NouveauDance said:

laurarichardson said:

Maddonna was ripped because she sucked.

Yup. And so did Mars.

But not as much.

Bruno has never claimed to be Prince...he was paying tribute to Prince...........just like gaga did last year with Bowie, Gaga dressed up as Bowie.......

Ok, since everyone (well most everyone) hated the Bruno Mars performance.....who instead, would you guys have "approved" of?? I wouldn't want to see the Revolution cause that would just be too painful to see them WITHOUT Prince. The Time did a good job (I thought Bruno did too, but Im in the minority with that thought). So who WOULD have been the right person in your opinion? I'm also still sticking by wanting to see Lenny Kravitz do some kind of tribute! Love that guy.

ksl1974 said:

Ok, since everyone (well most everyone) hated the Bruno Mars performance.....who instead, would you guys have "approved" of?? I wouldn't want to see the Revolution cause that would just be too painful to see them WITHOUT Prince. The Time did a good job (I thought Bruno did too, but Im in the minority with that thought). So who WOULD have been the right person in your opinion? I'm also still sticking by wanting to see Lenny Kravitz do some kind of tribute! Love that guy.

does anyone really truly wanna see Lenny Kravitz up there,playing a bland,lifeless version of a song like "She's Always In My Hair"? I say,no more tributes.The best way to "tribute" Prince is to just simply listen to his music,watch his concerts,etc.

RodeoSchro said:

purplepoppy said:

Yes but it was visually off. Prince would have noticed that imo. I'm sure there are beaucoup symbols at PP they could have measured for scale.

Yeah, but I like the thicker symbol. It bugs me when it's too thin.

I said it was splitting hairs. My comment as a visual artist, sorry. Not funky at all.

The New Yorker's article about Prince's grammy tribute nailed why (no matter how well it was executed), it just didn't quite cut it. It lacked reverence for his death and the originality Prince was capable of..

http://www.newyorker.com/...-of-prince

Most reviews of Bruno's performance have been positive. He did his best and put a great deal of effort into it. they made it an historical re-telling and were kind of re-inventing the Purple Rain plot. But the accolades are more for the performance than for what it meant in terms of Prince. Prince was represented almost as the stereotype of Prince. Plus, the song lacked depth. Let's go Crazy is just not Prince's best work. I wonder why When Doves Cry is barely used in tributes. THat great and personal piece of work could have been both moving and funky.

Good execution, poor choice of song.

[Edited 2/13/17 15:21pm]

paulludvig said:

purplerabbithole said:

laurarichardson said:

purplerabbithole said:

PennyPurple said:

Bruno has never claimed to be Prince...he was paying tribute to Prince...........just like gaga did last year with Bowie, Gaga dressed up as Bowie.......

He was dressed in his clothes and wearing his guitar, no claims needed, if you are going to give a tribute to Prince, be yourself, and not a recreation of the exact artist you are paying tribute to.

Adele did great, notice she wasn't wearing the George Michael Wake Me Up Before You Go Go outfit and doing that silly dance from the video. She let her artistry come through without any gimmicks, very sincere performance.

And let's be honest here, Bruno had no choice in the matter, he does what his label tells him to do I am sure, because at the end of the day, him being up there was not about Prince, but about getting more people to buy Bruno Mars albums. Thats just how this stuff works unfortunately in most cases, money before sincerety.

This is not a dig at Bruno personally, he has talent for sure. The industry as a whole is evil and likely to stay that way for a very long time.

Other than Lenny Kravitz, the only "tribute" I would have liked to see (and I told my daughter this the night before even!)....is just Prince songs/videos being played...by/of Prince. (previous appearances, concerts, super bowl performance, etc)... At the loudest possible decibel! Maybe with the stage lit up and full of his memoribila....the motorcyle...a few of his outfits....all things PRINCE. With maybe some purple haze floating thru the stage.... And had no one sing. No one perform. Just have "him" up there one last time.

.

Tyka's audience reaction to Adele's do over:

.

.

.

I think this little girl's reaction is priceless:

.

.

Its not "who". Its "how".

ksl1974 said:

Ok, since everyone (well most everyone) hated the Bruno Mars performance.....who instead, would you guys have "approved" of?? I wouldn't want to see the Revolution cause that would just be too painful to see them WITHOUT Prince. The Time did a good job (I thought Bruno did too, but Im in the minority with that thought). So who WOULD have been the right person in your opinion? I'm also still sticking by wanting to see Lenny Kravitz do some kind of tribute! Love that guy.

Bruno's performance was nice, but hollow, empty. It cannot be anything else. Prince is gone. And commercial productions are so not a tribute to him. The spirit that brought them to life has moved on--and the music without Prince's soul, well, is sad.

Perhaps somone will invite all the artists Prince mentored to sing their own songs. Share with us their spirit he saw in them.

I see your point, but if we want real reverence (that doesn't include music clips--which is what it really should be) then we will have to accept that his best and most profound songs will have to be covered.

Actually, I think turning a relatively light-hearted song into a sadder version would have been both impressive and touching. LIke Controversy has a sad under-tone with its Do I believe in God? Do I believe in me? Some people want to die so they can be free. Imagine that song as a slow piano lament.

SoulAlive said:

purplerabbithole said:

The New Yorker's article about Prince's grammy tribute nailed why (no matter how well it was executed), it just didn't quite cut it. It lacked reverence for his death and the originality Prince was capable of..

http://www.newyorker.com/...-of-prince

Most reviews of Bruno's performance have been positive. He did his best and put a great deal of effort into it. they made it an historical re-telling and were kind of re-inventing the Purple Rain plot. But the accolades are more for the performance than for what it meant in terms of Prince. Prince was represented almost as the stereotype of Prince. Plus, the song lacked depth. Let's go Crazy is just not Prince's best work. I wonder why When Doves Cry is barely used in tributes. THat great and personal piece of work could have been both moving and funky.

Good execution, poor choice of song.

[Edited 2/13/17 15:21pm]

No no no! "When Doves Cry" should NEVER be performed by anyone else.

Another dis-satisfied listener... a bit snobby but I think his no-nonsense honesty is refreshing...

http://sacramento.cbsloca...ps.twitter

purplerabbithole said:

purplerabbithole said:

wonder505 said:

I really don't get how you guys are so bothered by Bruno dressing up as Prince. It's mind boggeling to me.

I mean, even Prince knew that his Purple Rain outfit is a staple. People came dressed as him at concerts.

During the BET concert Janelle Monae and her dancers wore outfits of his past and it worked.

I enjoyed it. Is he Prince, hell no. But he channeled Prince in that guitar and I could tell he tried really hard not to mess it up.

I'm satisfied.

It's the usual orgers who think they KNOW what Prince would and would not like and they don't know shit! At the end of the day Bruno was up there on stage and we weren't.

Iamtheorg said:

The Time seemd like their time was up. Even with the added ogs Jimmy, Terry, and Jesse. I mean dman. What was that ?Weak sauce not chili sauce.

I'm glad I'm not the only one who felt that way.

It's the usual orgers who think they KNOW what Prince would and would not like and they don't know shit! At the end of the day Bruno was up there on stage and we weren't.

Hold up a bit. I don't care what Prince would want or not want. He didn't always think in ways that were in his own best interest. I respect what he was trying to do but it was at the expense of his legacy. I think the Spotify stuff is just fine and doesn't undermine the idea of artists' rights. And why? Because whatever money is earned off PRince's work from now on should be more about his legacy. If his family wants a lump sum to insure that the world learns his music, then so be it. Artists' rights go out the window when the artist is dead. As long as the music is respected and not exploited, I dont imagine he really would care since he is gone(well, he shouldn't anyway). Take for example the Vault. He once said that someday the music will be released but it probably won't be by him. The dude didn't have a will. How worried could he have been? Artists rights are for the living, not the dead or his/her mooching family. As long as Prince's music is available to be heard and his legacy is respected (and his songs are not placed on Nike commercials like MJ did to the Beatles Revolution), that is all that matters. My only problem with Spotify is that they don't have his later work. There are probably at least 50 songs from his later work that are worthy of a lot of his 80's work. Those gems should be heard as well even if people have to ignore some songs and acknowledge that Prince sometimes missed the mark.

Back to Bruno. Bruno's performance was good. But a tribute should be more about the artist who died than the performers who are doing their music. And they should never be impersonation. I dislike impersonations. THey turn the original performer into a serious of gestures and gimmics rather than a instinctive emotional conveyer of their artistry. I think music tributes are kind of awful as a concept. They freeze the musician in amber, give a limited perspective of his/her work, don't show the artists own stage presense. Run this through your mind...Prince's own Let's Go Crazy will probably never get more than 500,000 hits (the one from 2014 as well as the superbowl) on youtube. Bruno's impersonation will probably get 20 million hits. ANd this is not Prince's fault. He has been dead for nine months and many of these performances have been up since he died.

When the Oscars do a tribute to a deceased actor or writer/director, they don't have other famous and more youthful actors act out their scenes on stage. They provide a well-edited and heart-felt mini-documentary with clips in it. When Marlon Brando died, did they hire Johnny Depp to yell out "Stella" during the scene from On the Waterfront? Nope, because that would be disrespectful.

I think Bruno probably had the best intentions. His fan letter to P while he was alive proves that he likes him. But if I didn't know about that letter, I would think this wasn nothing more than an All About Eve scenario...a bit predatory and exploitive like Eve studying Margo (Bette Davis) and claiming that she is her biggest fan only to show her true colors later. She has been studying her in order to replace her. I don't think Bruno is delilberately being an Eve (after all, he already has this own career) but inadvertedly he kind of just became her.

You tell em Margo.

"Eve Harden ain't got shit on me"--Margo Channing.

TurnItUp said:

wonder505 said:

I really don't get how you guys are so bothered by Bruno dressing up as Prince. It's mind boggeling to me.

I mean, even Prince knew that his Purple Rain outfit is a staple. People came dressed as him at concerts.

During the BET concert Janelle Monae and her dancers wore outfits of his past and it worked.

I enjoyed it. Is he Prince, hell no. But he channeled Prince in that guitar and I could tell he tried really hard not to mess it up.

I'm satisfied.

It's the usual orgers who think they KNOW what Prince would and would not like and they don't know shit! At the end of the day Bruno was up there on stage and we weren't.

[Edited 2/13/17 22:17pm]

purplerabbithole said:

PennyPurple said:

Bruno has never claimed to be Prince...he was paying tribute to Prince...........just like gaga did last year with Bowie, Gaga dressed up as Bowie.......

It's the whole "dressing up as" thingy that bothers me. Why???? It's just plain silly.

ksl1974 said:

Ok, since everyone (well most everyone) hated the Bruno Mars performance.....who instead, would you guys have "approved" of?? I wouldn't want to see the Revolution cause that would just be too painful to see them WITHOUT Prince. The Time did a good job (I thought Bruno did too, but Im in the minority with that thought). So who WOULD have been the right person in your opinion? I'm also still sticking by wanting to see Lenny Kravitz do some kind of tribute! Love that guy.

Nobody. Just play a collection of really good videos for a few minutes and let everyone in the audience and ant home be in his awe once again. Thank you.

pennylover said:

Iamtheorg said:

The Time seemd like their time was up. Even with the added ogs Jimmy, Terry, and Jesse. I mean dman. What was that ?Weak sauce not chili sauce.

I'm glad I'm not the only one who felt that way.

I thought they did GREAT!

purplerabbithole said:

It's the usual orgers who think they KNOW what Prince would and would not like and they don't know shit! At the end of the day Bruno was up there on stage and we weren't.

Hold up a bit. I don't care what Prince would want or not want. He didn't always think in ways that were in his own best interest. I respect what he was trying to do but it was at the expense of his legacy. I think the Spotify stuff is just fine and doesn't undermine the idea of artists' rights. And why? Because whatever money is earned off PRince's work from now on should be more about his legacy. If his family wants a lump sum to insure that the world learns his music, then so be it. Artists' rights go out the window when the artist is dead. As long as the music is respected and not exploited, I dont imagine he really would care since he is gone(well, he shouldn't anyway). Take for example the Vault. He once said that someday the music will be released but it probably won't be by him. The dude didn't have a will. How worried could he have been? Artists rights are for the living, not the dead or his/her mooching family. As long as Prince's music is available to be heard and his legacy is respected (and his songs are not placed on Nike commercials like MJ did to the Beatles Revolution), that is all that matters. My only problem with Spotify is that they don't have his later work. There are probably at least 50 songs from his later work that are worthy of a lot of his 80's work. Those gems should be heard as well even if people have to ignore some songs and acknowledge that Prince sometimes missed the mark.

Back to Bruno. Bruno's performance was good. But a tribute should be more about the artist who died than the performers who are doing their music. And they should never be impersonation. I dislike impersonations. THey turn the original performer into a serious of gestures and gimmics rather than a instinctive emotional conveyer of their artistry. I think music tributes are kind of awful as a concept. They freeze the musician in amber, give a limited perspective of his/her work, don't show the artists own stage presense. Run this through your mind...Prince's own Let's Go Crazy will probably never get more than 500,000 hits (the one from 2014 as well as the superbowl) on youtube. Bruno's impersonation will probably get 20 million hits. ANd this is not Prince's fault. He has been dead for nine months and many of these performances have been up since he died.

When the Oscars do a tribute to a deceased actor or writer/director, they don't have other famous and more youthful actors act out their scenes on stage. They provide a well-edited and heart-felt mini-documentary with clips in it. When Marlon Brando died, did they hire Johnny Depp to yell out "Stella" during the scene from On the Waterfront? Nope, because that would be disrespectful.

I think Bruno probably had the best intentions. His fan letter to P while he was alive proves that he likes him. But if I didn't know about that letter, I would think this wasn nothing more than an All About Eve scenario...a bit predatory and exploitive like Eve studying Margo (Bette Davis) and claiming that she is her biggest fan only to show her true colors later. She has been studying her in order to replace her. I don't think Bruno is delilberately being an Eve (after all, he already has this own career) but inadvertedly he kind of just became her.

You tell em Margo.

"Eve Harden ain't got shit on me"--Margo Channing.

It's the usual orgers who think they KNOW what Prince would and would not like and they don't know shit! At the end of the day Bruno was up there on stage and we weren't.

[Edited 2/13/17 22:17pm]

Well said. I thought the BET tribute was appropriate and very well-done. That was enough for me. I would have liked video clips of Prince in performance to be shown behind the singers at the Grammys, but that was just me. And maybe a little less BeeGees and a little more Prince ... I have no idea what Prince thought about awards and tributes. Why The Who received a Kennedy Center Honor and Prince did not confounds me. But he will be featured, I am sure, in the Academy Awards In Memoriam segment, and that should be it. Life goes on ...

[Edited 2/14/17 5:46am]

Prince released a treasure trove of songs, and yet the same three are covered during tributes: "Let's Go Crazy", "Purple Rain" and "Nothing Compares...". I'm so tired of hearing them.

BET and D'Angelo ("Sometimes it Snows in April") showed 'em how it's done.