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Look at Grammy Awards

Aired February 09, 2004 - 13:37   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Tom O'Neil, Editor of "In Touch" weekly, magazine, joins us live from New York with the evening's highs and lows.
Good to see you, Tom.

TOM O'NEILL, GOLDDERBY.COM: Good to be here, thanks. A lot of lows last night, I think.

PHILLIPS: We'll get to the lows. I'm curious what you thought they were. But Beyonce and Prince, wow, I mean, they rocked didn't they?

O'NEILL: They rocked, and they were very classy, too. It's a terrific way to open up the show. I think that's what we love about the Grammys, that when they team up the old veterans with the new whipper snappers and they do it this well, that's great TV.

PHILLIPS: Oh come one, Prince is still a whipper snapper. I think he will always be a whipper snapper.

O'NEILL: He will. But he's having trouble getting his music distributed. He's not out in there the record stores anymore, and so that means he less in the mainstream.

PHILLIPS: Yes, he's not being sexy and crazy anymore. He's tamed it up. Maybe that's a message.

O'NEILL: Yes, I think that was the problem with the whole Grammy's last night, they were far too tame.

PHILLIPS: Well behaved. Well, a lot of moms will be very happy about that.

All right, speaking of little issues here and there. Let's play this and talk about what happened.

That has not happened. I can't think of the last time that happened, having an audio problem like that, Tom. Do you think she went crazy backstage.

O'NEILL: They had a lot of technical snafus last night. But that's why these shows are so much fun in a way, because they are live, and you can't control these things. It's Hollywood without the script. You remember a few years ago at the Grammys, they cut off Frank Sinatra in mid-sentence acceptance speech because they thought he was rambling too much. These things are inevitable. PHILLIPS: It's like watching CNN, you never know what's going to happen, those live glitches, Tom. We will get wiped off the air any second now. It happens all the time. You try to make up for it.

Now, do you think she really got upset about that, Celine Dion, or she kind of rolled with the punches with things like that? Do you think someone lost their job?

O'NEILL: Somebody in the audio truck probably did lose their job, and deserved to, because there were problems all night. You showed a few seconds of the Sting/ -- tribute to the Beatles. Vince Gill is who I was trying to think of. That was wracked with audio problems as well. They happened all night long. They weren't shutting off, like, the audience mikes when the stage mike were on, and there were all kinds of static and interference going on.

PHILLIPS: I want to get your opinion on this. This sort of surprised, a little political shout-out. Let's listen to Chris Martin.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHRIS MARTIN, MUSICIAN, COLDPLAY: We'd like to dedicate this to Johnny Cash, and to John Kerry, who hopefully will be your president one day.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: OK, explain this to me, Coldplay, OK, Johnny Cash, I can understand. But what's up with the shout-out to John Kerry.

O'NEILL: From a Brit no less. He is a British citizen. And let's talk for a minute about who he didn't mention up there, who is his wife, Gwyneth Paltrow, who is an American citizen, and let's remind everyone, an Oscar winner. And when Oscar winners like Julia Roberts forget to thank their husband, they get all kinds of grief. But he just snubbed poor Gwyneth, who is, of course, pregnant, and he mentioned liberal John Kerry, candidate for Democrat president. This is going to really rile up a lot of people, because they will say, hey, where does this Brit get off telling us who to vote for in America?

PHILLIPS: Well, is there a little inside job going on here, because Gwyneth date John Kerry's stepson.

O'NEILL: Oh, see, you're up on this gossip. I didn't know that.

PHILLIPS: Oh, great, now, we're starting trouble. This is the kind of time we have to get off the air, because now I am going to be held accountable.

All right, We'll move on that, Tom. I thought we'd check the scoop out. You get back to me on that.

All right, let's talk Justin. Let's listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE, MUSICIAN: It's been a rough week on everybody, and what occurred was unintentional, completely regrettable, and I apologize if you guys were offended.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: OK, So, Tom, is this a young guy who has a hot career, and he's like, you know, I'm going to do what ever I have to do to appease the masses here. Has he not reached that rebellious stage yet where he, you know, stands up like a Janet Jackson, says, you know what, I apologize, that's it?

O'NEILL: I was a bit surprised at how he toed the line here. But he's a young gentleman here. He's not riff-raff like the rock 'n' roll crowd. So he was trying show that he can be a real team player. But Janet did apologize, remember, off-camera. And what they were insisting, the producers of the show, is that these two do it on camera. And I'm a little bit surprised that Justin did, because he had leverage that Janet doesn't have. He was up for album of the year, and record of the year and all the top awards. And if he didn't show up, the Grammys would have had a huge problem. But when they put the gun to his head he responded. but she said no.

PHILLIPS: So, Tom, is this sort of a look into the future now when it comes to these shows. I mean, there were so many shock moments that happened in the past year or so with these music shows, from Britney and Madonna, to Janet and Justin, last night was pretty tame. Is that how it is going to carry on, you think?

O'NEILL: I hope not or these shows will be off the air. That was so tame last night, it was a big snooze-fest. We love the Grammy's because anything can happen? remember a couple a years ago, a soy bomber crashed the stage when Bob Dylan was singing, and that wonderful moment when Ricky Martin became a superstar, when he was shaking his bon bon up on stage. And there was a great moment when Aretha Franklin took the stage when Pavarotti couldn't sing his "Puchina Aria (ph)," and she said, I'll show you how to do it. It's great theater, it's great television, and it's what the Grammy do best, but they played it so safe last night, they took the fun out of it.

PHILLIPS: All right, Tom, we'll be talking in a year, we'll see what happens next, all right. We'll monitor. I'll get back to you on the John Kerry scoop, all right.

O'NEILL: All right, you look into that.

PHILLIPS: Yes, I will. Thanks, Tom. See you later.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com







Aired February 9, 2004 - 13:37   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Tom O'Neil, Editor of "In Touch" weekly, magazine, joins us live from New York with the evening's highs and lows.
Good to see you, Tom.

TOM O'NEILL, GOLDDERBY.COM: Good to be here, thanks. A lot of lows last night, I think.

PHILLIPS: We'll get to the lows. I'm curious what you thought they were. But Beyonce and Prince, wow, I mean, they rocked didn't they?

O'NEILL: They rocked, and they were very classy, too. It's a terrific way to open up the show. I think that's what we love about the Grammys, that when they team up the old veterans with the new whipper snappers and they do it this well, that's great TV.

PHILLIPS: Oh come one, Prince is still a whipper snapper. I think he will always be a whipper snapper.

O'NEILL: He will. But he's having trouble getting his music distributed. He's not out in there the record stores anymore, and so that means he less in the mainstream.

PHILLIPS: Yes, he's not being sexy and crazy anymore. He's tamed it up. Maybe that's a message.

O'NEILL: Yes, I think that was the problem with the whole Grammy's last night, they were far too tame.

PHILLIPS: Well behaved. Well, a lot of moms will be very happy about that.

All right, speaking of little issues here and there. Let's play this and talk about what happened.

That has not happened. I can't think of the last time that happened, having an audio problem like that, Tom. Do you think she went crazy backstage.

O'NEILL: They had a lot of technical snafus last night. But that's why these shows are so much fun in a way, because they are live, and you can't control these things. It's Hollywood without the script. You remember a few years ago at the Grammys, they cut off Frank Sinatra in mid-sentence acceptance speech because they thought he was rambling too much. These things are inevitable. PHILLIPS: It's like watching CNN, you never know what's going to happen, those live glitches, Tom. We will get wiped off the air any second now. It happens all the time. You try to make up for it.

Now, do you think she really got upset about that, Celine Dion, or she kind of rolled with the punches with things like that? Do you think someone lost their job?

O'NEILL: Somebody in the audio truck probably did lose their job, and deserved to, because there were problems all night. You showed a few seconds of the Sting/ -- tribute to the Beatles. Vince Gill is who I was trying to think of. That was wracked with audio problems as well. They happened all night long. They weren't shutting off, like, the audience mikes when the stage mike were on, and there were all kinds of static and interference going on.

PHILLIPS: I want to get your opinion on this. This sort of surprised, a little political shout-out. Let's listen to Chris Martin.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHRIS MARTIN, MUSICIAN, COLDPLAY: We'd like to dedicate this to Johnny Cash, and to John Kerry, who hopefully will be your president one day.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: OK, explain this to me, Coldplay, OK, Johnny Cash, I can understand. But what's up with the shout-out to John Kerry.

O'NEILL: From a Brit no less. He is a British citizen. And let's talk for a minute about who he didn't mention up there, who is his wife, Gwyneth Paltrow, who is an American citizen, and let's remind everyone, an Oscar winner. And when Oscar winners like Julia Roberts forget to thank their husband, they get all kinds of grief. But he just snubbed poor Gwyneth, who is, of course, pregnant, and he mentioned liberal John Kerry, candidate for Democrat president. This is going to really rile up a lot of people, because they will say, hey, where does this Brit get off telling us who to vote for in America?

PHILLIPS: Well, is there a little inside job going on here, because Gwyneth date John Kerry's stepson.

O'NEILL: Oh, see, you're up on this gossip. I didn't know that.

PHILLIPS: Oh, great, now, we're starting trouble. This is the kind of time we have to get off the air, because now I am going to be held accountable.

All right, We'll move on that, Tom. I thought we'd check the scoop out. You get back to me on that.

All right, let's talk Justin. Let's listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE, MUSICIAN: It's been a rough week on everybody, and what occurred was unintentional, completely regrettable, and I apologize if you guys were offended.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: OK, So, Tom, is this a young guy who has a hot career, and he's like, you know, I'm going to do what ever I have to do to appease the masses here. Has he not reached that rebellious stage yet where he, you know, stands up like a Janet Jackson, says, you know what, I apologize, that's it?

O'NEILL: I was a bit surprised at how he toed the line here. But he's a young gentleman here. He's not riff-raff like the rock 'n' roll crowd. So he was trying show that he can be a real team player. But Janet did apologize, remember, off-camera. And what they were insisting, the producers of the show, is that these two do it on camera. And I'm a little bit surprised that Justin did, because he had leverage that Janet doesn't have. He was up for album of the year, and record of the year and all the top awards. And if he didn't show up, the Grammys would have had a huge problem. But when they put the gun to his head he responded. but she said no.

PHILLIPS: So, Tom, is this sort of a look into the future now when it comes to these shows. I mean, there were so many shock moments that happened in the past year or so with these music shows, from Britney and Madonna, to Janet and Justin, last night was pretty tame. Is that how it is going to carry on, you think?

O'NEILL: I hope not or these shows will be off the air. That was so tame last night, it was a big snooze-fest. We love the Grammy's because anything can happen? remember a couple a years ago, a soy bomber crashed the stage when Bob Dylan was singing, and that wonderful moment when Ricky Martin became a superstar, when he was shaking his bon bon up on stage. And there was a great moment when Aretha Franklin took the stage when Pavarotti couldn't sing his "Puchina Aria (ph)," and she said, I'll show you how to do it. It's great theater, it's great television, and it's what the Grammy do best, but they played it so safe last night, they took the fun out of it.

PHILLIPS: All right, Tom, we'll be talking in a year, we'll see what happens next, all right. We'll monitor. I'll get back to you on the John Kerry scoop, all right.

O'NEILL: All right, you look into that.

PHILLIPS: Yes, I will. Thanks, Tom. See you later.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com