Cardi B steals Grammys red carpet pre-show with oysters and pearls
to dim the sizzle on the Grammys red carpet on Sunday in Los Angeles, as a bevy of artists in sparkling, eye-popping attire stepped down the music world’s main catwalk — or, in Cardi B’s case, tip-toed.
The rapper, surrounded by handlers, took tiny steps down the red carpet as her pearl-encrusted costume seemed to get the best of her.
Was she Venus rising from the sea or a pearl inside an oyster? Ankle-binding black velvet encased the singer’s lower half. But at the hips arose a massive pink fabric fan, like a clam shell. To top it, off Cardi B accessorised with pink princess gloves and a pearl headdress, as she posed and pouted for the cameras.
Even Lady Gaga, not known for being demure when it comes to red carpet fashion statements, looked pale by comparison in her silver metallic dress.
Some of the artists seemed to have received a memo demanding “more volume, please.”
Rapper Tierra Whack brought out the “wow” factor with a flowing, multicoloured feathered cape worthy of Liberace, while Tayla Parx was encased in Barbie pink, her orange hairdo peeking out of a voluminous coat and dress covered with what appeared to be thousands of bits of fabric tabs.
Bebe Rexha sported a bright scarlet gown with layer upon layer of tulle and a train that looked dangerously trippable. Ahead of the show, the singer had taken to Instagram complaining about an unnamed designer who refused to dress her due to her not being “runway size.”
“We are beautiful any size! Small or large!” she wrote. “My size 8 ass is still going to the Grammys.”
“Havana” singer Camila Cabello sported a backless gown of formfitting fuchsia rhinestones, while Lee Ann Womack showed off a lowcut bodice trimmed in rhinestones and a sparkly bow at the waist: “This is not my first rodeo,” said the country singer.
Sequins were the choice of Hawaiian artist Kalani Pe’a, who brought some sparkle under the tents with a grape-coloured sequin jacket.
South Korean boy band “BTS”, in their first appearance at the Grammys, looked conservative in traditional tuxedos despite some of the seven members’ green and pink hair. Also in somber black were the Backstreet Boys, the US band who said they are nearing 26 years together.
Meller is overseeing the final stages of her construction by engineers at Cornwall-based Engineered Arts.
He calls Ai-da — named after British mathematician and computer pioneer Ada Lovelace — the world’s first “AI ultra-realistic robot artist”, and his ambition is for her to perform like her human equivalents.
“She’s going to actually be drawing and we’re hoping to then build technology for her to paint,” Meller said after seeing Ai-da’s prosthetic head being carefully brought to life by specialists individually attaching hairs to form her eyebrows. “But also as a performance artist she’ll be able to engage with audiences and actually get messages across; asking those questions about technology today.”
Her skeletal robotic head may stand disembodied on a workbench, but her movements are as if in shock.
Ai-da’s makers say she will have a “Robothespian” body with expressive movements and she will talk and answer questions.
“There’s AI (artificial intelligence) running in the computer vision that allows the robot to track faces to recognise facial features and to mimic your expression,” said Marcus Hold, Design & Production Engineer at Engineered Arts.
Ai-da’s makers are using “Mesmer” life-like robot technology for her head, and once finished she will have a mixed race appearance with long dark hair, silicone skin and 3D printed teeth and gums. “(Mesmer) brings together the development of software mechanics and electronics to produce a lifelike face with lifelike gestures in a small human sized package,” Hold said.
Ai-da will present her inaugural exhibition “Unsecured Futures” in May at the University of Oxford, and her sketches will go on display in London in November.