VOA慢速英语2015 歌手萨姆·史密斯赢得格莱美大奖

 

Singer Sam Smith Wins Big at the Grammys 歌手萨姆·史密斯赢得格莱美大奖

Soulful singer Sam Smith was the big winner Sunday night at the 57th annual Grammy Awards in Los Angeles, California. Smith took home four awards: Best New Artist, Best Pop Vocal¹ Album, Song of the Year and Record of the Year.

The British artist’s 2014 album, “In the Lonely Hour,” was about the painful break-up he experienced last year with someone he loved. But Smith noted² the happy ending. He accepted his final award for Record of the Year by thanking the one who broke his heart, “cause you got me four Grammys,” he said.

The big surprise of the night was in the Album of the Year category. Many expected Beyoncé to win for her self-titled album. But musician Beck took home the award for his album “Morning Phase.”

The recording³ was also honored with the Best Rock Album award.

Kanye West played a little trick on Beck and the crowd at the Staples⁴ Center.  He jumped up on stage as Beck was accepting the award. The move was similar to the bad behavior he displayed at the 2009 Video Music Awards. At that event, West interrupted Taylor Swift’s acceptance speech to tell the crowd that Beyoncé deserved the award that Swift had just received.

However, Sunday night, West left the stage immediately, laughing. The audience realized it was just a prank⁵. West even fooled Beyoncé’s husband, Jay-Z, who gave a look of horror when West jumped on the stage.

Beyoncé did not go home with empty hands Sunday night. She won three Grammys, including Best R&B Song and Best R&B Performance for her song, “Drunk in Love.”

Other Grammy winners included country singer Miranda Lambert and rapper-singer Pharell Williams. The show included a video message from President Barack Obama about ending domestic violence.

?Critical opinion was mixed about the musical performances at the Grammy Awards. Most critics praised Lady Gaga and Tony Bennett for their delivery of “Cheek to Cheek.”

The combination of Paul McCartney, Kanye West and Rihanna performing her new song “FourFiveSeconds” was also well received.

And the crowd roared for the performance of Sia’s song, “Chandelier.” Actresses Kristen Wiig and Maddie Ziegler danced to the song.

Opinion was not as singular when it came to Beyoncé’s performance of the gospel song, “Take My Hand, Precious Lord.” Many critics praised it, but social media posts show a mixed reaction.

Many tweets expressed anger that the Grammy Awards changed the plan for the song last week. Reports say Ledisi had been set to perform the song but Beyoncé asked to take her place.

Other posts on social media had some fun with the clothing fashions of the night. Some wrote that Rihanna’s large, bright pink dress looked like a “cake topper.” 

Others compared reality show Kim Kardashian’s sparkly outfit⁶ to a robe worn by professional wrestler⁷ Ric Flair⁸.

Pharell Williams received not so welcome comments about his choice of short pants, hotel worker hat and glittering, yellow shoes that seemed just a little brighter than the sun.

Words in this Story

category  - n. a group of people or things that are similar in some way

display – v. to show that you have (an emotion, quality, skill, etc.)

prank -– n. a trick that is done to someone, usually as a joke

fool -– v. to make (someone) believe something that is not true: to trick (someone)

domestic -– adj. relating to or involving someone's home or family

fashion – n. a popular way of dressing⁹ during a particular time or among a particular group of people

glittering – adj. shining brightly

1 vocal   

adj.直言不讳的；嗓音的；n.[pl.]声乐节目

参考例句：

• The tongue is a vocal organ.舌头是一个发音器官。
• Public opinion at last became vocal.终于舆论哗然。

2 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

3 recording   

n.录音，记录

参考例句：

• How long will the recording of the song take?录下这首歌得花多少时间？
• I want to play you a recording of the rehearsal.我想给你放一下彩排的录像。

4 staples   

n.（某国的）主要产品( staple的名词复数 )；钉书钉；U 形钉；主要部份v.用钉书钉钉住( staple的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• The anvil onto which the staples are pressed was not assemble correctly. 订书机上的铁砧安装错位。 来自辞典例句
• I'm trying to make an analysis of the staples of his talk. 我在试行分析他的谈话的要旨。 来自辞典例句

5 prank   

n.开玩笑，恶作剧；v.装饰；打扮；炫耀自己

参考例句：

• It was thought that the fire alarm had been set off as a prank.人们认为火警报警器响是个恶作剧。
• The dean was ranking the boys for pulling the prank.系主任正在惩罚那些恶作剧的男学生。

6 outfit   

n.（为特殊用途的）全套装备，全套服装

参考例句：

• Jenney bought a new outfit for her daughter's wedding.珍妮为参加女儿的婚礼买了一套新装。
• His father bought a ski outfit for him on his birthday.他父亲在他生日那天给他买了一套滑雪用具。

7 wrestler   

n.摔角选手，扭

参考例句：

• The wrestler tripped up his opponent.那个摔跤运动员把对手绊倒在地。
• The stronger wrestler won the first throw.较壮的那个摔跤手第一跤就赢了。

8 flair   

n.天赋，本领，才华；洞察力

参考例句：

• His business skill complements her flair for design.他的经营技巧和她的设计才能相辅相成。
• He had a natural flair for business.他有做生意的天分。

9 dressing   

n.(食物)调料；包扎伤口的用品，敷料

参考例句：

• Don't spend such a lot of time in dressing yourself.别花那么多时间来打扮自己。
• The children enjoy dressing up in mother's old clothes.孩子们喜欢穿上妈妈旧时的衣服玩。