The biggest surprise of the Grammys in Las Vegas Sunday night was the appearance of Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelensky, who spoke to the audience and the millions watching on television.
In a pre-recorded message, Zelensky encouraged those in the music industry to use their voices to demand an end to Russia’s invasion. He said he had a dream that Ukraine citizens could be as free as the performers on the Grammys stage.
“Our musicians wear body armor instead of tuxedos. They sing to the wounded in hospitals, even to those who can’t hear them. But the music will break through anyway.”
Zelensky is a master communicator and leveraged his time on the world’s biggest stage to encourage the artists to become personally involved in trying to help end the war by speaking the truth about the atrocities committed by Russian soldiers.
“Fill the silence with your music. Fill it today to tell our story. Tell the truth about the war on your social networks, on TV, support us in any way you can, but not silence. And then peace will come to all our cities.”
John Legend performed wearing the blue of Ukraine’s flag and sang the song “Free” in a tribute to Ukraine.
Show host Trevor Noah kicked off the telecast with a joke about Will Smith slapping Chris Rock the previous Sunday at the Oscars.
“Don’t even think of it as an award show. This is a concert where we’re giving out awards. We’re going to be listening to some music, we’re going to be dancing, we’re going to be singing, we’re going to be keeping people’s names out of our mouths.”
Add comment