God bless Saint Beyoncé.
Grammys 2017: watch Beyoncé’s dazzling performance
There was still a show-stopping moment with a gravity-defying chair, and beautiful, lyrical choreography.
Alex Abad-Santos is a senior correspondent who explains what society obsesses over, from Marvel and movies to fitness and skin care. He came to Vox in 2014. Prior to that, he worked at The Atlantic.
One hour into the 2017 Grammys, the awards show needed saving. It was snoozy. Adele had opened the show with “Hello,” and her performance — while technically impressive — wasn’t exactly exciting. A few acts later, Ed Sheeran sang his new song “Shape of You” and used some cool looping technology, but it wasn’t anything too notable. Lukas Graham performed as well, but I’ve already completely forgotten it.
But then came Beyoncé, who smashed the entire thing.
Beyoncé’s performance wasn’t typical. The singer is pregnant with twins, and thus there was no acrobatic entrance, no frenetic dancing. But there was still a show-stopping moment with a gravity-defying chair, and beautiful, lyrical choreography.
The singer-deity donned a gorgeous gold costume and a halo evoking the Virgin Mary and various goddess iconography, and relied on projected images accompanied by pre-taped voiceover to deliver an opening speech about healing and motherhood.
Then she sang two songs from her Grammy-nominated album Lemonade, “Love Drought” and “Sandcastles.” The two songs showcased a different dimension of her vocal abilities — both are much softer, and more vulnerable, than what we hear in “Formation,” the most popular song on Lemonade.
”If we’re going to heal, let it be glorious,” Bey says at the end of “Sandcastles.”
And indeed it was glorious.
By Caroline Framke
By Constance Grady
