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TUESDAY | 02.14.2017 | EXPRESS | 17
entertainment Adele besting Beyonce exposes the awards show’s big problem PERSPECTIVE Each year on Grammy night, the Recording Academy plunges deeper into a dim trench of irrelevance, making it difficult to get too worked up over its chronic fumbles. But this year was different. When industry voters chose Adele’s conventional best-seller, “25,” over Beyonce’s provocative “Lemonade” for album of the year at Sunday’s awards, the ritual nonsense had curdled into something unacceptable. For the past five years, black artists have been making eradefining pop music, some of which has been nominated for the heaviest Grammy, album of
the year. Then, when “music’s biggest night” rolls around, each of these artists loses to a white act doing less-challenging, lesstimely, less-imaginative work. Check the tapes. Frank Ocean lost to Mumford & Sons in 2013. Kendrick Lamar lost to Daft Punk in 2014. Beyonce lost to Beck in 2015. Lamar lost again in 2016, this time to Taylor Swift. And on Sunday, at her creative peak, Beyonce lost to Adele. Go back even further, and you’ll see white artists have won album of the year for nine consecutive years. What are academy members voting for when they cast those ballots, anyway? Recognizable names? Creative visions? Booming sales? If the answer is “all of the above,” it’s hard to see how they passed on “Lemonade.” This wasn’t just a superstar’s sharpest
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The Grammys reach peak irrelevance
On Sunday night, Beyonce, left, and Adele faced off in several categories at the Grammys, including the mightiest of all: album of the year.
work; it was also the third-highest-selling album of 2016. While collecting her award, Adele used her speech to expound on “Lemonade.” She described the album as “so monumental, and so well thought-out,
and so beautiful, and soul-baring.” Even after the band played her off, she kept on it. “I feel like it was her time to win,” Adele told reporters after the ceremony. “What the f--- does she have to do to win album of the year?”
That felt nice, hearing an industry darling scold the academy for making the wrong pick. But there’s really only one change we should hope to see at next year’s Grammys: fewer stars. Fed up with the Grammys’ perennial mishandling of black music, Frank Ocean protested this year’s awards by declining to submit his work for nomination. Other stars seemed to have followed his lead. On Sunday, Drake was on tour in England. Kanye West was nowhere to be seen. Even Justin Bieber sat it out. Next year, aggrieved artists should consider refusing to submit their work altogether. Their participation gives the Recording Academy more legitimacy than the Recording Academy could ever give them. CHRIS RICHARDS (THE WASHINGTON POST)
FILM
‘La La Land’ takes home five BAFTA prizes
TELEVISION
Remembering the princess Princess Diana will be the subject of a four-hour documentary series airing in August. A joint project of ABC and People magazine, the program, to be telecast over two nights, will include conversations with those who knew her best as well as archival footage. The program will mark the 20th anniversary of Diana’s death on Aug. 31, 1997. (AP)
Neo-musical “La La Land” took five prizes at the British Academy Film Awards on Sunday, including best picture. The film, which had 11 nominations, won prizes for leading actress Emma Stone, director Damien Chazelle, music and cinematography. The BAFTAs are often seen as an indicator of who will win at the Academy Awards. “La La Land” has 14 nominations for Oscars, which take place on Feb. 26. (AP) FILM
Documentary on Andre the Giant coming to HBO WWE, HBO Sports and the Bill Simmons Media Group will produce “Andre the Giant,” a documentary about the life and career of one of professional wrestling’s biggest stars. Bill Simmons, who joined HBO in 2015 and founded The Ringer, will serve as an executive producer of the film. HBO did not announce an air date. (AP)
AFRICAN STUDY A study at NIH is recruiting healthy black African men and women to understand diabetes and heart disease risk in Africans.
Were You Born In Africa? Must Be: • Born in Africa • 18-65 years old • Requires 3 visits • Compensation provided • Refer to study # 99-DK-0002
Please call (301) 402-7119 • http://clinicaltrials.gov Department of Health and Human Services • National Institutes of Health • National Institute of Diabetes & Digestive & Kidney Diseases
Netflix to premiere Sarah Silverman stand-up special on May 30