The Grammy Awards.

spaminator

spaminator

Hall of Fame Member
Oct 26, 2009
35,932
3,052
113
GRAMMYS ‘RUINED’? Backlash after Hillary Clinton skit turns awards show into ‘trash’
Associated Press
More from Associated Press
Published:
January 29, 2018
Updated:
January 29, 2018 9:18 AM EST
NEW YORK — One-time Grammy winner Hillary Clinton made it back to the awards show Sunday night in a role she no doubt relished.
She was a surprise guest in a skit by host James Corden, supposedly auditioning for the spoken word recording of Michael Wolff’s bestseller on President Donald Trump’s administration, “Fire and Fury.”
She followed John Legend, Cher, Snoop Dogg, Cardi B and DJ Khaled, all of whom Corden found wanting.
The final “auditioner” lowered the book from in front of her face to reveal it was Clinton. Corden said she got the job and was a sure winner.
“You think so?” Trump’s 2016 election opponent said. “The Grammy’s in the bag?”
Clinton is already a Grammy winner from 1997, for reading her book, “It Takes a Village.”
Not everyone was a fan of the moment.
United Nations Ambassador Nikki Halley tweeted that the moment ruined the Grammy-watching experience for her.
“I have always loved the Grammys but to have artists read the Fire and Fury book killed it,” she tweeted.
“Don’t ruin great music with trash. Some of us love music without the politics thrown in it.”
Show producer Ken Ehrlich said backstage that Corden and his producers did the work of convincing Clinton to appear.
They sent her the script and in a few days, Clinton agreed to do it.
Neil Portnow, head of the recording academy, told The Associated Press that he felt Clinton’s appearance was more satirical than political.
“The excerpts that were read from the book weren’t really political,” he said.
“We have a history of pointing out funny things, unusual things about our leadership.”
http://torontosun.com/news/world/gr...ary-clinton-skit-turns-awards-show-into-trash
 
spaminator

spaminator

Hall of Fame Member
Oct 26, 2009
35,932
3,052
113
#GrammysSoMale? 'Women need to step up’ Grammy leader’s comment sparks outrage
Canadian Press
More from Canadian Press
Published:
January 30, 2018
Updated:
January 30, 2018 10:20 AM EST
TORONTO — Canadian singer Alessia Cara was the only woman to win one of the major categories at this year’s Grammy Awards, and less than a quarter of the 84 trophies handed out Sunday went to either a woman or group that included a woman.
But it was backstage comments from the Recording Academy’s president that inflamed critics, who saw this year’s awards show is further proof that a pervasive gender imbalance exists in the industry.
“I think it has to begin with women who have the creativity in their hearts and souls, who want to be musicians, who want to be engineers, producers, and want to be part of the industry on an executive level,” Neil Portnow told reporters in the press room after the show on Sunday.
“(They need) to step up because I think they would be welcome.”
Suggesting that women aren’t “stepping up” in the music industry frustrates Aerin Fogel, organizer of Toronto-based feminist arts celebration Venus Fest. She said she is not surprised by the reaction from the executives.
“In a way what he’s (saying) represents the larger issues in the music industry — and in most industries,” Fogel said. “There are real inherent challenges for women to be moving through these structures in the same way as men.”
Backlash against the Grammys over its gender disparity started long before Sunday’s ceremony. When the nominations were announced in late November, many fans were quick to note that major categories were stacked with men.
Tension mounted in the days before the event when Lorde’s mother, Sonja Yelich, tweeted an excerpt from a New York Times article that said only nine per cent of nominees were women over the past six Grammy Awards.
During the broadcast several female artists — including Kesha and Lady Gaga — delivered impassioned performances in solidarity with the MeToo movement. Neither artist took home a Grammy at the ceremony.
Some have stood behind the Grammys, saying women haven’t been entirely left out. Adele won twice for album of the year over that same six-year period, while Taylor Swift grabbed the award once. Meghan Trainor was chosen as best new artist in 2016 before Cara this year.
But the wins are still mostly men in those categories.
Anne Douris, a Toronto-based musician who performs as Bossie, said Grammy figures suggest the organization’s president is “tone deaf” on timely issues.
“The attitude of ‘pull up your bootstraps’ is such an easy thing to say,” she said. “People in that position of power need to be working a little bit harder to look at this as a complicated issue.”
Before she launched her solo career, Douris regularly toured with other bands, including several Canadian rock musicians.
“I would work on tours where I was the only woman and the entire time nobody would shake my hand,” she said. “People would assume I was someone’s girlfriend.”
Douris said those memories came rushing back when she heard executives at the Grammys suggest women work harder to pursue industry roles.
“There’s lots of women working very hard, you’re just not talking to them,” the musician said she wished she could tell the leaders.
Grammy winner Barbara Hannigan said she didn’t face a lack of opportunities as a woman when she first started in the music industry. As a soprano, the Nova Scotia singer only competed for jobs with other women.
“Then when I became a conductor, all the sudden I was in a male-dominated field and I started getting all these questions about my gender,” said Hannigan, who picked up a Grammy for classical solo vocal album at this year’s awards.
“I don’t want to be considered a female conductor, I want to just be a musician,” she said. “As soon as someone puts ‘female’ in front of my job, they immediately change the focus from my work to my gender, which I find kind of frustrating.”
Hannigan said that while her priorities are focused on creating music of the highest calibre, she still acknowledges that she was raised in a world where female conductors were put in a box.
“For some reason it seemed absolutely appropriate for a woman to conduct a choir but not an orchestra,” she said. “I don’t know why that is. All I know is that I never saw that.”
While she doesn’t dwell on her gender, Hannigan recognizes she is among a rare set of female conductors. She was reminded of the fact during a recent performance for a couple of thousand teenagers, many of whom had little exposure to classical music.
“That’s amazing because they’re going to sit in the hall and they’re not going to find it strange to see a woman on the podium,” she said.
“In that way, by me just showing up — and doing what I do the highest of my ability — this is what’s important.”
Portnow says his comments following the 60th annual Grammy Awards were taken out of context after he was criticized for saying women in the music industry need to “step up.”
In a statement Tuesday to The Associated Press, Portnow says he regrettably used the words “step up” and that the words were taken out of context and neither convey his beliefs nor the point he was trying to make. The show ended Sunday with only two female winners onstage. Lorde, the only woman nominated for album of the year, didn’t perform.
He says the music industry must recognize that female musicians “face barriers that men have never faced.”
2018 Grammys So Male? ‘Women Need to Step Up,’ Says Academy President – Variety
http://ctvnews.ca/entertainment/do-...r-s-comment-sparks-debate-on-gender-1.3780389
#GrammysSoMale? ‘Women need to step up
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top Bottom