I arrived in LA on Saturday, the day before the Grammy Awards. While sitting at my gate waiting to board my flight, I spotted another Grammy-goer. I don't know his name, but it was obvious by the leather boots clad with burned skulls into the grain, purple-black hair, and a gnarled "old rocker" face, like you see on guys like Iggy Pop or Keith Richards. The day of the Grammys I actually ran into this man again, but was too polite to ask who he is.
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| Not a fan |
.....nonetheless, I walked into the Beverly Hilton to check-in and the first person I faced (if i were taller ;) was Dave Grohl wandering the lobby clad in a tuxedo, holding rolled up sheets of paper to his chin looking like he was waiting on someone. For a moment I was transported back to my adolecence-- talk about the soundtrack to my life back then and you speak of Nirvana and the early years of the Foo Fighters. That image stays in my head and makes me smile---it's not often that you're transported back to a place in time in your mind.
Later the lobby was filled with a slew of Loubitins and statement shoes, Clive Davis and various artists: Jennifer Hudson, Brandy, Whitney Houston, Ciara, Adam Lambert, Mary J. Blige, Bruno Mars, Lenny Kravitz, John Mayer, Katy Perry, and of course, the woman that we would repeatedly see over the weekend: Erika Badu. (Why are you everywhere we go, Ms. Badu??). Also spotted Sarah Silverman and a handful of the cast of Glee.
Many things happened on this rockstar-filled evening of the 12th, but not for blog mentions so I'll jump ahead to Grammy day.
Grammy day started early and I had a phenomenal black Sue Wong dress made of fabric with eyelets and a nude underlay to make it look like the dress was sheer. Very pretty, very sexy. One thing that makes me laugh is me asking my friend, "Should I wear just the necklace or both the necklace and earrings? Both together might be too much." And my friend looked at me and said, "Wear both. You're going to the Grammys. There's no such thing as 'too much.' You're wearing both. Period." Style choice complete. ;)
We headed down to the lobby of the hotel, and it once again looked like The Rockstar Prom with evening gowns and tuxedos in the middle of the day while people waited for limos.
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| Tickets to Grammys & afterparty |
Most of the pathways from the convention center to Staples Center were tented so that they couldn't be seen from the streets. We walked next door to Staples Center and realized that we were right at the doors but we wanted to walk the red carpet. So we walked around the building and then asked security how we get to the red carpet. He told us to cross the street, walk through the tents around the hotel, and it's about 2 blocks, "But it's a 30 minute wait and you'll just end up back here, so there's no point," he told us. I looked at my friend who was already looking at me, "Yeah...but we're doing it anyway..." we said at the same time. Decision made.
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| Entrance to the red carpet |
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| Yep, it's red. ;) |
While walking I was nearly face to face with Kelly Osborne on my left as she leaned out of the E! Fashion Police 360 degree camera area. She looked very pretty in pink with platinum blonde hair. She was escorting Adam Levine from Maroon 5 out of the camera platform and he ended up walking the rest of the red carpet right next to us.
At the end of the red carpet is where all the celebs stop in front of the "Grammy" background and have a box of seated paparazzi take their photos. They then face foward to a very small platform of fans who cheer and applaud, the celeb waves to them and then leaves. It's very strange to see just how small and contrived it all is. We watched Lady Antebellum (also everywhere we went that weekend along with random Erika Badu) stop for their photos on our way past.
The concession stands inside Staples remained open before everyone was to be in their seats at 4:45 pm. So wandering around in black tie attire were thousands of people eating hotdogs and nachos. It was funny to see as I too was trying to balance a tray of nachos in my 4 inch heels and cocktail dress.
A couple performances had the front few rows of musicians and music-insiders and everyone else in the venue on their feet--- obviously Mick Jagger, I mean come on, of course. But everyone also went wild for Eminem with Rihanna and Dr. Dre, and Cee Lo Green with Gwenyth Paltrow and the Muppets. I've seen that Cee Lo performance on tv since, and I will say it was much brighter, funnier, smaller, and more exciting in person. I was a little surprised that no one gave Barbra Streisand a standing ovation just out of respect, but then again, when you lip synch you don't really deserve a standing-O no matter who you are.
There was the main stage and then a smaller platform stage where some celebs announced performances or winners. We were very close to that smaller stage and I was stunned by how beautiful Jennifer Lopez looks in person, and how her attractiveness is set off even more when she's standing next to her husband Marc Anthony (come on now, you know what I mean.). Also on that stage, among others was Mylie Sirus. That's all I'll say about that. It was really exciting to be in a room filled with so many musicians, rockstars, performers, legends, and presenters.
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| Camera phone photos aren't good ;) |
Our seat location was good. In front of us was Lady Antebellum's entourage (the cowboy hats gave it away first...) and I was next to a record producer from New York and he said he's been at every Grammy Awards show for 12 years and this one was the best he's seen. This was definitely good to hear! This same man stood up, applauded and exclaimed, "THAT'S what everyone will be talking about tomorrow! HER WIN!" when little-known Esperanza Spalding won for best new album. All I thought is, "Doubt it...they'll all be talking about how a very popular Justin Bieber got robbed by some girl no one has heard of, and how Cee Lo got dissed." One of us was right....here's a hint, it was me.
That same producer invited us to the after-party for Album of the Year winners, Arcade Fire at Petit Ermitage in West Hollywood later that night following the Grammy official after party.
Parties, old friends, new friends, and feeling nauseated from the pain of being in 4 inch heels for more than 14 hours later, we were helped to a car by a very sweet Opera category Grammy winner around 3am and headed back to the Beverly Hilton to call it a night.
The next day we were scheduled to see a few friends in LA, but a series of mishaps (partially the fault of the evil beverly hilton) kept us from seeing any of them. While sitting in the lobby waiting for these issues to be handled, I found myself on the couch next to Charles Kelley from Lady Antebellum who was hanging out checking his email (and let's face it, probably Googling himself for stories from the previous night...) on his laptop the day after his 5 Grammy Awards win, and later next to Orlando Bloom who had a lunch meeting at one of the hotel's restaurants and was waiting, leftovers in hand, for a town car to pick him up.
Early flight the next morning....All in all, it was a fun and memorable trip. :)
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2011 Grammy Performances:
Yolanda Adams
Christina Aguilera
Jennifer Hudson
Martina McBride
Florence Welch Tribute to Aretha Franklin:
"(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman"
"Ain't No Way" (Aguilera)
"Until You Come Back to Me (That's What I'm Gonna Do)" (McBride)
"Think" (Welch)
"Respect" (Hudson)
"Spirit in the Dark" (Adams)
"Sisters Are Doin' It for Themselves"
Lady Gaga "Born This Way"
Miranda Lambert "The House That Built Me"
Muse "Uprising"
B.o.B
Bruno Mars
Janelle Monáe
"Nothin' on You"
"Grenade"
"Cold War"
Justin Bieber
Jaden Smith "Baby"
"Never Say Never"
Usher "OMG"
Mumford & Sons
The Avett Brothers
Bob Dylan
"The Cave"
"Head Full of Doubt"
"Maggie's Farm"
Lady Antebellum
"If You Don't Know Me By Now"
"American Honey"
"Need You Now"
Cee-Lo Green
Gwyneth Paltrow
The Muppets
"F*ck You!"
Katy Perry
"Not Like the Movies"
"Teenage Dream"
Norah Jones
John Mayer
Keith Urban
"Jolene"
Eminem
Adam Levine
Rihanna
Skylar Grey
Dr. Dre
"Love the Way You Lie (Part II)"
"I Need a Doctor"
Mick Jagger
Raphael Saadiq
"Everybody Needs Somebody to Love"
Barbra Streisand "Evergreen"
Rihanna
Drake "What's My Name?"
Arcade Fire "Month of May"
"Ready to Start"
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2011 Grammy Awards Presenters:
- LL Cool J — presented the Aretha Franklin-tribute
- Ricky Martin — introduced Lady Gaga
- Blake Shelton — introduced Miranda Lambert
- Lenny Kravitz — introduced Muse
- Ryan Seacrest — introduced Bruno Mars, B.o.B, and Janelle Monáe
- Dierks Bentley and Zac Brown — presented Best Female Country Vocal Performance
- Eva Longoria — introduced Justin Bieber, Jaden Smith and Usher
- Paramore and Pauley Perrette — presented Best Rock Album
- Selena Gomez and Donnie Wahlberg — presented Best Pop Vocal Album
- David Letterman — introduced Bob Dylan, Mumford & Sons, and The Avett Bros.
- Clay Matthews and Lea Michelle — introduced Lady Antebellum
- Kings of Leon and Miley Cyrus — presented Best Country Album
- Jamie Foxx — introduced Cee Lo Green, Gwyneth Paltrow and The Jim Henson Company Puppets
- Neil Patrick Harris — introduced Katy Perry
- John Mayer, Norah Jones and Keith Urban — presented Song of the Year
- Seth Rogen — introduced Eminem, Dr. Dre, and Rihanna
- Jewel and John Legend — presented Best New Artist
- Matthew Morrison — introduced Recording Academy President Neil Portnow
- Kris Kristofferson — introduced Barbra Streisand
- Nicki Minaj and will.i.am — presented Best Rap Album
- Diddy — introduced Drake and Rihanna
- Marc Anthony and Jennifer Lopez — presented Record of the Year
- Jason Segel — introduced Arcade Fire
- Barbra Streisand and Kris Kristofferson — presented Album of the Year
