There are two primary occasions when I consciously pay attention to pop music. The first is on long road trips, when I get tired of whatever CDs I dragged along, and I flip to whatever radio station I can pick up and try to catch up on trends (this stuff comes up really often in conversation). The other time is during award shows, which I really like despite hardly ever agreeing with the outcomes. I’m far from an expert on popular trends, but I know what my temporal lobe likes, and it’s not usually what ends up winning.
Anyway, one positive thing I can say about award shows is that it provides some pretty unique musical opportunities. I happened to catch one brief part last night, the only thing I was really interested in hearing, and it was Alicia Keys (stunning as always), performing with Queen Latifah (who’s busy staging a silent comeback this year with a new album release), and soprano Kathleen Battle. They tore up the stage, and the range of talent was impressive. Whoever conceived of it is pretty brilliant in my book.
