Grammy Awards 2016: The high and low notes

The New Paper highlights 2016's Grammy Awards, from artists throwing shade to politically charged performances

Reporter

Feb 17, 2016 06:00 am

US rapper Kendrick Lamar may have been the biggest winner at this year's Grammy Awards on Monday night (US time) with his five-trophy haul.

But his fans were hoping he would have scored the music ceremony's highest honour - Album Of The Year - too.

Instead, that went to US pop darling Taylor Swift for her hit album 1989.

Swift added two more wins, for Best Pop Vocal Album and Best Music Video for Bad Blood.

Already, disgruntled supporters have set up petitions, calling for Lamar's game-changing 2015 album To Pimp A Butterfly to be the rightful winner.

But that wasn't the only talking point at the Grammys, which ran for three-and-a-half hours at Staples Center in Los Angeles...

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HELL HATH NO FURY

Revenge is a dish best served cold, but Swift believes in scorching burns instead.

When accepting her award for Album Of The Year, the 26-year-old took time to throw on-off frenemy and US rapper Kanye West major shade.

Mentioning that she is the first woman to win the award twice, she said: "I want to say to all the young women out there - there are going to be people along the way who are going to try to undercut your success or take credit for your accomplishments or your fame.

"But if you just focus on the work and you don't let those people sidetrack you, someday when you get where you're going, you'll look around and you will know that it was you and the people who love you who put you there.

"And that will be greatest feeling in the world."

Social media was abuzz with rumours that she intended that for West, 38, whose song Famous, off his new album The Life Of Pablo, included the crass lines "I feel like me and Taylor might still have sex/Why, I made that b**** famous".

It's a far-from-veiled reference to the pair's infamous feud at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards, when he rudely interrupted her acceptance speech.

They officially buried the hatchet at last year's Grammys, but it seems like he has put their alliance in jeopardy again.

In one of his many recent Twitter tirades, West claimed that Swift gave her "blessings" for Famous.

But her spokesman insisted she "declined and cautioned him about releasing a song with such a strong misogynistic message".

Shockingly, West has gone silent and has not responded to Swift's speech.

But we're sure it is just a matter of time.

HELLO, TECHNICAL ISSUES

It was unfortunate that the one time Adele (below) delivered an imperfect performance, it had to be at a star-studded affair like the Grammys.

When the English hitmaker sang All I Ask, off her record-breaking album 25, viewers were baffled by her "flat vocals" and what seemed like an out-of-tune guitar.

The 27-year-old vocal powerhouse later explained the unfortunate sound issues on Twitter: "The piano mics fell onto the piano strings, that's what the guitar sound was. It made it sound out of tune. S*** happens."

Not one to let adversity ruin her mood, she added: "Because of it though... I'm treating myself to (In-N-Out Burger). So maybe it was worth it."

MAKING A STATEMENT

Kendrick Lamar's (above) fearless, politically charged set made his fellow performers look totally vanilla, like Swift's opening number Out Of The Woods.

The 28-year-old, who is from the city of Compton, in southern Los Angeles - a place with a reputation for violence and shootings, especially in the 80s and 90s - kicked things off with The Blacker The Berry. He trudged on stage shackled in chains, surrounded by men locked up in jail cells.

He also performed fiery renditions of Alright and new track Untitled 3 in front of a bonfire and ended his stage time with the word Compton emblazoned on the screen behind him.

To Pimp A Butterfly covered topics including police brutality and violence.

GAGA OVER BOWIE

It's no mean feat paying tribute to a legend like David Bowie, who succumbed to his battle with liver cancer last month at the age of 69.

But US singer Lady Gaga, 29, rose to the challenge and ploughed through a medley of the English superstar's greatest hits for over six minutes.

Belting out Space Oddity, Ziggy Stardust, Fashion, Let's Dance and more, Gaga (above) also went through a Bowie transformation on stage, thanks to visual effects that superimposed his iconic looks onto her face.

She wore a flaming orange wigand also sported his signature Aladdin Sane lightning bolt imprint, thanks to the digital canvas technology.