Adele's disastrous Grammy performance; audio glitch to be blamed

Adele has a voice that barely needs a microphone, but it was marred by an audio glitch at Monday night's 58th annual Grammy Awards.

While she was performing emotional ballad 'All I Ask,' her mic cut out early in the song. From there, the audio appeared to continue to falter, with viewers taking to social media to point out the issues.

Reuters

Recording Academy president Neil Portnow addressed the audio snafus after the show, citing issues with the onstage piano while speaking to reporters on stage.

Portnow said that in the process of lifting the piano onto a satellite stage, a microphone inside the piano dropped, which caused the clanking sound heard over the broadcast. They tried to correct it by going to a backup system, which caused the feed to be lost for a second.

Reuters

"To Adele's credit, she killed it, she did a fantastic job, the pro that she is," Portnow said. "That was all an issue on our behalf. Kenny (Ehrlich) asked that we make that really clear to everybody."

As for Adele, the 'Hello' singer took the mishap in stride, saying that she was treating herself to In-N-Out Burger because of the incident and brushing it all aside by saying "s-t happens."

Reuters

Adele tweeted: "The piano mics fell on to the piano strings, that's what the guitar sound was. It made it sound out of tune. S*** happens.

"Because of it though... I'm treating myself to an in n out. So maybe it was worth it."

Hip-hop rules

Hip-hop ruled the Grammys stage on Monday in performances that put racial tension back in the national spotlight and where some of music's biggest stars failed to deliver, or in the case of Rihanna, failed to show up at all.

Kendrick Lamar performs a medley of songs at the 58th Grammy Awards in Los Angeles, California February 15, 2016. Reuters

Kendrick Lamar's 'To Pimp a Butterfly' lost out on the coveted album of the year. But it was his passionate, politically charged performance of 'The Blacker the Berry' and 'Alright,' featuring chained black men in a prison, and African tribal dancers, that quickly stole the show.

"I'm African-American, I'm African, I'm black as the moon, heritage of a small village, pardon my residence, came from the bottom of mankind," rapped Lamar, 28, who hails from Compton, California, the birthplace of hip-hop.

Reuters

Lamar's performance ended with a backdrop of a large map of Africa with the name Compton written across it.

National Public Radio's Eric Deggans called it "A performance that woke up a sleepy #Grammys" and entertainment website E! Online tweeted that "Kendrick Lamar just SHUT. IT. DOWN. at the Grammys."

Reuters

Lamar wasn't the only rapper making waves.

Broadway's sold-out musical 'Hamilton' which mixes rap, jazz, ballads and casts black and Latino actors as the U.S. founding fathers, performed live from New York. The show won the best musical theater album award and its creator, Lin Manuel-Miranda, delivered his acceptance speech in rap.

Reuters

"Kendrick then Lin Manuel serving nonstop back to back black and brown genius", tweeted Daniel Jose Older.

It was Lady Gaga who brought the audience at the Staples Center in Los Angeles to its feet with a psychedelic tribute to David Bowie, who died in January.

Music director Alex Lacamoire and actor, composer Lin-Manuel Miranda and cast of 'Hamilton' celebrate on stage the receiving of GRAMMY award after performance for The 58th GRAMMY Awards at Richard Rodgers Theater on February 15, 2016 in New York City. AFP

Rihanna pulled out at the last minute with bronchitis, disappointing fans watching at home who complained the 2016 Grammys lacked star power.

"But can we really blame Rihanna? If I was at the Grammys I would've left too," Twitter user Sophia commented.

Beyonce later made the briefest of appearances to present an award at the end of the 3-1/2-hour show, but did not perform.

Follow Emirates 24|7 on Google News.