Cardi gives ’em shell
Michelle rocks at Grammy Awards
Music’s biggest night was filled with powerful performances, an unexpected Drake sighting and a surprise win for album of the year by Kacey Musgraves — but it was Michelle Obama who stole the Grammy spotlight this year.
Just minutes into the show Sunday, the former first lady made a surprise appearance on stage with host Alicia Keys to deliver a message about unity. She was joined by Lady Gaga, Jada Pinkett Smith and Jennifer Lopez, but all anyone seemed to care about was FLOTUS.
“From the Motown records,” Michelle said before being interrupted by a standing ovation.
“From the Motown records I wore out on the Southside to the ‘Who Runs the World’ songs that fueled me through this last decade, music has always helped me tell my story — and I know that’s true of everybody here.
“Whether we like country or rap or rock, music helps us share ourselves — our dignity and sorrows, our hopes and joys. It allows us to hear one another, to invite each other in.
“Music shows us that all of it matters — every story within every voice, every note within every song.”
Keeping up with that theme, the Grammys were dominated by an array of milestone wins — including a first-ever song of the year award for hip-hop.
Childish Ga mb in o—aka actor Donald Glove r—won it for his track “This is America,” which also won for best music video.
The same track also took record of the year.
Other big winners of the night included Gaga, who took home three trophies, one for best pop duet — with Bradley Cooper — for “Shallow” from the film “A Star is Born.”
Only a small portion of the awards were actually handed out during the broadcast, with most coming before the show. Early winners included Hugh Jackman’s “The Greatest Showman” film soundtrack, Dave Chappelle’s standup comedy al- bum and Broadway’s “The Band’s Visit” musical-theater soundtrack.
And in perhaps the biggest shock of the night, the coveted album of the year award went to the world of country music, when Nashville star Musgraves won for “Golden Hour.”
MAYBE it’s the earnestness of the post- #MeToo era or the lack of big-gun star power — Kendrick Lamar, Childish Gambino and Drake all reportedly turned down the chance to perform — but this year’s Grammys lacked the overthe-top theatrics of years past. Instead, with Alicia Keys leading the way as both preacher and host, the fashion carpet of the music industry’s biggest night was feeling the I’m-going-to-do-me love in all its shades. The show was a valentine to all the divas: The young ones took their cues from the OGs like Dolly “It costs a lot of money to look this cheap” Parton, and Diana “It takes a long time to get to be a diva” Ross. Nominee Bebe Rexha, who in January did a video rant about how no one would dress her, showed up in a cherry red hovercraft of a dress by Bahrain-based designer Monsoori. Katy Perry wasn’t far behind in get-out-of-my-way Balmain Haute Couture. Lady Gaga ditched her little-monster drag for serious-actress drag by Celine. And Miley Cyrus, holding her own in a duet with Parton, made sure she was the one wearing the pants. By the time Cardi B won Best Rap Album, Dua Lipa was crowned Best New Artist and Kacey Musgraves took home Album of the Year, the message was clear: The ladies are in charge.