Nancy O'Dell Calls 2019 'GRAMMY Awards': 'One Of My All-Time Favorites'
Last night saw the 61st annual GRAMMY Awards take over the Staples Center in Los Angeles and Entertainment Tonight's Nancy O'Dell was front and center to cover all the action from Music's Biggest Night.
CBS Local's Matt Weiss spoke to O'Dell earlier today for her thoughts on the night's best fashion and biggest moments.
MW- Good morning, Nancy!
NO- Good morning Matt! How are you?
MW- I'm doing well, coming off a really fun GRAMMYs last night!
NO- I have to say it was one of my favorite GRAMMYs! I think it was just fantastic. There was so much nostalgia going on with Diana Ross and then having the tribute to Dolly Parton and Aretha Franklin. I thought Alicia Keys did an amazing job as host, I thought she set the tone from the beginning to make it a safe place for everybody. It was so inclusive and a great representation for women. It was a really feel good ceremony.
MW- I couldn't agree more. The night kicked off as it always does though with the red carpet and Cardi B certainly stole some headlines with her outfit but you were there what was your impression of the pre-show festivities?
NO- I have to say I loved Camila Cabello's dress. At the GRAMMYs you can typically go crazy and you won't get criticized that much because it's the GRAMMYs so people are used to seeing outrageous outfits. I thought the GRAMMYs were a little more subdued this year. Of course there were the ones like Cardi B that were not subdued and in fact watching her get out and step onto the red carpet - the amount of things that people had to do to get her prepared to walk the red carpet in that dress must have been staggering [laughs]!
First of all I had to wonder how she even arrived there because the dress was HUGE! What kind of car did she take? She obviously must have changed there because she had the thing that looked like a shell and she was coming out of it and then there was the pearl on the top of her head. They literally took probably 10-15 minutes to arrange the outfit and get it ready for her once she got there, so that was a little outrageous.
But then there was Lady Gaga who is known for arriving at the GRAMMYs in something outrageous, she came in a more subdued gown, a gorgeous silver gown with the ruffled side. She was one of my favorites, I thought she looked amazing. Maren Morris, the gown she wore was one of my favorites. It was a great night for fashion too.
MW- And Maren Morris would go on to perform with Dolly Parton later in the night. You got to speak with Dolly on the red carpet before her big tribute - how great was it getting to speak with a legend like Dolly?
NO- Anytime you can hang out with Dolly it's a good time [laughs]! You can understand why she has so much respect within the industry because I don't think I've ever seen her be unkind or short. I don't know where she gets all the energy and the time from because she makes everyone feel like her friend. It's easy to understand why everyone loves her so much.
It was great though, she was talking about how wonderful this moment was to her and how wonderful it made her feel to see all these artists sing her songs. When I spoke to the different performers who were going to be doing her songs you could tell how much respect they had for her. It almost seemed like they each felt pressure to perform well because she is such a legend. I think you could see that on stage as well, you saw the performers trying their very best to do her songs justice.
Dolly almost mentioned how special it was to her to have Miley Cyrus up there with her because Miley is her Goddaughter. It was very important to her to have Miley there. She's just a legend and she's as sweet as can be.
MW- That performance was outstanding and then Diana Ross brought down the house as well a little later in the night.
NO- She did! There was something when I was watching the Diana Ross performance that just made you feel good. I thought it was just a night where they brought back all these incredible performers. You could tell how talented they all are because none of them missed a beat. There have been so many years since they had all these hits but they're still superstars.
Diana Ross certainly was one of those and she gave us all that inclusive feel. From last year there was so much controversy over excluding women and then being so included this year, being recognized for women's tremendous work. There was so much diversity being celebrated. Alicia Keys did such a great job with that as well. It just felt like a really feel good GRAMMYs - it just felt good.
MW- Watching it at home and following along on social media another big trending topic was BTS making their first trip to the GRAMMYs...
NO- Yes! They're huge! I didn't get a chance to talk to them unfortunately but I really wanted to. They're so huge, wherever they go they create hysteria. I did get to talk to Backstreet Boys and we were giggling a little bit because BTS is now in the same situation they were in. They are a mega-popular boy band and as I said to them they're a man band now [laughs].
What a great collaboration that would be if they all got together. Then we started giggling about what they would be called because we call Backstreet Boys BSB now and then you've got BTS so what would you do? BTSBSB [laughs]? I don't know! But they said they had actually spoken to BTS about a collaboration and I know BTS has said they listened to Backstreet Boys growing up, not that they've completed growing up yet because those guys are still so young. But they are fans of each other so that would be something to see those two groups together wouldn't it?
MW- No doubt, I think that has the makings of a sold-out tour for sure! Looking back on the event as a whole now, can you point to your favorite moment of the actual awards ceremony?
NO- Diana Ross, I just really liked that. I thought the tribute to Aretha Franklin was phenomenal. Camila Cabello, her opening number and all the performers that performed with her - I thought that was a great way to open the show because it was so lively and fun. It really got everyone ready to go.
One of the other great moments that really set up the night was the great female representation, including Michelle Obama, and having them talk about what music meant to them. That was a special moment too because you realize how much music really played a part in their lives and that was a really special moment.
MW- I have to agree, I thought it was a fun show but they did a great job throughout the evening of hitting on a lot of really important points.
NO- Absolutely, in 25 years of covering this I think this was one of my all-time favorite GRAMMYs.
MW- Always a great show so that really says something about how great it was last night. Thank you so much Nancy, always a pleasure talking to you and hope you get a chance to relax now that the big weekend has come and gone!
NO- [Laughs] Thanks so much it's good to talk to you too! Take care!