Grammys and Oscars: Meh.

Oh we all know my unapologetic soft spot for awards season.  Maybe I like it because I think it means I'm "plugged in" to modern society.  Well, whatever.  I'm in and I will be for the foreseeable future.  Since the music one and the movie one have recently passed, here is what I took away from each broadcast:

GRAMMYS

1.   It was pretty clear Adele was going to dominate this thing.  She had one of the best years for a recording artist in recent memory.  She couldn't even sing live for most of the year and she still cleaned up!  I have to say, she does have a phenomenal voice and deserves her awards.  I would, however, appreciate it if every "Today's Hits" radio station wouldn't play one of her songs every 15 minutes and at the same time as all the other stations.  I get it.  She can sing.  Play something different.  Also, this is mean, but she really is a dead ringer for Miss Piggy at certain angles.













2.  Katy Perry stuck it to Russell Brand with that new single she performed.  She can rebound with me anytime she wants.

3.  Foo Fighters took a shot at Auto-Tune and pop music in their acceptance speech they were rudely cut-off during.  They basically said playing music and writing your own tunes is true art.  Hmm.  If that's the case, then half the damn music industry is not creating true art.  I don't entirely disagree with him.  But what would I do without pop music honestly?

4.  Chris Brown got a lot of air time for a deadbeat-boyfriend-criminal man.  What message does that send to the world?  "It's ok if you beat women as long as your talented and a certain amount of time has passed."  And the women that tweeted they would let him beat them?  Let's pump the brakes on the jokes, ladies.  You haven't been told you aren't funny.  I'm here to tell you that that wasn't funny.  Remotely.

5.  Nicki Minaj is legitimately bat-shit crazy.  Regardless of her music one way or the other.  Bat-shit.


OSCARS

1.  When Eddie Murphy dropped out, Billy Crystal was the obvious choice to replace him.  It was his 9th broadcast.  Wow.  He's good.  He's a little safe and overdone, but he has good presence and the Academy loves him.  His openings are pretty classic.  Those do not get old, unlike the silver screen stars I'm used to watching.  Holy cow, these people are aging.  And I'm not even 30 yet.  It'll get even more surreal in 10 more years.

2.  The Artist.  I get it.  It must be a nice (ahem) artistic movie that made people think outside the box.  But a silent movie in 2012?  I can't get behind that.  With all the technology and stuff we have now, going retro does not make me want to see your movie.  It won Best Director, Actor, and Picture.  You're telling me this guy was better than Gary Oldman?  No one is better than Commissioner Gordon.  No one.  And some Frenchman beat out Scorsese.  I didn't see Hugo, but I'm willing to bet based on, I don't know, HIS RESUME Scorsese probably should have taken one home.  C'mon people.

3.  Meryl Streep has won 3 out of her 17 nominations.  What a run.  For a sports fan, obviously her win percentage isn't great, but I would argue those are pretty good numbers.  It's like the consecutive NCAA Tournament bid streak.  Pretty impressive and it proves staying power.  No matter what you think of her, you have to respect the heights she's reached in the acting world.  She's like Tiger in his hey.

4.  Angelina Jolie is too thin.  Yes, she's still a pretty lady.  I just don't dig chicks that look like the dying dude who represented "Sloth" in Se7en and that have crappy, randomly placed tattoos on their arm.  Either get the whole sleeve or don't get it at all.  And yes, we all see you have a nice milky white leg.  I'm not jazzed.

5.  I actually thought Cirque de Soleil was awesome.  Some might say it was totally pointless, and I can't argue with that.  But at least it was a nice change of pace.  Nor was it the singing of each nominated song.  I always hated that.  At least that performance last night showed people with legit athletic and stage talent.  I've never seen an actual show, but I think it would be awesome.


So anyway, that's my take.  The Oscars weren't as compelling this year since I hadn't seen many of the movies.  The Grammys, after you realized Adele would win everything, didn't end so compelling either.  At least those musical performances kept you watching though.  I needn't forget to mention that awards shows always have the ladies out in high fashion, and they all look spectacular.  I enjoy that as much as anything else.  Until the Emmys!