YAY to the Grammy Awards show

Just to be clear I'm talking about the show, not the awards themselves. The Grammy nominees and winners continue to be a joke, but it seems like even the academy is starting to realize that by focusing on performances rather than awards.  

I haven't cared about the Grammys in a long time but this year had enough interesting performers (e.g. Radiohead, M.I.A.) that I decided to give it a chance. Overall, I'm glad I did. This may sound corny but it actually seemed like a celebration of music compared to a simple salute to the winners. Live music across different genres bookended short award presentations. Young performers paid tribute to living legends by actually singing with them rather than reading a speech off of a teleprompter and handing them an award. It all just felt a little more genuine. 

It wasn't perfect. U2 started the show with their horrible new song. One of the Jonas Brothers wouldn't stop shouting at Stevie Wonder. Katy Perry was more worried about her Chiquita Banana outfit than actually singing. But those misses were outweighed by some pretty cool stuff. Timberlake with Al Green was great. Carrie Underwood's performance rocked harder than any other band all night. Dave Grohl looked like a kid in a candy store drumming for McCartney. Radiohead exceeded expectations with the help of the USC marching band. Overall, it was a great night of music. 

So YAY to you Grammy Awards show. Keep up the good work and give the academy voters a kidney punch for me.