<\/strong>Since Cardi B<\/a> is up a slew of major awards, it\u2019s simple: get Cardi into the show whenever possible. She had one of last year\u2019s classic Grammy moments on the red carpet, when she said, \u201cI\u2019ve got butterflies in my stomach \u2013 and in my vagina!\u201d Let those butterflies soar, Cardi. The world needs you.<\/p>\n
Recreate A Star is Born Let the Players Play Alicia Keys performs with a hologram of Frank Sinatra at the 50th Annual GRAMMY Awards at the Staples Center on February 10, 2008 in Los Angeles. Photo credit: Michael Caulfield\/WireImage<\/p>\n<\/div>\n No Holograms Get LL Cool J<\/a> in the Mix Don\u2019t Invite DJ Khaled Make it Right With Lorde<\/a> Don\u2019t Pick Up the Phone
<\/strong>Hey, Gaga and Bradley Cooper are nominated. So is Brandi Carlile, who\u2019s in the movie rocking alongside them for the fateful scene where the Roy Orbison tribute goes horribly wrong. As Halsey would say, \u201cHow great!\u201d So let\u2019s see that Roy tribute. (They could even get Andrew Dice Clay to show up and frown sadly. Dice is probably free that night.) This is a historic opportunity, Grammys \u2013 don\u2019t let it pass by. Remember when the Oscars blew it after\u00a0The Bodyguard<\/em> by not bringing up Kevin Costner to take a bullet for Whitney on live TV? Never again!<\/p>\n
<\/strong>What can you say about a year when Taylor Swift has the year\u2019s best-selling album, yet snags exactly as many Grammy noms (one) as the Grateful Dead, Sting or Jimmy Carter? Here\u2019s what you can say: Nobody gives a rat\u2019s ass who wins the actual awards\u2014even less this year than usual. So phase out the trophies and make more time for musical performances. We watch the Grammys to see the stars do what they do best, which is (spoiler!) not<\/em>\u00a0make acceptance speeches. The more music, the better.<\/p>\n![\"LOS](\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/alicia-keys-frank-sinatra.jpg?w=1024\")
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<\/strong>Alicia Keys is hosting this year\u2019s show \u2013 a long-deserved do-over for for her, 11 years after one of the most humiliating Grammy stunts ever, the time they made poor Alicia sing a duet with a Frank Sinatra hologram. \u201cSing it, Frank! Yeeeaaah! Tell \u2018em!\u201d There\u2019s more than enough living legends for Alicia to schmooze this year.<\/p>\n
<\/strong>The Grammys and LL Cool J are a match made in heaven \u2013 whenever he hosted, the Grammys were a guaranteed blast. Uncle L can slay in hip-hop throwdowns (like his Adam Yauch tribute with Chuck D, Travis Barker and Tom Morello). But he\u2019s also got the finesse for tricky moments like his graceful Whitney Houston tribute, after she died the weekend of the ceremony. He\u2019s not hosting this year, but the show always elevates when LL shows up to rock the bells.<\/p>\n
<\/strong>This windbag cannot stop yelling his name on TV, with his pitifully pompous hype-man bellow and his Long Island wedding-DJ schlock. He makes any occasion feel so small-time. So send him an invite for some other event, hopefully in Anarctica.<\/p>\n
<\/strong>Last year had the fiasco when they refused to let Lorde do \u201cGreen Light\u201d \u2013 so she just sat in the audience all night, while we all wondered why she wasn\u2019t singing instead of Shaggy. Academy president Neil Portnow made it worse after the show, saying female artists need \u201cto step up.\u201d It was a castastrophic branding fail for the Grammys. Setting aside airtime for Portnow speeches is never a GOOD idea; this year, it\u2019s an especially bad one. So pass the mic to Lorde.<\/p>\n
<\/strong>You know he\u2019s only calling because he\u2019s drunk and alone. Sorry \u2013 for a moment there, I thought I was Best New Artist nominee Dua Lipa! Rooting hard for you, Dua.<\/p>\n![\"Cher](\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/grammy-improvements-cher.jpg?w=835\")
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