Tonight, the AMAs! Oh my goodness I do love the American Music Awards. Always have. When I was in college, they were held on a Monday night in January, and kicked off the winter awards season. I always seemed to have a night class on Mondays, which I would skip without hesitation. We didn't have DVR then, and no way could you trust the VCR recording. If you missed one detail of manually setting the VCR date, time, length, channel, and ALSO making sure you had a tape inserted that was rewound with ample recording space left... "NOOOOOOOOO!" You could easily miss your one chance. For the AMAs, it simply wasn't worth the risk.
I loved this year's performances from Magic! (Canadian reggae?? a big YES to that), Imagine Dragons, Lorde, and 5 Seconds of Summer (I always want to say "30 Seconds to Mars," who I wish would have also been on tonight). I'm learning to tolerate Taylor Swift, since there seems to be no getting rid of her anyway.
I thought it was sweet when Iggy Azalea won her first AMA and said it was the first award she's ever received in her life. This got me thinking about awards and recognition. Good timing, because Trevor was just going through some boxes in his room earlier tonight and was deciding not to keep some of the trophies he's had since grade school. They just didn't mean that much to him. Most of these were of the "participation" kind, the same as everyone else got. He did show me one award he's definitely keeping, made for him a long time ago by a swim teacher. The teacher repurposed another trophy, writing Trevor's name in marker on the front of it. Pretty funny. But it was repurposed for him, and it only took a small amount of effort on the part of the giver. And it meant something.
Isn't it powerful when you are recognized specifically, by name, for something you've put effort into, whether it's doing your best in a swim class, or making it to the top of the music scene?
Even with all the inflated egos at Hollywood awards shows, I think it probably still means something significant to the artist to hear his or her name read from the stage. This is part of the magic that keeps me hopelessly addicted.
And also the glitz.
2 comments:
This whole post is ... lovely. And I'm not being sarcastic. I don't watch awards shows, and you caused me to re-examine why. First I'd say "duration" because some awards shows go ON AND ON. (Academy Awards, I'm looking at you.) Second, I always feel bad for the "losers." Third, I fret that someone will screw up a performance. Huh. That reason even strikes me as kind of weird. Having been in an industry that loves awards (journalism) and, I hasten to add, having won a BUNCH (OK, some, I got them in a box around here somewhere), I can tell you it doesn't suck to win, but I can also tell you it's a pretty fleeting high. BUT, to your larger point, yes, recognition is cool. I would add that power behind the recognition stems from who's doing the recognizing. That's why quiet, private recognition from someone you greatly respect is more powerful than a box full of dusty journalism awards. Thanks for making me think! -- Bill
I agree about the source of the recognition being key.
And I've decided that we're having you and Rhonda over for one of the big awards nights coming up the beginning of the year... maybe the Golden Globes, which are my personal favorite. We'll laugh, we'll cry...
And remember, there are no losers because "it's an honor to just be nominated." And also because they get amazing loot bags from these things.
It's a goal of mine to be a seat-filler for one of these things someday. (And to hopefully get an award for being the best seat-filler.)
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