Why Did So Few Stars Walk the Grammys Red Carpet? An Expert Weighs In
If you tuned in to the 56th Annual Grammy Awards last night, you may have noticed the same thing we did: Music’s biggest night had a disappointingly paltry red carpet turnout. While we did see appearances by nominees Katy Perry and Taylor Swift, as well as performers Madonna and Ciara, the short list of stars who didn’t walk includes Beyoncé, Lorde, Miley Cyrus, Rihanna, Lady Gaga, and Britney Spears. In other words: many of music’s reigning queens were nowhere to be found.
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Our disappointment over the lack of major celebrities on the carpet was overshadowed only by our befuddlement, especially since many of these ladies attended other Grammys events over the weekend. Lady Gaga went to the Musicares gala the Saturday night before, and Rihanna attended the Rocnation pre-Grammys brunch just a few hours before the big night. So what gives?
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To shed some light on the mysteriously vacant red carpet, we connected with talent agency Matchbook Company founder and general branding expert Kristi McCormick, who reminded us that of the award shows, the Grammys is the least fashion-centric of them all.
“The Grammys is the only award show that is audio based, not visual,” she tells StyleCaster. “Musicians in general don’t have the pressure to do a red carpet walk before the Grammys starts. They’re either performing on stage or they’re attending in support of their fellow nominees.”
“Superstar musicians perform on stage, and if they do well, then people buy their music,” she adds. “They want to get to the show, get on stage, perform their song, and then that performance is what everyone is talking about the next day, not the the dress they were wearing. Example: Does anyone remember the dress Britney wore on the red carpet the night she sang “I’m a Slave for You” with a snake around her neck?”
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Touché. To answer her query, no, we actually have no idea what Britney wore on the carpet leading up to that iconic performance. We do, however, remember when Gaga showed up to the 2011 Grammy Awards inside an egg; so it would seem there are two sides to this coin. And as far as Grammys red carpets go, last night’s was perhaps the most uneventful ever, despite the fact that everyone is still buzzing about Beyoncé and Jay Z’s performance of “Drunk In Love.”
What do you think? Why was last night’s red carpet so underwhelming? Sound off in the comments below!
