From Flower Vase to Film Emperor in Hollywood

Boom, boom, boom!

Just as the Staples Center had returned to calm and the award ceremony was ready to continue, an unbelievable surge of energy swept through.

A slight vibration rippled through the air, not obvious, but still perceptible, a faint stirring that ignited wave after wave.

Anson: What’s happening? Is it an earthquake?

The members preparing to change in the dressing room looked at each other, asking questions but met with blank stares; no one understood the situation.

Higgins was equally bewildered. What was going on? He’d never experienced this before!

Anson turned to Higgins, "If an earthquake occurs during the award ceremony, what does the official manual say to do?"

Higgins: Huh?

Official manual? What official manual?

Anson: "You know, when encountering natural disasters like earthquakes, typhoons, volcanic eruptions, etc., shouldn't the award ceremony organizers have a plan for evacuating the crowd?"

Higgins: … …

He never knew there was any kind of disaster manual for award ceremonies. What kind of thought process did Anson have?

Anson knew the answer from Higgins’ confused expression, "Lily, Lily! I think you should hold off on changing. We might need to evacuate."

For evening gowns, Lily chose a long dress; for performance attire, Lily chose a suit, in the same color scheme as Anson’s, making it easier to go on and off stage.

And now, with the performance over, Lily was switching back to evening gown mode.

Lily tiptoed and poked her head out from behind the partition, "Evacuate? Evacuate from what?"

Then.

Higgins finally got the answer from the staff's walkie-talkie channel, "It seems there’s a broadcast delay. The audience is only seeing your performance now."

Everyone exchanged glances, suddenly understanding, "Oh."

From the walkie-talkie channel, even though Higgins couldn't see the live broadcast director's expression, he could feel the pride and excitement in his voice.

Tonight, it was thanks to this director's decisive action, making a judgment in the blink of an eye, not only collaborating with the August 31st Band to create such a performance but also allowing the August 31st Band to make on-the-spot adjustments, seizing an inspiration, and ultimately staging a moment that would go down in Grammy history.

Later, someone asked the director how Anson had managed to convince him.

The director said, "He is very persuasive. You know, he is Anson Wood?"

So, what was the truth?

Actually, Anson had stated that if the director refused, he would refuse to perform on stage.

Rather than persuasion, it was more like a threat. The director knew Anson had skipped the Oscars, not even caring about the Oscars, let alone the Grammys?

But the director didn't tell the truth. He believed his explanation was correct, "He made me an offer I couldn't refuse."

Majestic and continuous.

Although the award ceremony was still in progress, it could now be confirmed that the August 31st Band would undoubtedly become the biggest topic of the night.

However, topics are topics, and awards are awards; these are two different things.

On the topic level, the August 31st Band, with their opening performance in the second half, conquered the stage with strength, live performance, and a brilliant performance.

Beyoncé, who had shone brightly in the first half, was immediately overshadowed. Everyone was discussing the August 31st Band, completely forgetting that Beyoncé had won applause with her energetic singing and dancing at the beginning. The award ceremony hadn't even ended, and the topic's heat had already shifted.

However, on the award level, Beyoncé undoubtedly became the big winner, far ahead in a crushing manner.

Best R\u0026B Female Vocal Performance, Best R\u0026B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals, Best R\u0026B Song, Best Contemporary R\u0026B Album, and Best Rap/Sung Collaboration.

A full five Grammy Awards. Beyoncé dominated tonight's award ceremony with a sweeping victory, sharing the main awards in the R\u0026B category with Luther Vandross. Her first solo report card after leaving Destiny's Child was a win-win in both fame and fortune—

Number one single; Grammy Awards; album sales; popularity index.

Everything was there.

Perhaps the only slight regret was the album sales. "Dangerously in Love" sold "only" 2.5 million copies, ranking seventh on the year-end charts.

For ordinary singers, this was a perfect answer sheet, especially for new singers; but Beyoncé's album had achieved too much glory and success, so this sales result seemed slightly insufficient.

However, this was nitpicking. Obviously, after tonight's Grammy Awards, no one would consider Beyoncé "regretful."

Besides Beyoncé, another focus tonight was Justin Timberlake.

Just like Beyoncé, Justin had just gone solo from the *NSYNC group, and his first solo album also ushered in a complete victory.

Tonight, Justin won the Best Pop Male Vocal Performance and Best Pop Vocal Album Grammy Awards, which can be described as the focus of attention.

However, is this really good?

In the "Super Bowl incident," the innocent Janet Jackson was blacklisted. The culprit, Justin Timberlake, not only did not suffer any punishment but also attended tonight's award ceremony with dignity and took away two Grammy Awards, smiling and playing the victim under the spotlight.

It can now be foreseen that after the award ceremony, this year's Grammys should fall into a vortex of controversy.

Here, we have to thank Anson again.

The August 31st Band's opening performance in the second half was really too exciting and too good-looking, taking away all the focus and topics in a crushing manner. Even Beyoncé retreated, and Justin was the same. The controversy surrounding Justin's award in the first half was temporarily alleviated, taking a breather.

In the second half, all the bustling discussions gathered on the August 31st Band, so that the attention to other awards was greatly reduced.

The award ceremony continued, but the Staples Center inside and out could feel the lingering charm. The attention returned to the stage, but inadvertently, people couldn't help but reminisce about the August 31st Band's performance and sigh repeatedly. The entire scene never completely came out of the afterglow, so that the award ceremony seemed a little absent-minded.

Until the image of the August 31st Band appeared on the big screen again, in an instant, all the scattered attention of the audience was captured by the big screen image—

Nomination for Best New Artist.