Grammys: Even without a nom, Taylor Swift wins big

If I were a higher-up in the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, I'd be kneeling down right now and thanking whatever I worship for Taylor Swift. The 18-year-old country crossover queen didn't give the best performance during Wednesday night's hour-long live Grammy nominations special, but she did embody what makes a likely Grammy winner this year -- as well as what makes a hope-generating star in a music industry on the skids.

Swift, who co-hosted the special along with a perpetually amused LL Cool J (who had a good moment poking fun at best new artist nominees the Jonas Brothers right to their faces), is the kind of widely popular, artistically credible star the Grammy organization loves. Her brand-new album, "Fearless," was released too late to earn any awards nods, and her 2006 debut was apparently too old for nominators to remember, though it spawned two hits this year.

Yet she was the most relevant presence during the special that featured several of Grammy's top Good Children -- Mariah Carey, Celine Dion, Christina Aguilera, the Foo Fighters and John Mayer were the others -- as well as elder B.B. King.

Each member of this often-rewarded Grammy set upholds the ideals of professionalism and adherence to tradition that the annual awards ceremony usually honors. Performing songs previously inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame, partially as a promotion for the just-opened Grammy Museum at downtown's L.A. Live, each emanated respect and enthusiasm for the classic material. Only Swift got in over her head -- her doe-eyed crooning was no match for the backing band as she covered Brenda Lee's 1960 classic "I'm Sorry."

Yet only she also got to sing a portion of her own current hit, gaining confidence as she moved into the break-up song "White Horse." She sent its most vitriolic verses in the general direction of her ex-boyfriend Joe Jonas, seated in the audience. "I'm not your princess, this ain't a fairy tale," she sang, mixing little-girl spit and ladylike weariness. In that moment, Swift had it all: tabloid heat and a firm hold on her own brand, along with songcraft and the well-contained charisma of a career artist.

She also had the of-the-moment appeal to turn this show into what it was meant to be -- a teaser that will somehow linger in viewers' minds until February, when the Grammys, whose ratings have been slipping significantly, may or may not feel like "must-see TV."

A LOOK AT GRAMMY PAST

The night's other performers have all held the coveted spot of prime hitmaker that Swift now occupies, but none seemed too interested in battling with her. If the goal was to produce moments that will live on as YouTube favorites until the Grammys show itself, only a few succeeded.

Mariah Carey's holiday number, a take on Darlene Love's "Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)" that was so determinedly vintage it could have been enclosed in a snow globe, was a snooze. Celine Dion delivered a perfectly respectable version of Janis Ian's "At Seventeen," with an evocative shoulder shrug replacing her usual chest-thumping, but the song outshone the singer.

Christina Aguilera was elegant paying tribute to her heroine Nina Simone with a fine and mellow rendition of the Gershwin great "I Loves You Porgy"; it's too bad, though, that she couldn't resist the temptation to belt out the song's last phrases. The Foo Fighters tried to be fierce, but came off as forced, reworking Carly Simon's "You're So Vain."

That left Mayer, who fulfilled a lifelong dream swapping licks and solos with his acknowledged master, B.B. King. Leaning back in their chairs as if they were on a front porch in the middle of summer, the two guitarists and singers made the too-often covered "Let the Good Times Roll" feel fresh. It had to be a thrill for Mayer when the 83-year-old King murmured "you're all right" to him at the song's end.

Great songs covered by reliably oversized voices -- shouldn't this night have felt more special? Well, there's a lot of music on television now, and it's frankly almost impossible for any one performance to feel like an event. This evening's show had everything necessary to make it feel like a once-in-a-lifetime occurrence, except that its stars, all regulars on the "large-scale event" circuit, as Mayer described it, provide these golden moments all the time.

The mini-concert Mayer gave after the televised portion ended was better, because it was more casual. Playing solo, working through his hits and a few covers -- best was a lovely, contemplative take on Tom Petty's "Free Fallin'" that veered toward Dave Matthews-style noodling, but somehow avoided it. Mayer was funny, displayed plenty of virtuosity, and smart. (He'll perform solo again at the theater Saturday, with this year's multiple Grammy nominee Adele opening.)

The fans who'd paid a premium for admission to this all-star revue cheered more loudly for Mayer's solo set than for anything else, except when the Jonas Brothers walked by.

AND NOW A WORD FROM OUR SPONSORS

How the show felt to those in the room only mattered so much, though; really, this was an infomercial, and on that level it worked fairly well. The actual announcements were bare-boned; Ne Yo asked for a drum roll before reading off the best new artist list, but had to made the rat-a-tat himself since no band was there to play incidental music. But they were augmented by video elements that fondly pointed toward Grammy's glories.

Excerpts from previous ceremonies filled the screen as nominees were announced, recalling indelible performances, like the duet Eminem shared with Elton John in 2001, or Outkast's crazy duet with the USC marching band in 2004. (Or was that Kanye's marching band collab from 2006?) The clips made the case that the honor associated with the Grammys leads major artists to sometimes step outside their comfort zones.

The nominations themselves provided some hope, and not only because rabble-rouser M.I.A. got a major nod. Lil' Wayne, the night's surprise contender, is always fun on television -- he's a prankster who likes to subvert the medium.

Coldplay, the other big pre-winner (a word that it seems necessary to invent for this pseudo-event), is far more predictable, but at least Chris Martin is earnest enough to care how his big moment comes off, and as the world's best ITunes ad proved, he has a way with skyward hand gestures. Maybe those dominant nominees will end up in one of those nutty awards-show group singalongs with Taylor Swift. Who wouldn't love a Grammy moment like that?

--Ann Powers

Photo: Lawrence K. Ho / Los Angeles Times

Comments

[Pft.]

LOL...why does the LA Times consistently slam the Jonases in favor of this girl?

Sorry...she wins nothing. She probably expected some kind of nod for her early singles. Nothing. The Jonas Brothers were not expecting anything and got a surprise tip into one of the biggest categories. Total win.

And the way she performs that song has got to be the most trite thing I have ever seen. Way to use the guy full circle! *rolls eyes*

Play nice LA Times, I am sure both acts will be around for a while.

[gdread]

The clip confusing the writer featured Kanye in the drum-major uniform, not Andre 3000.

[Kylee]

Where is the umph!?
She goes out in style of a trash bag looking dress and looks like she had only been on stage a beauty show where she has to sing and then she ends up not even winning the pageant and runs hom and crys.
She's got more reasons after her performance than just DREW for the TEARDROPS on her guitar.
I don't believe her words and she doesn't sing them with confidence nor does she carry herself well.
She should be thankful for any recognition that she's been given, but my god what an investment into a person who has just not got it!

[Bill]

Taylor Swift is a toss-off, producer-first-music-last kind of creation that makes the Grammy's look like the Nickelodeon Kids-Choice Awards. Only the plastic orange blimp is more respected.

[Ronnie]

A star should be able to sing her own songs.

Taylor swift is cute but quit covering for her!

"but she did embody what makes a likely Grammy winner this year -- as well as what makes a hope-generating star in a music industry on the skids"

What does that even mean?

People like miss Swift are what is hurting the industry as a whole. We keep getting bombarded by listless talentless hacks that have no track record besides the fact that they have been marketed to the extreme and at the same time great well know artist are being pushed out the back door so we can cram the stage full of Kid Rock and Taylor Swifts who are not even good at what they do.

There is a reason they can't pack arenas on their own! They are not good!

[flicketyflack]

If viewers remember Swift's performance from last night, I suspect the only thing that will linger will be bemusement at Swift's popularity given her tone deaf and smiling (????) rendition of I'm Sorry. I also think it was tacky for her to promote her current single when last night was about honoring music history. The pairing of her two songs didn't make much sense but thank goodness we didn't have to bear Swift butchering a full version of I'm Sorry. It's not just that she's not a good vocalist. She isn't a good singer because she doesn't use her wispy voice well.

So could she be a career songwriter? Maybe. At least as long as no one starts calling her out on the fact that the hooks that make her songs catchy are routinely borrowed/recycled/stolen from pop hits whose writers deserve a share of the publishing.

[Mike]

Ann - Well done critique, but you can do better. Push these guys at NARAS a little harder.

The Grammys lost credibility after the Milli Vanilli disaster and haven't recovered.

Activities like this useless show generates money for NARAS but doesn't really showcase anything we really need to see. Taylor Swift? No talent. Jonas Brothers? Please. John Mayer and BB King? Great on paper.

As is tradition, the Grammys are about record sales and publicity. Good children indeed. How about some naughty children for once?

[katie]

haha what did you guys eat today, cereal instant biyatch?
for one taylor was nominated last year, and someone please explain how the jonases are new artists?
and two, she doesn't have the best voice, but i've heard her live and shes still pretty good, everyone has songs they cant sing
and how exactly is she talentless if she wrote every song on her album? how many famous artists do that?

[Leo]

How did they overlook this star. "Taylor next year!"

[laury]

i really dont see anything special about the jonass brothers,their music suck and dont even have voices of singers.good lord they have disney and thos 5-15year old fans who are very obsess with them,i wonder if they werent with disney(fan base-girls) will they even get nominated?

[AllisonKraussFan]

Taylor was not a winner last nightl. She was absolutely dreadful in every way. She destroyed that song, and was very disrespectful to cut the tribute song short to promote her own crummy bubble gum pop song, which she also destroyed.

Why you are writing a whole article about her, I have no idea... she was horrid, and most everyone on the web agrees, at every major site.

She was an embarassment to country music... and to herself.

I highly doubt that the Grammys will be giving her any vocalist related awards in her future. lol

[Michael]

LA Times-- you need to get your ears checked too if you thought Taylor Swift has any tvocal alent.

She was horrid-- and I am tired of her fans making excuses for her. They will either say she was nervous, or the mike wasn't working, or she wasn't feeling well, etc--- or her dress weighed her down. lol

If it blaringly obvious what is the problem with Taylor's live performances: Without the studio enhancements of her weak pitchy voice, the world hears her as she is--- off key, weak, no range or power, and terrible pitch.

Simply put--- Taylor cannot and should not sing live. Ever. Ever . Period.

What were the grammy producers thinking giving her that slot? Carrie Underwood or Trisha Yearwood would have done a brilliant job on that song.

[Abby]

I think Taylor is amazing, but when Miley Cyrus sang with her it totally ruined it. Taylor may not have the best voice in the world, but her lyrics are amazing. They are relateable and inspiring.

[Abby]

Nevermind. Wrong Grammy's