Posted: 1/29/18 at 10:17am
What did you think of his performance?
I personally loved it very much, and thought it complemented his voice brilliantly.
Posted: 1/29/18 at 10:35am
Very nice.
Posted: 1/29/18 at 10:40am
His interpretation of "Somewhere" was quite wonderful.
Posted: 1/29/18 at 10:56am
Posted: 1/29/18 at 10:57am
He was excellent. I even wondered if he had Spielberg's upcoming project on his mind...
Posted: 1/29/18 at 10:58am
Posted: 1/29/18 at 11:11am
He certainly can sing! But I would have rather heard all the right notes that Lenny wrote.
I understand it's the Grammies and they would want a contemporary feel but Bernstein's music is timeless.
And was the stripped shirt an homage to DEAR EVAN or was his real outfit still in the cleaners?
He looked very underdressed to me.
Posted: 1/29/18 at 11:26am
Posted: 1/29/18 at 11:27am
Posted: 1/29/18 at 11:28am
It was rather "meh" to me. The arrangement did him no favors- if we're honoring Leonard Bernstein, why would they have him sing a pop arrangement of the song? Why not let him sing it the way Lenny intended it?
It didn't really do much for me- in a lot of ways it felt like he was still playing Evan Hansen. He wasn't acting the song at all- appeared to just stand there and sing. Compare that to Patti, who both acted and sung the hell out of it, in the original key no less. I suppose Platt would have been fine enough were it not for Patti coming out immediately afterwards and delivering that knockout performance.
Updated On: 1/29/18 at 11:28 AM
Posted: 1/29/18 at 11:28am
Posted: 1/29/18 at 11:42am
Posted: 1/29/18 at 11:50am
Posted: 1/29/18 at 12:04pm
Bwayfan292 said: "I think thats the last of ben doing something theatre related for a long time. I think hes surfaced the music insusty enough that he probally wont come back."
He will def come back it might just be a few years. I think he wants to branch out and try new stuff for sure but I still think theater is his number one passion.
Posted: 1/29/18 at 12:11pm
Posted: 1/29/18 at 12:45pm
pretty much agree with most people here. He has a lovely voice but wished he would have sang the song the way it was written (damn American Idol for interjecting riffs throughout a song) especially since it was a tribute to Bernstein. Don't blame him, I'm sure he was just directed to sing it that way.
Patti did demand that any changes to "Don't Cry for Me Argentina" be done by the composer since they had to cut a minute from it. Ben didn't have that luxury.
Posted: 1/29/18 at 12:52pm
denali.fire said: "It was his first song on a really national venue. Grammys might even be a bit national. .
He got a standing ovation.
I thought it was a truly passionate breakout performance
"
But did blue Ivey stand first? It only matters if blue Ivey was the first to stand.
Posted: 1/29/18 at 12:56pm
There have been countless threads on here over the years about how meaningless standing ovations are nowadays. Are we really going to be hypocrites and use a standing ovation at the Grammy Awards as a barometer of greatness?
Posted: 1/29/18 at 12:59pm
Posted: 1/29/18 at 3:08pm
denali.fire said: "It was his first song on a really national venue. Grammys might even be a bit national. .
He got a standing ovation.
I thought it was a truly passionate breakout performance
"
The Tony Awards and the various late night and morning shows he performed Waving Through A Window on weren't 'national venues?'
Like I said in the other thread, I like Ben Platt and his talent a lot but felt like he was really out of his element. It seemed like Evan Hansen trying to sing Bernstein.
Posted: 1/29/18 at 3:14pm
Posted: 1/29/18 at 3:15pm
It seems I'm one of the few that didn't care for his performance. The clipped "...for us" was almost irritating and I felt I was watching Evan Hansen sing West Side. I also did not understand the contemporary arrangement when this was supposed to be a celebration of Leonard Bernstein. Ben is a very talented artist, but this was not the right song for him. He's not the leading man-Tony type, so the performance didn't work for me.
Updated On: 1/29/18 at 03:15 PM
Posted: 1/29/18 at 3:31pm
He has a great voice don’t get me wrong, but I hated his phrasing, it felt like he was still playing Evan. Its”there’s a place for us...breath...somewhere.....” and not “There’s a place....breath...forus SOMEWHERE”
You just felt his nervous energy for a song that should be and was likely chosen for its optimism in the face of adversity. If they were adamant about having Platt perform he should of done Something’s Coming or Maria.
If they wanted Somewhere to be sung they should of gone with other CBS family broadway stars like Jeremy Jordan, Patina Miller, or Christopher Jackson (another Grammy winner).
If anything they should of chosen New York, New York, as it would if been on the nose, and should of opened the show with a taped piece bringing in the Nominees at the various locations in the song, and then mixing it with Jay-Z’a Empire state and Billy Joel’sNew York state of mind. They were at Billy Joel’s home venue and didn’t even have him perform. thats an argument dor a different day though.
Updated On: 1/29/18 at 03:31 PM
