No, no, calm down. If you’re a musician I’m not saying you’re a baby. Got your attention though!
What I’m referring to is awards shows. Last night the Junos (Canadian Grammies) were on and all the musicians in attendance either looked they they were going out clubbing, had just arrived from the gym, or had simply thrown on random items of clothing from Jim’s House of Stuff Homeless People Wouldn’t Be Caught Dead In. Bruce Cockburn accepted a lifetime award dressed as if he had jogged five miles to the auditorium. Nelly Furtado accepted four awards wearing an outfit you might wear to go out drinking at a bar in a university town.
Music awards shows are always like that; it’s as if musicians can’t get out of character. They’re about to accept an award in front of million of people and they come in blue jeans or torn up crap. “Divas” occasionally remember to wear evening gowns, though I imagine they wear evening gowns to bed.
Now, you watch the Oscars or the Emmys, and the actors accepting awards almost always wear tuxedos and evening gowns. (Not at the same time.) Most of these people dress like slobs all the time, but when it comes time to receive an award, they manage to throw on something that looks sort of formal.
Why can’t professional musicians at least slap on something half-nice to go to an awards ceremony when actors always manage to at least find a tie?
I think it has to do with maintaining an image. There are, of course, different genres of music, and within those genres, there are distinct styles of dress. There are always the exceptions, but for the most part, musicians stick to wearing what their genre permits.
Actors, on the other hand, don’t really fit into a genre. Yes, I know there are some who are typecasted, but by and large, most aren’t. Having said that, there isn’t a “code of dress” for them. So what do they end up doing? Just going looking like everyone else.
There are only two tangible public attributes of a musician: a voice and a style. At an awards show, you don’t really have the voice part on display, so you have to work even harder to keep the style consistent. Otherwise you muddle the identity of the act, which defeats the whole point of going to the awards show anyway. Really, would most people be able to identify Fred Durst without a red baseball cap on? Or Bono without the shades? Or Toni Braxton with clothes on? The brand includes the style, so it has to be maintained.
It’s not just the Junos; look at the Grammies or the American Music Awards. It’s as if musicians just can’t step out of their stage character to attend one lousy awards ceremony, or they’re just incapable of understanding why you should dress up every once in awhile.
The low ratings for the Junos aren’t the point. (It’s easy to explain that; they gave four Junos to someone named “Nelly Furtado” and I have yet to meet anyone who knows who “Nelly Furtado” is.)
I see Smackfu’s point about maintaining a style, but why are musicians obligated to maintain that style even in inappropriate settings? Aren’t they people apart from their stage personas?
Frankly, if I was going to accept an award for anything (which is unlikely for several reasons) I’d go in what I wear everyday. Probably jeans and flannel. I have no use for people think clothes are important beyond a basis minimum (keep the naughty bits covered, etc).
Perhaps musicians and Bill Gates are like the pre-chopping block French aristocrats. Maybe they surrrounded by yes men and in the morning just stand there while someone else
picks out their clothes and buttons their buttons while
they uselessly flap their hands and look vaguely important?
bella big Mouth
“You might as well fall flat on your face as lean over too far backward.”
