The Queen of R&B Soul, Mary J. Blige, made a fierce comeback last Sunday night. In between the tears, lengthy speeches, and deafening ovations, an incredibly grateful Blige received awards for three of her eight nominations. Her double-platinum triumph, “The Breakthrough” which is perhaps the 35 year-old’s biggest album, landed her Best R&B album; Best Female R&B song and R&B Vocal Performance for “Be Without You” beat out Beyonce’ and Christina Aguilera. Said Blige, “Tonight we celebrate the better human being because for so many years, I’ve been talked about negatively, but this time I’ve been talked about positively by so many people.” Blige has battled major self-esteem and substance abuse problems in her troubled past.
Blige also performed a powerful orchestrated rendition of “Be Without You” and “Stay With Me” that put the arena on its feet. With Best Rap Album Grammy winner, Ludacris and R&B greats Earth, Wind & Fire, Blige returned to the stage for a heart-tugging performance of “Runaway Love”
But the 49th annual Grammys undoubtedly belonged to the Texas trio, Dixie Chicks. The overjoyed-and a bit cheeky-Dixie Chicks won all five of the Grammys that they were nominated for. The unregretful trio had a taste of sweet victory against the brutal backlash in sales they received from the country music world after making anti-Bush statements on the eve of the Iraq war in 2003.
The ear-splitting applause that the Chicks received were verification to the trio’s welcomed return to the music world.
Their testimonial single, “Not Ready to Make Nice,” won the coveted Song of the Year and Record of the Year awards. Beating out predicted winners “Future, Sex Love Sounds” by Justin Timberlake and “St. Elsewhere” by Gnarls Barkley, the Chicks’ album “Taking the Long Way” won Album of the Year.
American Idol and country sensation, Carrie Underwood received the Grammy for Best New Artist, beating out Corinne Bailey Rae and Chris Brown.
Best Pop Collaboration went to music icons Tony Bennett and Stevie Wonder for “For Once in My Life,” which the duet also performed.
The night was jam-packed with an array of phenomenal performances. For starters, the show opened with a bang with the long-awaited reunion of one of the most famous rock bands, The Police. And who could forget Beyonce’s seemingly heavenly performance of “Listen” Accompanied by a full-string section, the superstar captured the attendees with an exceptional performance.
The tribute to the Godfather of soul, the late James Brown was indeed the ultimate performance of the night. Christina Aguilera belted out a crowd-pleasing performance of “This Is a Man’s World.” Chris Brown’s fancy footwork and James Brown’s trademark red robe on the microphone stand blissfully wowed the crowd. Another legendary highlight of the night was Smokey Robinson and Lionel Richie’s moving dedication to the Godfather.
This year’s award show was also special to a talented young lady, Robyn Troupe. She is a 19-year-old Houston native, and was selected from thousands of votes, via the Internet, to be named the winner of the “My Grammy Moment” contest in which she performed a duet with the award winning Justin Timberlake (who also took home some hardware for the night). Troupe received a 2007 Chevy HHR as her prize.
Chris Brown’s high-energy Stomp the Yard-inspired performance of “Run It” and Shakira’s “honest hips” pumped some life into the show.