Some of the performances at the 2025 Grammys were pretty good, but in-between the Recording Academy tried to cram three different half-assed shows into a one-assed Frankenstein.
To their credit, they put on a fundraiser for the fire-ravaged citizens of Los Angeles, raising more than $7 million for MusicCares. They also tried to celebrate some music, though their tastes have become as narrow-minded as a Twitter stan war. But they attempted both of those things while also desperately seeking to go viral, throwing all sorts of new and recent controversies at the wall in the hopes that something, anything, would stick. Worst of all, the Grammys stretched all of this out to an unforgivable four hours — a good 30 minutes longer than their better-run brethren, the Oscars and Emmys
For the first twenty minutes, the 2025 Grammys seemed poised to be the most awkward award show since Will Smith slapped Chris Rock — and boy will we be coming back to that! Not that host Trevor Noah insulted anyone. In fact, he seemed frustrated at his short leash. “I can’t say anything,” he shrugged to Billie Eilish during a joke-free chat.
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But we can forgive him for struggling with one of the more difficult hosting jobs in recent memory. His main task seemed to be giving the viewers emotional whiplash. Welcome to the 2025 Grammys, a somber celebration of joy. Shame about the fires, now here are some butts. Then he might pause for claps as the camera panned over half-frozen celebrities who couldn’t decide if they should pretend to be sad or pretend to have fun. Award show crowds almost always turn sour as the trophies are awarded to the few, leaving the many without. But this Grammys felt strained from the jump.
Luckily the performances kept things interesting. Sabrina Carpenter showed off some throwback Hollywood slapstick, Chappell Roan put on a spectacle, Charli XCX had it raining underwear, and the Best New Artist medley finally got the crowd hopping, especially Doechii, one of the night’s only rappers and best overall performers.
But the Recording Academy couldn’t keep the focus on the music for long. A tribute to Quincy Jones was bizarrely MC’d by Will Smith, still trying to rehabilitate his image from that last award show. He did not mention the slap, but he did tell a pair of very boring stories, the points of which seemed to be 1). that Quincy Jones had personally taught him to be a good person, and 2.) Fresh Prince of Bel-Air is a classic. He talked for longer than some of the Best New Artist nominees (justice for Khruangbin!). It didn’t raise money for disaster relief, and it didn’t honor Quincy Jones — it seemed like a personal favor to Smith, and a cynical ploy for attention. Did I mention this show ran four hours?
