In Los Angeles’s Crypto.com Arena, the 66th Grammy Awards kicked off with a performance from Dua Lipa (after a quick change out of the long-sleeved silver dress she wore on the red carpet); she serenaded the audience with “Houdini” in a black corseted getup. “I may never look at scaffolding the same,” said host Trevor Noah of Lipa’s opening choreography.
In his opening monologue, Noah managed to offend no one and still amuse his guests. In his brief remarks, he hit all the highlights: the fact that Meryl Streep was in the house (“The Grammys is going to win an Oscar”) as the date of nominee Mark Ronson—her son-in-law. He went on to praise SZA (“No one got more nominations this year than SZA; the most catchy song about a double homicide”), and then celebrated the fact that the night really belonged to women. Seven out of eight Album Of The Year nominees are all women, he reminded the room. “A band called Boygenius won and it’s three women!”
As Noah snaked through the audience, it revealed the star power emanating from the room. Olivia Rodrigo was seated next to Lenny Kravitz; Taylor Swift was near Jack Antonoff and his new bride, Margaret Qualley. Sure, the best performances happen on stage, but those un-scripted moments in the audience are just as entertaining. Here, we turn our attention to the best off-stage moments at the Grammys.
