The night soared with Grammy moments

People used to talk about “Grammy moments” – the bits that made Grammy-night special.
But this time? The entire night — concluding with album-of-the-year for Beyonce’s “Cowboy Carter” (shown here) felt like one mega-moment. Each song seemed like the curtain-closer for a Broadway show or an epic party.
It helped, of course, that the new generation of performers can do much more than sing. There was Benson Boone, doing two back-flips; there was Sabrina Carpenter somehow channeling Marilyn Monroe, Lucille Ball and a pop diva.
The performers were great, and each was given a big-deal presentation. Yes, there were amazing moments from the Quincy Jones tribute and from the marathon performance by the best-new-artist nominees. We expected that … but didn’t expect that virtually every song would get a showstopper blend of sets and choreography.
All of this adds up to what we expect from producer Ben Winston – a near-perfect evening?
NEAR-perfect? Well, if I had to complain, I’d say that Billie Eilish’s voice was drowned out. And that the show ran 22 minutes long, finishing at almost four hours; it could have easily done without the pre-taped personality pieces. And that the mentioning of the wildfires got a bit repetitious, especially in Diana Ross’ end-of-show comments.
But I won’t. Instead, I’ll just mention one thing: Sometimes, a simple close-up of a potent singer can be enough.
We saw that with Teddy Swims and again with Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars. There had no sets, no choreography, just cameras caressing the faces of passionate singers. That, too, was part of a splendid evening.