Here’s hoping for less disappointment at this year’s Grammys

The 61st Grammys are taking place this Sunday and, for the first time, I am willing to be lulled into believing I won’t be disappointed.

For the uninitiated/anyone who doesn’t care about awards shows, the Recording Academy is notorious for handing the biggest prizes to the wrong artists. See: Bruno Mars last year winning over Kendrick Lamar, Adele winning instead of Beyoncé, Macklemore instead of Kendrick Lamar… you get the picture.

This year, the question as to who takes home the coveted Album of the Year is anybody’s guess. Usually it’s a race between two or three, but in 2019 some of the best, not just biggest, artists are up for the accolade.

TV audiences for the Grammys, Golden Globes and the Oscars have been shrinking in recent years. I’m not sure if that has to do with the fact that we all stream online now. My other theory is that people have realised that these events are actually quite boring.

If you’re at the ceremony, you are sat and forced to wait for long stretches during each advert break until someone finally opens that golden envelope, and you realise you forgot to practice your disappointed face in the mirror. If you’re at home watching on TV, there’s also a lot of waiting. Although at least there’s wine, wherever you are. Most of the time we just want to see what everyone’s wearing.

Covering the Grammys is actually quite fun. The Independent will be liveblogging the entire thing, so you can bet that if someone wins a prize we think should have gone to someone else, you’ll hear about it. As I mentioned earlier, however, I really do hope that this year we’ll be complaining less – and cheering more.

Yours,

Roisin O’Connor

Music correspondent