The 56th Annual Grammy Awards were held Sunday night at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, and once again it was a showcase of brilliant talent and very poor decision-making.

Daft Punk and Macklemore and Ryan Lewis each won four awards, Lorde won two and Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr reunited onstage as the remaining half of The Beatles. Imagine Dragons won a well-deserved Grammy for best rock performance. There was a live Daft Punk medley featuring Stevie Wonder, and Queen Latifah officiated 33 marriages between a diverse group of couples during a rousing performance of “Same Love.” Piano virtuoso Lang Lang joined Metallica onstage for a performance that was odd but likable, as was the collaboration between Miranda Lambert and Billie Joe Armstrong. And guess what? Beloved Northwestern alumnus Stephen Colbert (Communication ’86) won the Grammy for best spoken word album for the audio book of “America Again: Re-becoming The Greatness We Never Weren’t” (that double negative though).

Unfortunately, as has been the case in the last few years, the Grammys displayed a disappointingly narrow variety of nominees and what seemed like a very low sense of respect for their audience. I can deal with the fact that Robin Thicke got three nominations, out of which two were for “Blurred Lines,” because despite its exceedingly misogynistic lyrics and its disturbingly demeaning video, it’s still pretty catchy. But did we need another live performance of it? Were we not adequately scarred during the 2013 MTV Video Music Awards? How did “The Great Gatsby” and “Les Miserables” BOTH lose the award for best compilation soundtrack for visual media? “Clarity” by Zedd featuring Foxes was fine, but can they ever dream of coming close to the brilliance that is the combined talents of Calvin Harris and the incomparable Florence Welch? NO. Did Muse have the Grammy for best rock song stolen right from their hands? YES. Was Beyonce lip-syncing during her opening performance? PROBABLY.

You may have gathered by now that this year’s Grammys gave me lots of feels, mainly those of indignation, shock and barely-repressed anger. So instead of blindly accepting the winners, I compiled my own list of the nominees I thought should have won in their respective categories, even if it would have meant multiple winners. Listen and enjoy, dear readers!

1. “Locked Out Of Heaven” – Bruno Mars
   
2. “Just Give Me A Reason” – Pink feat. Nate Ruess
   
3. “Mirrors” – Justin Timberlake
   
4. “I’m Shakin’” – Jack White
   
5. “Panic Station” – Muse
   
6. “Brave” – Sara Bareilles
   
7. “Suit & Tie” – Justin Timberlake feat.  Jay Z 
   
8. “Thrift Shop” – Macklemore and Ryan Lewis feat. Wanz
   
9. “Get Lucky” – Daft Punk feat. Pharrell Williams
   
10. “One” – Metallica and Lang Lang
    
11. “Same Love (feat. Mary Lambert)” – Macklemore and Ryan Lewis
    
12. “Kashmir” – Led Zeppelin
    
13. “Atlas” – Coldplay
    
14. “The Stars (Are Out Tonight)” – David Bowie
    
15. “Young and Beautiful” – Lana Del Rey
    
16. “Elephant” – Tame Impala
    
17. “I Need My Girl” – The National
    
18. “Sweet Nothing” – Calvin Harris feat. Florence Welch
    

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