The Grammys: What Went Down?

Bruno Mars took away the top trophies at the Grammys as Lorde was overlooked in the 'General Field' category. Ed Sheeran inevitably won big yet there was some justice elsewhere, with genuine talent rightly acknowledged.

The National deservedly won Best Alternative Album for 'Sleep Well Beast', the album of 2017, whilst The War on Drugs won Best Rock Album and Portugal. The Man received the award for Best Pop Group Performance for their hit, 'Feel It Still'.

There were also two standout performances, with Kesha's powerful 'Me Too' performance of 'Praying', whilst the victims of the Las Vegas shooting and Manchester terror attack were honoured with a rendition of Eric Clapton's 'Tears in Heaven' by Eric Church, Maren Morris and Brothers Osbourne, with the victims' names displayed behind.

There were plenty of disappoints leading up to the night however, and even more on it. Wolf Alice's 'Visions Of A Life' easily deserved a nomination for Best Rock Album, whilst Lorde's 'Melodrama' was overlooked for Best Pop Vocal Album, with Ed Sheeran unfortunately winning, and her hit single 'Green Light' also missed the shortlist for Record of the Year. Meanwhile, 'Melodrama' was up for Album of the Year yet missed out to Bruno Mars, who pretty much stole the show.

Now, we don't have the time or patience to scroll through the Grammy nominee list and check our assumptions but there did seem to be a lack of female representation. Lorde was the only female nominee for 'Album of the Year', and also the only nominee in this category not invited to perform. The Grammy president and producer may be able to provide a case for the lack of female presence in the nominees, not a strong one however, but they have no excuse for this. That is plain sexism. The only Album of the Year nominee not invited to play live is the only female in that category...

Elsewhere, Record of the Year was an all-male affair. Whilst women dominated the Best Pop Solo Performance category, it was still Ed bloody Sheeran who walked away with the prize. The Rock category was disgracefully dominated by men, with Wolf Alice missing out as well as bands like The xx not even being considered. There are female artists who have produced moments of musical magic and genius over the past 12 months and in the most prestigious awards around they have been overlooked completely.