The 2023 Grammys made a revolutionary return to Los Angeles’ Crypto.com Arena on Sunday, Feb. 4. With groundbreaking performances and wins making Grammy history, viewers were in for an action-packed show. 

From a fiery showing of Sam Smith and Kim Petras’ “Unholy,” to an incredible tribute to hip hop’s 50th anniversary packed with its genre’s luminaries, artists did not come to play – they came to inspire. 

Freshman and musician Sonali Sharma expressed her favorite and most memorable performance of ‘23 Grammys. 

“My favorite performance had to be Bad Bunny’s because I think it is so important and wonderful to represent different cultures,” Sharma said. “I’m a pretty big Bad Bunny fan too, so to see him perform his music and be recognized for it was so amazing.” 

And many would agree. According to Billboard Music, the three top-rated performances were Bad Bunny’s “El Apagón” & “Después de la Playa,” Harry Styles’ “As It Was” and Sam Smith & Kim Petras’ “Unholy.”

Not only were the performances top-notch, but there were many history-making nominations as well as Grammy wins. 

 Beyonce became the most awarded artist in history, receiving four Grammys this year, for dance/electronic recording, dance/electronic album, R&B performance and R&B song. Now Beyonce has 32 Grammys under her belt, making her the most successful Grammy winner, beating the previous record holder Georg Solti, who had held the record since 1997 with 31 wins.

Sage Creek counselor and avid Grammy fan Mrs. Di Benedetto shared her thoughts on Beyonce’s legendary win. 

“It’s pretty remarkable, and she is obviously phenomenal, so she definitely deserves all the praises,” Di Benedetto said. 

In addition, Kim Petras and Sam Smith became the first transgender and nonbinary Grammy pair to win for best pop duo performance. This was a major milestone for the LGBTQ+ community, as Petras follows Wendy Carlos as the second-ever transgender woman to win a Grammy. The pair also made history as the first queer collaborators to reach No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 for “Unholy.” 

Though Grammy’s 2023 had many beautiful moments, viewers had a couple of complaints about the show, including but not limited to the host, the fan focus group category and some of the nominees. 

A lot of fans had some notes about what artist should have won album of the year, so this year producers had a

fan focus group advocate for different artists they thought should win. 

Passionate fans of Harry Styles, Beyonce and Bad Bunny went on stage to promote their personal case of why they thought their artist should have won. The biggest complaint of any awards show is the duration, and this act made an already three-and-a-half-hour show even longer. Many viewers thought it was a waste of time and that the focus group shouldn’t return to next year’s show. 

In addition, fans were not happy with three-peat host Trevor Noah. The audience and viewers watching from home thought his jokes were stale by the end of the show two years ago, so having him host three years in a row made viewers angry at the academy. 

9th grader at Sage Creek Salina Workman expressed her views on Noah’s hosting. 

“I just feel like it was kind of stale,” Workman said. “I got bored with him halfway through the show, and just wanted to see the nominees.” 

There were countless memorable moments, both good and bad, at the Grammys 2023, while the awards showcased music’s biggest stars and had viewers dancing in their living rooms throughout.