Grammys TV Review: Beyoncé Makes History With Win; Music’s big night is back, with a hip hop celebration and a mixtape from a CBS show.

Dr. Jill Biden was at home tonight at age 65^m The annual Grammy Awards, but the real first lady of the live CBS telecast was clearly Beyoncé.

Taking home two awards and Paramount+ followed by Best R&B Song and Best Dance/Electronic Music Album with “Cuff It” before the downtown L.A. show kicked off on the small screen. the renaissance On the air itself, Queen Bey is now literally the queen of the Recording Academy with 32 wins — more than any artist in Grammy history.

You rarely see anyone so phlegmatic as to miss Beyoncé’s beat, but even as she rose to accept her record-breaking trophy as a crowd of past, present and potential future Grammy winners and thousands of fans in the arena went wild for the undisputed GOAT.

A bet that almost no one wants to bet against all week leading up to music’s big night, the hype of Beyoncé’s barrier-breaking win with Harry Styles’ album of the year award, two of the many elements were almost four — showing some real drama on and off stage,

Taking a stage full of dancers in the rounds tonight at DTLA with 2023 winner Bad Bunny and, from the get-go, the first fully private show in three years, the once again Trevor Noah-hosted show even gave Taylor Swift a real provocation to take a front-row seat. . Often lifeless and no doubt soon turning the Cryto.com Arena into a partial dinner club, the show, executive produced by Raj Kapoor, Ben Winston and Jesse Collins, succeeded mainly as a hit mixtape of top-tier live performances (Lizzo, Harry Styles). Pre-recorded advocating fan roundtables, White House residents, tributes, scandal teasing fashion (we’re looking at you JLO, Mr. Styles), superstar presenters, a Vladimir Horowitz shout-out from Billy Crystal and more.

To quote past Grammy winner Crystal out of context tonight, third time proved a charm for past and present host Noah with a show that hit nearly all the right notes.

almost

Yes, the comedown to Bonnie Raitt’s Song of the Year win near the end felt very Jethro Tull 1989 when it should have been Metallica or in this case Kendrick Lamar, Lizzo, Beyoncé or several other nominees, if you know what I mean?

There was also that lame Madonna segment where she had to beg the crowd to “make some noise” for her controversial routine that seemed so old fashioned. Recording Academy CEO Harvey Mason Jr. was talking about that fantasy video. Then the cameras caught the outrageously lame few who didn’t greet Dr. Biden when he took the stage to present the Grammys’ first ever Social Change Awards. Iranian artist Shervin Hajipour for his song ‘Baraye’ and Song of the Year. Of course, winners Beyonce and Adele, as well as Swift, were in attendance, but Sunday performers were not, and the show was too long.

Yes, it was all there, but unlike other awards shows there were more than enough superstar superpowers to go around at the 2023 Grammys. Which, along with the record that people actually hear about winning for the most part, was in no small part because the fairly fast-paced show was fun to watch and dance to for the most part.

“Trump wants to learn Spanish” spiels, Chinese spy balloons and Renaissance jokes from the red-carpeted arena floor, as well as a cheeky joke from Jay-Z and an Adele and Dwayne Johnson encounter that turned out too quickly, the former The Daily Show Host Noah kicked off the 2023 Grammys among notable nominees and legends to metaphorically set the stage as a hype man deluxe — as an awards show host should. Of course, all of this pales next to Brandy Carlyle’s hard rockin’ ‘Broken Horses’ performance by his daughter and wife Kathryn Shepard’s stunningly stunning performance – which adds an intimate feel to the shindig.

There was also some non-Beyoncé history to celebrate in historic fashion.

After Satan took the stage to perform “Unholy,” Stan Smith and Kim Petrus won Best Pop Duo/Group Performance for their tune for about half of the show. The win saw the German singer become the first transgender woman to claim an award at the Grammys

Then hip-hop took the spotlight, and I don’t just mean Kendrick Lamar’s well-deserved win for Best Rap Album this year.

First, a tuxedoed Dr. Dre accepted the inaugural Global Impact Award named after NWA, producer Supreme and founder of the Beats.

Then, to paraphrase JFK, the Grammys have never seen so many hip-hop 50s icons together on stage.^m Celebrating the anniversary since Beyonce and Jay-Z were last seen together. Seriously, The Roots’ Questlove and Blac’s street-level backbeat with musical backing and curation kicked off by LL Cool J wearing equally iconic and Kangol, though the story behind the beats that rule the world took center stage.

On-stage array of Big Boi, Spliff Starr, De La Soul, DJ Drama, DJ Jazzy Jeff, Rock’n’Roll Hall of Fame nominee Missy Elliott, Future, Glorilla, Grandmaster Flash, Grandmaster Mel Mel Mel along with Murdered Busta Rhymes & Scorpio/Ethiopian King, Ice-T, Lil Baby, Lil Wayne, The Lox, Method Man, Nelly, Public Enemy, Queen Latifah, Rahiem, the demigod Rakim, the rest of the trailblazing RUN-DMC, Salt-N-Pepa & Spinderella, Scarface, Swizz Beatz and Two $hort and LL Cool J himself were glorious.

Moving even a dazed Jay-Z into laughter in the crowd, the repeatedly bleeped out hip-hop 50s medley was an exercise in relevance and reverence. A relic in many respects over the past decade or so, the Grammys and the Recording Academy have taken too long to give the world’s most popular music genre its due.

That was not the case tonight.

A look back at hip-hop’s roots and its current form, with Jay-Z at the very end of the show outside the arena performing an elaborate Vigor feast version of DJ Khaled’s “God Deed” along with the man himself, Rick Ross, Lil Wayne, John Legend, And on Friday, the Grammys finally fixed it. After delivering the showstopping 75^m Tony Awards last June with powerhouse host Ariana DeBose, CBS is on a trophy show roll with tonight’s show.

For once, music’s biggest night lived up to most of the hype.

It’s a lesson and a strategy Oscar might want to consider for next month’s 95^m Academy Awards – Let’s hope, with or without Beyoncé in the house.