Leave it to Beyonce to slay the 2017 Grammy Awards.
To quote many fans on social media, this was no typical Beyonce performance. Although there were neither acrobatic entrance nor frenetic dancing, the 35-year-old singer gave a show-stopping performance with “Love Drought” and “Sandcastles”.
The theme was rebirth, regeneration, and healing, as the pregnant pop star took the stage, clad in a floor-length gold, sheer belly-highlighting gown with a matching headdress, while assuming full goddess mode.
A pre-taped recitation from her visual album “Lemonade” was played during the opening speech. “Do you remember being born? Are you thankful for the hips that cracked, the deep velvet of your mother and her mother and her mother? You look nothing like your mother; everything like your mother. You desperately want to look like her,” she said.
Beyonce continued, “How to wear your mother’s lipstick? You must wear it like she wears disappointment on her face. Your mother is a woman, and women like her cannot be contained. I think of love as trees, growing to and from one another, searching for the same light. Why are you afraid of love? You think it’s not possible for someone like you, but you are the love of my life. The love of my life.”
From there, Beyonce was joined by 24 female dancers, all dressed in pastel-coloured outfits while wearing similar gold headpieces and necklaces. The 2 songs belted out – “Love Drought” and “Sandcastles” – from “Lemonade” were slower jams, both showcasing the softer and more vulnerable side of the vocalist.
In terms of backdrop, viewers got chills when Queen Bey pulled off a gravity-defying chair stunt and didn’t even flinch. It was an ode to motherhood and childbirth. “Love Drought” was followed by a heartwarming rendition of “Sandcastles”. As her performance came to a close, she shared the verse from the album, “If we’re gonna heal, let it be glorious“.
Enjoy:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5o_sn5wW2Hc
Going into the award ceremony, Beyonce was nominated for 9 gongs for her visual album, “Lemonade”, but only won 2, including 1 for best urban contemporary album. Despite not winning album of the year, the sweet moment was shared with Adele, who dedicated the award to the pregnant mother.
“This album for me – the ‘Lemonade’ album – was just so monumental and so well thought out and so beautiful and soul-bearing and we all got to see another side to you that you don’t always let us see and we appreciate that,” she said. While Beyonce teared up, the “Hello” singer added, “I love you. I always have. And I always will“.
To check out the full winner’s list, go here.
Sources: Vox, Rolling Stone, CNN.
