One of the pleasures of watching the 2023 Grammys last night, at an industry viewing party, in which the top prize was $1,000 (needless to say, I did not win…) was the diversity and inclusion of the nominees.
Of all the major awards shows, Tonys, Emmys, and especially Oscars, the Grammys nominees (and many of the winners) reflected most accurately the new, ever-changing face of American society in terms of age, race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, region, and perhaps best of all fashion.
I cannot speculate about the politics (right wing, centrist, left-wing) of the nominees and winners, but hope it was diverse, too.
Nonetheless, in over four decades of covering the Oscar race, I have not seen such a wide range of candidates and such a wide scope of music in terms of genre.
I am not suggesting that the event was flawless. Yes, the show was long (close to 4 hours), with too many (and almost overlapping) categories. Moreover, not every musical performance was fun to watch, and not every winner gave an interesting or entertaining speech.
But the color on display on stage (and off), of the singers, the fans, and the viewers, and their costumes were truly a sight to behold, one that I have not seen in any televised show before.
