Whether or not the 60th Annual Grammy Awards on Sunday owes its lowest viewing audience in nine years to the extensive three-and-a-half hour length, or simply to a performance lineup that didn’t quite evoke as much excitement as in previous years, this year’s broadcast delivered its fair share of entertainment, surprises and even a little controversy.

The 2018 Grammys definitely had its moments. Rapper Kendrick Lamar delivered a captivating, politically-charged opening performance with a combination of songs from his Grammy-nominated album DAMN. Singer Bruno Mars joined rapper Cardi B in their energetic collaboration “Finesse”. DJ Khaled was joined by Rihanna and Bryson Tiller for a bright, well-choreographed display of their hit song “Wild Thoughts”.

Later, Kesha took to the stage, along with Camila Cabello, Cyndi Lauper, Julia Michaels, Andra Day and Bebe Rexha to sing her ballad “Praying”, nominated for Best Pop Solo performance. This song addressed Kesha’s long standing legal battle with music producer Dr. Luke over sexual and emotional abuse. Her performance became a crowd favorite due to the emotion it conveyed.

“Kesha’s performance was moving and showed true artistry as she battles with her past,” Coppell High School junior Jacob Barnes said. “I found her performance moving and I loved the way she didn’t back down from showing true emotions on stage in front of so many people.”

Another favorite of the night was the closing performance of suicide prevention song “1-800-273-8255” by Logic, Alessia Cara and Khalid.

“My favorite Grammy performance was Logic and Alessia Cara’s performance of ‘1-800-273-8255’,” CHS sophomore Esha Makkar said. “It conveyed such a powerful and important message across the audience and everyone else watching.”

However, the 2018 Grammys, especially the awards given out, were a frustrating experience for some viewers. Singer Alessia Cara was the only televised female artist to bring home an award, for Best New Artist; even then, that award felt a bit out of place, since her debut album was released in 2015. R&B artist SZA, the most-nominated female artist of the night, came home empty handed, yet still had to perform at the end of the show.

One of the most notable occurrences of the night was Mars bringing home all three of the major Grammy awards — Song of the Year for his song “That’s What I Like”; Record of the Year for his song “24K Magic”; and, more controversially, Album of the Year for his record 24K Magic.

Some thought that Mars rightfully deserved to win.

“Bruno deserved his award[s] 100 percent,” CHS senior Macy McCready said. “His music has such a unique and upbeat style and the songs are so good.”

Others, including myself, felt that Mars’s award for Album of the Year in particular should have gone to a more unique and innovative album. Lamar’s DAMN. seemed like the obvious choice due to its lyrical complexity and it being one of the top-selling albums of 2017. Lorde’s Melodrama was also a strong candidate, being one of the most cohesive and well-made projects of the year.

“I would have thought Kendrick would have received best album as opposed to Bruno Mars,” Barnes said.

CHS freshman Lilly Gorman thinks more awards should have been given out to more under recognized acts, such as the alternative band Gorillaz, who were nominated for Best Dance Recording and Best Alternative Music Album.

“Gorillaz has a really unique sound most of the time,” Gorman said. “They sound different from a lot of other things, in a good way.”

Follow @anthony_SK2017 on Twitter