Arts & Entertainment
JAY-Z, Kendrick Lamar lead diverse 2018 Grammy nominations
Bruno Mars, Lady Gaga also land nominations
(Screenshot via YouTube.)
The 60th Annual Grammys Awards announced its 2018 nominees with rap and R&B artists making their mark on the top four major categories.
Singer Audra Day announced the nominations for the four major categories of record of the year, song of the year, best new artist and album of the year.
JAY-Z leads this year’s nominations with a total of eight nominations including album, song, and record of the year. His album “4:44,” which includes his mother’s coming out, will battle against Bruno Mars’ “24K Magic, “Damn” by Kendrick Lamar,” “Melodrama” by Lorde and “Awaken My Love!” by Childish Gambino.
Kendrick Lamar is close behind with a total of seven nominations for his album “Damn.” Lady Gaga also scored nominations for Best Pop Solo Performance for “Million Reasons” and Best Pop Vocal Album for “Joanne.”
The 60th Annual Grammy Awards will air from Madison Square Garden in New York City on Sunday Jan. 28 on CBS.
Album of the Year
“Awaken My Love!,” Childish Gambino
“4:44,” JAY-Z
“Damn,” Kendrick Lamar
“Melodrama,” Lorde
“24K Magic,” Bruno Mars
Song of the Year
“Despacito” Ramón Ayala, Justin Bieber, Jason “Poo Bear” Boyd, Erika Ender, Luis Fonsi and Marty James Garton, songwriters (Luis Fonsi & Daddy Yankee Featuring Justin Bieber)
“4:44” Shawn Carter and Dion Wilson, songwriters (JAY-Z)
“Issues” Benny Blanco, Mikkel Storleer Eriksen and Tor Erik Hermansen, songwriters (Julia Michaels)
“1-800-273-8255” Sir Robert Hall II, Arjun Ivatury, Alessia Caracciolo, Khalid Robinson, Drew Taggart, songwriters (Logic featuring Alessia Cara and Khalid)
“That’s What I Like” Christopher Brody Brown, James Fauntleroy, Philip Lawrence, Bruno Mars, Ray Charles McCullough II, Jeremy Reeves, Ray Romulus and Jonathan Yip, songwriters (Bruno Mars
Record of the Year
“Redbone,” Childish Gambino
“Despacito,” Luis Fonsi & Daddy Yankee Featuring Justin Bieber
“The Story of O.J.,” JAY-Z
“Humble,” Kendrick Lamar
“24K Magic,” Bruno Mars
Best New Artist
Alessia Cara
Khalid
Lil Uzi Vert
Julia Michaels
SZA
Best Pop Solo Performance
“Love So Soft,” Kelly Clarkson
“Praying,” Kesha
“Million Reasons,” Lady Gaga
“What About Us,” P!nk
“Shape Of You,” Ed Sheeran
Best Pop Vocal Album
“Kaleidoscope EP,” Coldplay
“Lust For Life,” Lana Del Rey
“Evolve,” Imagine Dragons
“Rainbow,” Kesha
“Joanne,” Lady Gaga
“÷ (Divide),” Ed Sheeran
Best Pop Duo/Group Performance
“Something Just Like This,” The Chainsmokers & Coldplay
“Despacito,” Luis Fonsi & Daddy Yankee Featuring Justin Bieber
“Thunder,” Imagine Dragons
“Feel It Still,” Portugal. The Man
“Stay,” Zedd & Alessia Cara
Traditional Vocal Album
“Nobody But Me (Deluxe Version),” Michael Bublé
“Triplicate,” Bob Dylan
“In Full Swing,” Seth MacFarlane
“Wonderland,” Sarah McLachlan
“Tony Bennett Celebrates 90,” Various Artists
Best Rap Album
“4:44,” JAY-Z
“Damn,” Kendrick Lamar
“Culture,” Migos
“Laila’s Wisdom,” Rapsody
“Flower Boy,” Tyler, the Creator
Best Rap/Sung Performance
“Prblms,” 6lack
“Crew,” Goldlink featuring Brent Faiyaz & Shy Glizzy
“Family Feud,” JAY-Z featuring Beyoncé
“Loyalty,” Kendrick Lamar featuring Rihanna
“Love Galore,” SZA featuring Travis Scott
Best Country Album
“Cosmic Hallelujah,” Kenny Chesney
“Heart Break,” Lady Antebellum
“The Breaker,” Little Big Town
“Life Changes,” Thomas Rhett
“From a Room: Volume 1,” Chris Stapleton
Best Country Duo/Group Performance
“It Ain’t My Fault,” Brothers Osborne
“My Old Man,” Zac Brown Band
“You Look Good,” Lady Antebellum
“Better Man,” Little Big Town
“Drinkin’ Problem,” Midland
Best Country Solo Performance
“Body Like a Back Road,” Sam Hunt
“Losing You,” Alison Krauss
“Tin Man,” Miranda Lambert
“I Could Use a Love Song,” Maren Morris
“Either Way,” Chris Stapleton
Best Rock Album
“Emperor of Sand,” Mastodon
“Hardwired…to Self-Destruct,” Metallica
“The Stories We Tell Ourselves,” Nothing More
“Villains,” Queens of the Stone Age
“A Deeper Understanding,” The War on Drugs
Best Rock Performance
“You Want It Darker,” Leonard Cohen
“The Promise,” Chris Cornell
“Run,” Foo Fighters
“No Good,” Kaleo
“Go to War,” Nothing More
Best R&B Performance
“Get You,” Daniel Caesar featuring Kali Uchis
“Distraction,” Kehlani
“High,” Ledisi
“That’s What I Like,” Bruno Mars
“The Weekend,” SZA
Best R&B Urban Contemporary Album
“Free 6lack,” 6lack
“Awaken, My Love!,” Childish Gambino
“American Teen,” Khalid
“Ctrl,” SZA
“Starboy,” the Weeknd
Best Dance Electronic Album
“Migration,” Bonobo
“3-D the Catalogue,” Kraftwerk
“Mura Masa,” Mura Masa
“A Moment Apart,” Odesza
“What Now,” Sylvan Esso
Best Dance Recording
“Bambro Koyo Ganda,” Bonobo featuring Innov Gnawa
“Cola,” Camelphat & Elderbrook
“Andromeda,” Gorillaz featuring Dram
“Tonite,” LCD Soundsystem
“Line of Sight,” Odesza featuring Wynne & Mansionair
Best Compilation Soundtrack For Visual Media
“Baby Driver,” (Various Artists)
“Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2: Awesome Mix Vol. 2,” (Various Artists)
“Hidden Figures: The Album,” (Various Artists)
“La La Land,” (Various Artists)
“Moana: The Songs,” (Various Artists)
Best Song Written For Visual Media
“City of Stars,” Justin Hurwitz, Benj Pasek & Justin Paul, songwriters (Ryan Gosling & Emma Stone)
“How Far I’ll Go,” Lin-Manuel Miranda, songwriter (Auli’i Cravalho)
“I Don’t Wanna Live Forever (Fifty Shades Darker),” Jack Antonoff, Sam Dew & Taylor Swift, songwriters (Zayn & Taylor Swift)
“Never Give Up,” Sia Furler & Greg Kurstin, songwriters (Sia)
“Stand Up for Something,” Common & Diane Warren, songwriters (Andra Day featuring Common)
Best Score Soundtrack For Visual Media
“Arrival,” Jóhann Jóhannsson, composer
“Dunkirk,” Hans Zimmer, composer
“Game of Thrones: Season 7,” Ramin Djawadi, composer
“Hidden Figures,” Benjamin Wallfisch, Pharrell Williams & Hans Zimmer, composers
“La La Land,” Justin Hurwitz, composer
Best Music Video
“Up All Night,” (Beck) Canada, video director; Laura Serra Estorch & Oscar Romagosa, video producers
“Makeba” — (Jain) Lionel Hirle & Gregory Ohrel, video directors; Yodelice, video producer
“The Story of O.J.” — (Jay-Z) Shawn Carter & Mark Romanek, video directors; Daniel Midgley, video producer
“Humble.” — (Kendrick Lamar) The Little Homies & Dave Meyers, video directors; Jason Baum, Dave Free, Jamie Rabineau, Nathan K. Scherrer & Anthony Tiffith, video producers
“1-800-273-8255″ — (Logic featuring Alessia Cara & Khalid) Andy Hines, video director; Andrew Lerios, video producer
Best Music Film
“One More Time With Feeling” (Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds) Andrew Dominik, video director; Dulcie Kellett & James Wilson, video producers
“Long Strange Trip” (The Grateful Dead) Amir Bar-Lev, video director; Alex Blavatnik, Ken Dornstein, Eric Eisner, Nick Koskoff & Justin Kreutzmann, video producers
“The Defiant Ones” (Various Artists) Allen Hughes, video director; Sarah Anthony, Fritzi Horstman, Broderick Johnson, Gene Kirkwood, Andrew Kosove, Laura Lancaster, Michael Lombardo, Jerry Longarzo, Doug Pray & Steven Williams, video producers
“Soundbreaking” (Various Artists) Maro Chermayeff & Jeff Dupre, video directors; Joshua Bennett, Julia Marchesi, Sam Pollard, Sally Rosenthal, Amy Schewel & Warren Zanes, video producers
Best Spoken Word Album
“Astrophysics for People in a Hurry,” Neil deGrasse Tyson
“Born to Run,” Bruce Springsteen
“Confessions of a Serial Songwriter,” Shelly Peiken
“Our Revolution: A Future to Believe In (Bernie Sanders),” Bernie Sanders and Mark Ruffalo
“The Princess Diarist,” Carrie Fisher
Best Comedy Album
“The Age of Spin & Deep in the Heart of Texas,” Dave Chappelle
“Cinco,” Jim Gaffigan
“Jerry Before Seinfeld,” Jerry Seinfeld
“A Speck of Dust,” Sarah Silverman
“What Now?,” Kevin Hart
Best Musical Theater Album
“Come From Away” — Ian Eisendrath, August Eriksmoen, David Hein, David Lai & Irene Sankoff, producers; David Hein & Irene Sankoff, composers/lyricists (Original Broadway Cast Recording)
“Dear Evan Hansen” — Ben Platt, principal soloist; Alex Lacamoire, Stacey Mindich, Benj Pasek & Justin Paul, producers; Benj Pasek & Justin Paul, composers/lyricists (Original Broadway Cast Recording)
“Hello, Dolly!” — Bette Midler, principal soloist; Steven Epstein, producer (Jerry Herman, composer & lyricist) (New Broadway Cast Recording)
The LGBTQ+ Victory Fund National Champagne Brunch was held at Salamander Washington DC on Sunday, April 19. Gov. Andy Beshear (D-Ky.) was presented with the Allyship Award.
(Washington Blade photos by Michael Key)
The umbrella LGBTQ sports organization Team D.C. held its annual Night of Champions Gala at the Georgetown Marriott on Saturday, April 18. Team D.C. presented scholarships to local student athletes and presented awards to Adam Peck, Manuel Montelongo (a.k.a. Mari Con Carne), Dr. Sara Varghai and the Centaur Motorcycle Club. Sean Bartel was posthumously honored with the Most Valuable Person Award.
(Washington Blade photos by Michael Key)
Television
‘Big Mistakes’ an uneven – but worthy – comedic showcase
In the years since “Schitt’s Creek” wrapped up its six season Emmy-winning run, nostalgia for it has grown deep – especially since the still painfully recent loss of its iconic leading lady, Catherine O’Hara, whose sudden passing prompted a social media wave of clips and tributes featuring her fan-favorite performance as the deliciously daft Moira Rose. Revisiting so many favorite scenes and funny moments from the show naturally reminded us of just how much we loved it, even needed it during the time it was on the air; it also reminded us of how much we miss it, and how much it feels now like something we need more than ever.
That, perhaps more than anything else, is why the arrival of “Big Mistakes” – the new Netflix series starring, co-created and co-written by Dan Levy – felt so welcome. We knew it wouldn’t be the Roses, but it seemed cut from the same cloth, and it had David Rose (or at least someone who seemed a lot like him) in the middle of a comically dysfunctional family dynamic, complete with a mother who gets involved in town politics and a catty sibling rivalry with his sister, and still nebbish-ly uncomfortable in his own gay shoes. Only this time, instead of running a pastor of the local church, and instead of a collection of kooky small town neighbors to contend with, there are gangsters.
As it turns out, it really does feel cut from the same cloth, but the design is distinctly different. Set in a fictional New Jersey suburb, it centers on Nicky (Levy) and his sister Morgan (Taylor Ortega) – he openly gay with an adoring boyfriend (Jacob Gutierrez), yet still obsessive about keeping it all invisible to his congregation, and she drudging aimlessly through life as an underpaid schoolteacher after failing to achieve her New York dreams of show biz success – who inadvertently become enmeshed in a shady underworld when a gesture for their dead grandmother’s funeral goes horribly awry.
They’re surrounded by a crew of equally compromised characters. There’s their mother Linda (Laurie Metcalf), whose campaign to become the town’s mayor only intensifies her tendency to micromanage her children’s lives; Yusuf (Boran Kuzum), the Turkish-American mini-mart operator who pulls them into the criminal conspiracy yet is himself a victim of it; Max (Jack Innanen), Morgan’s live-in boyfriend, who pushes her for a deeper commitment and is willing to go to couples’ therapy to prove it; Annette, his mother (Elizabeth Perkins), who lends her society standing toward helping Linda’s campaign against a misogynistic opponent (Darren Goldstein); and Ivan (Mark Ivanir), the seemingly ruthless crime boss who enslaves the siblings into his network but may really be just another slave in it himself. It’s a well-fleshed out assortment of characters that helps our own loyalties shift and adapt, generating at least a degree of empathy – if not always sympathy – that keeps everyone from coming off as a merely “black-and-white” caricature of expectations and typecasting.
To be sure, it’s an entertaining binge-watch, full of distinctive characters – all inhabiting familiar, even stereotypical roles in the narrative – who are each given a degree of validation, both in writing and performance, as the show unspools its narrative. At the same time, it makes for a fairly bleak overall view of humanity, in which it’s difficult to place our loyalties with anyone without also embracing a kind of “dog eat dog” morality in which nobody is truly innocent – but nobody is completely to blame for their sins, anyway.
In this way, it’s a show that lets us off the hook in the sense that it places the idea of ethical guilt within a framework of relative evils as it permits us to forgive our own trespasses through our acceptance of its lovably amoral – when it comes right down to it – characters, each of whom has their own reasons and justifications for what they do. We relate, but we can’t quite shake the notion that, if all these people hadn’t been so caught up in their own personal dramas, none of them would have ended up in the compromised morality that they do, and that they are all therefore, at some level, to blame for whatever consequences they endure.
However, it’s not some bleak morality play that Levy and crew undertake; rather, it’s more an egalitarian fantasy in which even “bad” choices feel justified by inevitability. Everybody has their reasons for doing what they do, and most of those reasons make enough sense to us that it’s hard to judge any of the characters for making the choices – however unwise – that they do. In a system where everyone is forced to compromise themselves in order to achieve whatever dream of self-fulfillment they may have, how can anybody really blame themselves for doing what they have to do to survive?
Of course, all things considered, this is more a relatable comedy than it is a morality play, and it is, perhaps, taking things a bit too seriously to go that “deep.” As a comedy of errors, it all works well enough on its own without imposing an ideology on it, no matter how much we may be tempted to do so. Indeed, what is ultimately more to the point is how well this pseudo-cynical exercise in the normalization of corruption – for that is what it really about, in the end – succeeds in letting us all off the hook for our compromises. In a reality in which we can only respond to corruption by finding the ethical validation for making the choice to survive, how can we judge ourselves – or anyone else – for doing whatever is necessary?
In the end, of course, maybe all that analysis is too deep a dive for a show that feels, in the end, so clearly to be focused merely on reminding us of how much necessity dictates our choices –for truly, the fate of all its characters hinges on how well they respond to the compromised decisions that must make along the way. The more important observation, perhaps, has to do with the necessity to make such moral choices along our way – and it comes not from a moralistic urge toward making the “right” choice as much as it does from a candid recognition that all of us are compromised from the outset, and that’s a refreshing enough bit of honesty that we can easily get on board.
It helps that the performances are on point, especially the loony and wide-eyed fanaticism of Metcalf – surely the MVP of any project in which she is involved – and the directly focused moral malleability of Ortega, Levy, of course, is Levy – a now-familiar persona that can exist within any milieu without further justification than its own queer relatability – and, in this case, at least, that’s both the icing on the cake and substance that defines it. That’s enough to make it an essential view for fans, queer or otherwise, of his distinctive “brand,” even if he – or the show itself – doesn’t quite satisfy in the way that “Schitt’s Creek” was able to do.
Seriously, though, how could it?
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