time, paying high tribute to the greatest rock group in music history.
When people cheered for the Beatles, they suddenly discovered one thing: the glorious glory in the nomination stage died, and they have not been able to have the last laugh in the two awards competitions they participated in so far.
Of course, neither of these two awards is the main award for glory to death, and rock is the main battlefield of "Storm". But in the nomination stage, Glory to Death can be said to be a mover, and the twelve nominations even surpassed the shocking "Thriller" back then. Almost everyone thought that Glory to Death would carry such momentum and sweep the Grammys-because the success of the album "Storm" was not only commercial, but also won unanimous praise from discerning music critics, and even Comparing this album with the Beatles, Queen, and Pink Floyd's works that have been proven to be in the classic hall over time, it has become a decisive force that changed the entire music market.
Just like the "thriller" back then.
It can be said that there is no suspense in the sweep of "Storm", and it is popular. But now, neither of the two awards belongs to Glory to Death—even if one loses to Whitney and the other loses to the Beatles, it is definitely not wronged, but it still makes people feel a little embarrassed. There is also a question mark over the prospect of the awards ceremony.
Subsequently, various awards in the popular department have found their respective attributions.
The best pop music chorus award is jointly dedicated by Natalie Cole (Natalie. Cole) and her famous jazz singer's father Nat King Cole (Nat. King. Cole) for "When I Fall in Love (When I Fall in Love) .I. Fall. In. Love)" won; Best Traditional Pop Performance Album went to Tony Bennett; Best Pop Male Vocal Performance went to Eric Clapton for The theme song sung by the movie "Different Ben. Can" was very popular, and finally defeated such powerful opponents as Brian Adams, Sting, and Tony Ritchie, and won the award.
In the competition for best pop album, Celine Dion's "Falling in Love" broke through and won the award; and in the competition for best female pop singer, Maria once again had the last laugh.
Such a result is undoubtedly intriguing. In the case of the "Butterfly" album, Maria beat Donnie Braston, Celine Dion, Jewel, and Shawn Carvin. Colvin) and other powerful opponents, logically won the best pop female singer award, which once again proved Maria's status as a queen.
However, the best pop album was not awarded to "Butterfly", but to Celine Dion, which is tantamount to a blow to Maria who is aiming for the four comprehensive awards. Although music critics have given Maria a lot of recognition for her challenges and attempts, in fact, the quality of the whole album of "Butterfly" is inferior to Maria's previous two albums, and even worse than that of "Storm". A full grade.
The grand occasion of the battle of the century and the final confrontation almost made everyone ignore this fact, and the huge commercial success of "Butterfly" made people mistakenly think that "Butterfly" was Maria's best album. But now on top of the Grammys, they clearly gave their answer: Maria is an excellent singer, but this is not her best album.
This also means that Maria has lost her chance in the competition for the four major comprehensive awards-because the awards in the rock department have not yet been awarded, and all her nominations other than the four major comprehensive awards have already announced the results. She can only passively wait for the announcement of the awards in the rock department, and then fidget in anticipation of the death of Glory and the Oasis band, which will give her a slight advantage in the final competition.
In the end, Maria won two gramophones for Best Female Pop Singer and Best Female R&B Singer. This is undoubtedly a huge reward for her singing skills and singing ability, but the praise for the album "Butterfly" is almost as high as zero. Losing out to Whitney for best R&B song and best pop album to Celine, Mariah was only halfway through her Grammy tour before the winds turned.
Objectively speaking, two gramophone trophies are already a dream result for countless singers, but for Maria, it is not enough, far from enough.
Sitting in her seat, Maria seemed a little absent-minded. She originally thought that tonight would be more brilliant. She originally thought that this night would belong to her. She originally thought that she had absolute confidence to fight head-on with glory to the death... But Now, two phonograph trophies gave her qualifications, but not confidence.
Maria couldn't help but clenched the armrest of the seat. Only in this way can she control her emotions and prevent herself from completely releasing her anger during the live broadcast. Even the ongoing performance on the stage cannot attract her attention. Hiding in the shadows under the light, Maria's complexion became very bad, and she could hardly breathe. At this time, the well-dressed costume on her body was like a cage, tightly bound her in it, There was a raging flame gathering in his chest, which could not be extinguished at all.
Looking back, Maria only saw a darkness - Mary Blige was performing on the stage at this time, so she couldn't see where the Oasis or Glory died, but Maria looked in the direction of her memory , as if to be able to see the familiar faces in the darkness.
For half a year, she has been fighting against the Oasis Band and Glory to the Death, struggling, struggling, and she has spent countless efforts to get to where she is today. The peak is within reach, and the hot light can be touched with a little tiptoe Therefore, she will never let the Oasis Band and Glory to Death ruin this wonderful moment. She will step on their corpses to the top, and then open up a brand new world that belongs to her.
Thinking of this, Maria's restless mood finally calmed down, because she knew that at least she already had two trophies in hand, but Glory to Death and the Oasis Band are now starting from zero, and they will start the next rock division. Fighting head-on, there is no room for pushback, there is only one winner! It is even possible that both sides will lose, and another alternate will win in the end.
So, she doesn't need to be nervous at all now. Because they are the beasts fighting to the death in the Colosseum, and she is the honored guest sitting in the auditorium watching the fight. The only thing she needs to do is to relax and wait for the winner of this "war". She can believe that even if the glory to death wants to completely defeat the Oasis band, it will not be an easy task, because this is the Grammy, not the music market - she has just experienced it herself, the market sales Can't represent anything here.
Maria looked at the darkness in front of her eyes, a winner's smile slowly formed on the corner of her mouth, and she finally looked away, finally able to enjoy the performance on the stage calmly.
Mary Blige's performance was over, and when the host introduced that the awards for the rock and roll department would be presented next, the long-dreary atmosphere at the scene became lively like a sunny ocean after a rain, and the golden The rays of light fell on the sea surface, and the dense water vapor began to churn and turbulent. Because everyone knows that the rock category, which has been neglected by the Grammys for many years, has unknowingly become the highlight tonight-the rock category is the last music category before the four major comprehensive awards are issued.
With the strong recovery of rock and roll in recent years, 1996 became the year of concentrated explosion of rock and roll, with continuous excellent works, and the overall momentum even surpassed pop and rhythm and blues, becoming the genre with the largest music market share at present. This can be seen from the year-end sales rankings see. What's more, the duel between Glory to Death and Oasis Band will debut!