Once again, the Grammys has managed to stun its audience with dazzling visuals and powerful performances. On Sunday, January 28, the opening show featured Kendrick Lamar performing “XXX” with an unexpected interlude of U2’s “American Soul.” The rapping, accompanied by the dynamic choreography, earned Kendrick the praise of numerous netizens. James Corden hosted the show for the second year in a row. As usual, he lightened the mood of the audience using tidbits of satire throughout the duration of the show, going as far as to offering consolation puppies near the end of the event.

Pop artist Bruno Mars swept the show with a grand total of six Grammys in all of the categories that he was nominated for. His hits “24K Magic” and “That’s What I Like” won him the awards for Album of the Year and Song of the Year. Mars captivated his audience with his charismatic personality and heartfelt gratitude for every award that he received. The award for Best New Artist went to Alessia Cara, and Kendrick Lamar’s “HUMBLE.” earned the award for Best Rap Song. Although avid fans of Bruno Mars were pleased with the results, netizens responded rather negatively. They had hoped that artists such as Kesha and Logic, who had tailored songs towards speaking out about various issues (bullying, sexual harassment, suicide, etc.), would have had the opportunity to win more awards.

One of the highlights from the Grammys was the strong presence of the #MeToo movement. Female powerhouses Kesha and Camila Cabello teamed up for an energizing performance of “Praying”, a ballad created by Kesha herself in response to sexual harassment in the music industry. Arguably one of the most emotional showcases of the night, Kesha encouraged women to speak out against injustices committed against them and to unite to fight against further abuses. Logic’s performance of his song “1-800-273-8255” has been claimed to be a life-saving Grammy performance as it nearly tripled the number of calls made to the National Suicide Prevention Line. At the end of the song, Logic delivered an emotional speech to the teens of the United States, ensuring them that they are not alone in times of need.

Politics made a reemergence as Corden presented the audience with a short gag aimed to insult Donald Trump. It starred the previous presidential candidate herself: Hillary Clinton. Unfortunately, what was meant to be comedic relief gathered a lot of controversial comments, especially on Twitter. Nikki Haley, the United States’ UN ambassador, responded by tweeting that she was against the usage of politics in the music industry, and would prefer the two stay separate.

Despite the many issues that were addressed during this year’s Grammys, it only collected a total of 10 million viewers, a 16 million decrease from last year’s show. While the potential reason could be an increase in national workload or simple disinterest, it can be argued that this year’s Grammys did not have nearly enough advertising. Dublin High student Ayra Jafri said she “didn’t even realize the Grammys aired until a few days after.”