It's no secret that we're in the midst of an exciting time in TV watching: Awards Season. Fans of movies, TV, and music annually tune in by the millions to see which celebs get to take home a coveted statue, and to see who gets ushered off the stage by the exit music. Sunday, January 28th brought the 60th Grammy Awards to the small screen, which celebrated the very best that the music industry has to offer. Madison Square Garden was full of major stars, although this year's ceremony has been criticized for having almost exclusively male winners. Grammy president Neil Portnow responded to these criticisms, saying:
It has to begin with women who have the creativity in their hearts and souls, who want to be musicians, who want to be engineers, producers, and want to be part of the industry on the executive level. [They need] to step up because I think they would be welcome. I don't have personal experience of those kinds of brick walls that you face but I think it's upon us --- us as an industry --- to make the welcome mat very obvious, breeding opportunities for all people who want to be creative and paying it forward and creating that next generation of artist.
Well, this is an interesting response. Rather than chocking up the wins to the way the academy voted, Neil Portnow seems to be putting the blame on the female artists themselves. And it's a comment that already seems to be striking certain music industry professionals the wrong way.
Neil Portnow's statement to People seemingly points the finger at the female artists who were nominated this year. While singers like Lady Gaga, P!nk, Kelly Clarkson, and Kesha were nominations and did stunning life performances at the ceremony, Portnow called for women to "step up" and write more exciting original music. But considering the wealth of female singers who released new and exciting music over the past year, upping the ante seems almost impossible.
Singer/songwriter P!nk seems especially offended by Neil Portnow's comments about stepping up. She posted an image via Twitter, directly quoting the Grammy Award President and responding to his statement. She said,
Women in music don't need to "step up"- women have been stepping since the beginning of time. Stepping up, and also stepping aside. Women OWNED music this year. They've been KILLING IT. And every year before this. When we celebrate and honor the talent and accomplishments of women, and how much women STEP UP every year against all odds, we show the next generation of omen and girls and boys and men what it means to be equal, and what it looks like to be fair.
The "Just Like Fire" singer ain't taking nobody crap, and she's once again used her platform to shed light on issues of gender and inequality. While she didn't take hoe a statue last night, she did win the night with an absolutely outstanding live performance-- this time with no strings or fabric attached.
Congratulations to all the nominees and winners of the 2018 Grammys-- including all the badass women who didn't get to come out on top.
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