India's Sandeep Das makes a mark at Grammys, Adele, Beyonce shine away (Intro Roundup)

"Sing Me Home", an album which has contribution from Indian tabla player Sandeep Das, on Sunday won the Best World Music Album at the 59th Grammy Awards, where British star Adele clinched as many as five trophies.

Das is part of Silk Road Ensemble, a collaborative effort by musician Yo-Yo Ma to bring together performers and composers from more than 20 countries.

Their "Sing Me Home" pipped Anoushka Shankar's album "Land Of Gold". The ensemble was also nominated in the Best Music Film for "The Music Of Strangers", but they didn't get the award for it.

Cheering for Das, veteran singer Shubha Mudgal tweeted: "Sandeep Das gets a Grammy for Best World Music Album. Yayyyyyy!"

The awards ceremony saw singer Beyonce Knowles, pregnant with twins, performing with a baby bump. Another highlight was how celebrities didn't shy away from slamming US President Donald Trump through their acts, speeches and even their dressing styles.

Adele, who began the award show at the Staples Center here on Sunday night, bagged all the top honours, including categories like Record Of The Year, Album Of The Year and Song Of The Year. She also took home the trophies for Best Pop Solo Performance and Best Pop Vocal Album awards.

In a heart-warming move, she refused to take the Album Of The Year honour and said Beyonce deserves it more than her.

"I can't possibly accept this award, and I'm very humbled and very grateful and gracious but my life is Beyonce, and the album to me, the 'Lemonade' album," she said, adding that Beyonce is "empowering" all the black people.

Beyonce took the stage to perform "Love drought" and "Sandcastles" from her album "Lemonade", for the first time since announcing her pregnancy. She was introduced on stage by her mother Tina Knowles and received a standing ovation from the audience, which also included her husband Jay Z and daughter Blue Ivy Carter.

Hosted by James Corden, the awards gala, which honours the best in the music industry, also featured special tributes to late singer George Michael by Adele and to late singer Prince by Bruno Mars, The Time and Morris Day.

Another big winner of the night was the late singer David Bowie, who posthumously was given five awards for his 2016 album "Blackstar" in categories like Best Rock Performance, Best Alternative Music Album, Best Rock Song, Best Engineered Album (non-classical) and Best Recording Package.

Defeating the likes of Kanye West and Drake, Chance the Rapper won three nods for Best New Artist, Best Rap Performance and Best Rap Album for "Coloring Book".

The winners of the night included musical duo Twenty One Pilots, who won the Best Pop Duo/Group Performance for "Stressed out". The Chainsmokers' "Don't let me down" was given the Best Dance Recording gramophone, Megadeth as the Best Metal Performance for "Dystopia", "Tell Me I'm Pretty" as the Best Rock Album, Beyonce's "Lemonade" as the Best Contemporary Album and "White Sun II" as Best New Age Album.

Beside awards, the 2017 Grammys also witnessed some power-packed performances by Lady Gaga, Metallica, John Legend, Katy Perry, Demi Lovato and The Weeknd, while some celebrities made political statements starting right from the red carpet.

While musical group Highly Suspect's member Johnny Stevens wore a jacket with "Impeach" written on its back, Perry donned a white pantsuit and had a band on her arms which read: "Persist". Singer Skylar Grey was also carrying a pink LED-enabled clutch across which the words "Empowerment" and "Equality" were written.

During his opening monologue, Corden said: "With President Trump, we don't know what comes next."

Singer-actress Jennifer Lopez and late Michael Jackson's daughter Paris also took a jibe at Trump indirectly while being on stage.

But the direct attack on Trump was made by popular rap group A Tribe Called Quest, who called him "President Agent Orange", in a reference to the toxic defoliant used by the US in the Vietnam war.

There were technical glitches during some gigs.

During her tribute performance to Michael, Adele stopped in between after facing voice malfunction. She later apologised to the audience and started her performance again.

Also, during Lady Gaga's collaborative performance with Metallica, the band's member James Hetfield's microphone stopped working. Still they didn't face any issue as Gaga came forward and shared her microphone with him.

--IANS

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