The Grammy Awards, also known as the Grammys, are the first major music awards that occur in a year. They are followed by the Billboard Music Awards in summer, and the American Music Awards in fall.
This year’s Grammy Awards took place at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas on April 3, 2022. The Awards usually are held at the end of January or in the first half of February, but because of the increasing cases of Covid-19 in the US, the show was postponed.
The Awards received almost 22,000 song and album submissions and then the voting members of the Members of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (NARAS) narrowed that number by selecting nominees and then voting again to choose a winner.
The artists were nominated in 86 categories, however, not all of them were broadcasted. The artist that received the most nominations was Jon Batiste. Out of the 11 categories he was nominated for, he left the Grammys with 4 awards.
The most prestigious categories are the general field ones as they are not defined by category and are the best altogether. Leave The Door Open by Silk Sonic won The Record Of The Year, We Are by Jon Batiste was announced The Album Of The Year, Leave The Door Open by Silk Sonic triumphed in the Song Of The Year category and Olivia Rodrigo was acknowledged as Best New Artist.
Even though it is a big music award show, some artists refuse to participate in the event as they feel that the Recording Academy that organizes the Grammys isn't being fair. Artists with a big number of nominations win only in the secondary categories and it doesn’t reflect what’s happening in music charts, showing what artists, songs and albums are the most popular among regular listeners.
This year there were quite a few artists that withdrew from the Grammy Awards. Drake was nominated for Best Rap Album for "Certified Lover Boy" and Best Rap Performance for his song “Way 2 Sexy” featuring Future and Young Thug, but withdrew. Ariana Grande was also nominated for several awards, including Best Pop Solo Performance, but she didn’t arrive at the ceremony.
The Weeknd decided to boycott the Grammys as he was invited to perform but wasn’t chosen in any of the categories as a nominee. Other artists have also spoken up about not attending the awards through the years because they thought it wasn’t about the music anymore.
The Awards were also criticized for having racial bias and not treating the female nominees the same as male artists. It seems that the controversies surrounding the Grammys also have an impact on the viewership as it is usually around 20 or 30 million, but last year, only 8.8 million people were interested to see it.
Did you watch the Grammys this year? Do you agree with people who say that the Awards don’t give the prizes to the artists that deserve them the most? Let us know in the comments! Also show us which memes and reactions made you laugh the most by upvoting them!
