janet jackson opened the awards show with a medley of some of her up-tempo hits and her latest single, "make me." though her attire left everything to the imagination (i just had the brilliant epiphany that maybe the bucksin 'fit was a nod to peter pan, for her brother. that wasn't a joke.), for the most part the choreography was a throwback to the janet we all know and love. and i think that's what made the performance odd for me. she's certainly evolved as a person and a woman. why don't we get this in her new music and her stage show? one might argue that she's catering to a younger crowd (not the near-30-somethings and older who make up the majority of her fanbase), but the poor sales of her last 3 studio albums (the most recent didn't even go gold) should suggest that might not be a good game plan. interestingly, i thought her single "twenty foreplay" foretold of what the more mature janet might produce. it was demure yet sexy, classic in its hat-tip to the legendary dorothy dandridge. that was 1996. i'm not always right.
after writing that last paragraph and taking a mental trip down janet's memory lane of entertainment greatness, i've decided to not devote a lengthy paragraph to jennifer lopez and her performance. that one's too obvious. "...not in the same league, don't shoot at the same baskets" -jay-z. i'm right on this one.
that brings us to whit. ms. houston gave her highly-anticipated performance of her latest single, "i didn't know my own strength" to a slew of viewers, some praying for the best, and surely some praying for disaster. what we all got was something in between. whitney has definitely lost her famous powerhouse voice to drugs and hard living. and in their joy that she was able to come back from rock bottom (stop), many viewers praised her underwhelming performance as if her comeback had actually reached their expectations. and maybe it did. but the song was dull (and not just because robert "'r' is for fill-in-the-blank" kelly wrote it), and her vocal delivery rarely accomplished more than a speaking voice.
what's my point? i have a couple. i think we're often expected to be who we've been. as people. as artists. as [insert myriad roles here]. and i think that's unfortunate, especially when we've grown beyond our younger selves. "people keep talkin 'bout 'hov, take em back'. i'm doing better than before; why would i do that?" -jay-z. somebody should really make me stop quoting him. another point is that once artists have reached "icon" status, we often are so overwhelmed by the memories of their ascent that we're not really paying attention to the person before us now. on one level, that shows respect for the artist's greatness. on another level, it's an insult for us not to continue to expect actual greatness. and when (hear that, universe? when) i'm so fortunate as to reach my own desired level of greatness, i don't want anyone to let me off that easily. mj blew audiences away to the very end (and beyond) with his performances, not just with his legacy.
evolution is beautiful by nature. and once we as a culture embrace it wholeheartedly, our idols will be able to more gracefully do the same.
be. fly.
rhythm
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