Surprise celebrity appearances, best dressed to worst dressed, live performances and a new Taylor Swift album? Must be awards season. It wouldn’t be the Grammys without several celebrity snubs and serious controversy over who deserved an award. Let’s be honest though, this is why we all tune in.  

All drama aside, the Grammys are the best place to see some of our favorite artists perform live without waiting months on end for a new album release. Let’s dive into some of these performances.  

Now, this reaction is not a live one because I am not the biggest country fan. Just hear me out. The voices of Tracy Chapman and Luke Combs spun a soothing melody that had me looking at country music in a different light for five minutes and 10 seconds. What elevated this performance was hearing the raving reviews of the wholesome vibes between Combs and Chapman. One of my favorite reviews was that Combs allowed Chapman to shine on the Grammy’s stage, and it was almost like he was joining her performance, not the other way around. This was a good change in tone from the constant celebrity rivalries. 

Tracy Chapman was not the only surprise performance. The well renowned singer songwriter Joni Mitchell made her first on stage appearance at 80-years-old. Mitchell performed her 1966 song “Both Sides Now.” There was no dry eye in that theatre when Mitchell began to sing.  

Miley Cyrus is in her revenge era and UGH I am so here for it. I love when singers add a little ad lib in between the lyrics in live performances, especially the “but don’t forget” right before she sang “I didn’t wanna leave.” This was an obvious reference to her messy divorce from Liam Hemsworth. With “Flowers” taking home record of the year, we all know who got the last laugh in the fight between Thor’s brother and Hannah Montana. Hint hint: it was not Thor’s brother.  

Billie Eilish gave a truly breath-taking performance of “What Was I Made For?” which always manages to tug on my heartstrings no matter how many times I hear it. I remember watching an interview where the singer said she wanted her voice to sound breathy like after you cry, and she nailed this tone during her live performance. You can hear the audible shift in the breathy, post-cry voice during the chorus followed by Eilish’s whimsical voice when she sings “I don’t know how to feel, but someday I’ll know.” I loved the orchestra that she brought in halfway. I think this really brought the live performance to life. I hope I get to see her in concert someday.  

Olivia Rodrigo sank her teeth into the Grammys with a spectacularly bloody performance of “vampire.” Rodrigo stunned the audience with a red floor length gown and her stage presence. As the song begins at a slower pace, the lights slowly come to life as the tone shifts in Rodrigo’s voice. To emphasize the relationship that comes after being blindsided by a toxic relationship, as voiced in the song, Rodrigo lets blood drip down her arm. The flowers in the foreground of the stage begin to bleed as she wipes the blood on her neck and arms while crying out “I’ll never understand.” Though some reviewers thought this was a “sacrifice,” I thought it was a great artistic choice to present her lyrics in real time. 

This concludes my performance summary, but I think this goes without saying that women dominated at the Grammys. So, for that reason I chose to exclude a certain Astroworld performance from this review. I look forward to seeing what drama the Oscar’s on March 10 bring us.