By now you’ve almost certainly hear that Kanye West announced that he’ll run for president in 2020. You’ve probably also seen memes of Justin Bieber openly weeping onstage during last night’s show. You’ve likely rolled your eyes at host Miley Cyrus’s over-the-top getups from the show.
But unless you watched the show, there’s a good chance you didn’t hear Tori Kelly’s performance, which is a shame because it was incredible.
The new-on-the-scene vocalist (who has actually been pounding the proverbial pavement as a YouTube artist and American Idol also-ran for years) sang her song “Should’ve Been Us” and her voice was just so powerful and technically on point. She sang with the skill and stamina of a Broadway star – and she should be getting more credit for what she did onstage.
Look, there were several amazing performances last night (the Biebs is BACK, y’all), but in terms of pure vocal ability, Tori’s was so worth noting. It’s sad that these days, we’re so much more fascinated by spectacles than we are by talent. We are more taken by the crazy things celebrities say and do and wear than we are by their artistic achievements. I’m not saying those things aren’t important or fun to talk about; I just think we should take a second look at talent and recognize it when we come across it.
In the spirit of that, take a minute and watch Tori Kelly’s performance. I don’t know about you, but I’m pretty blown away by it. Sure, it’s one thing to sound great on a record – especially one that’s been produced and layered and autotuned to no end — but it’s something completely different to nail every single belted note, every little run and every nuanced phrase without ever faltering while performing live.
[protected-iframe id=”70c33a49f3de681084dc4bbb152fe316-860993-72706361″ info=”http://media.mtvnservices.com/embed/mgid:uma:video:mtv.com:1234995/cp~series%3D3200%26id%3D1737438%26vid%3D1234995%26uri%3Dmgid%3Auma%3Avideo%3Amtv.com%3A1234995″ ]
I won’t say that Tori’s performance was the only noteworthy thing to come out of last night’s VMAs. There was a lot that went down, from Nicki Minaj’s onstage beef with host Miley Cyrus to Kanye’s rant about how he doesn’t understand awards shows (which he made at an awards show, mind you). Yes, we should be talking about ‘Ye running for president, because if I had that man’s self-assuredness I’d have surely taken over the world by now. Yes, we should be talking about the fact that Taylor Swift both presented the man who humiliated her years ago with a major award and referred to him as her friend, all while managing to get a truly great dig into the mix. Yes, we should be talking about Justin Bieber’s stellar performance and subsequent breakdown because that was an honest, raw moment from a young man who has had to deal with far too many demons in the public eye. But we should also be talking about Tori Kelly because homegirl can freaking sing. And that’s worth our time.
[Lead image via]
