Alicia Keys has been a winner on the Grammys stage many times before — 15 times, to be exact — but she also turned out to be a winner when she wasn’t nominated for anything at all. She hosted the 2019 telecast, which was her first time emceeing the music industry’s main event, and the viewers we polled loved her performance: “Bring her back next year!” they said. Scroll down to see our complete results at the bottom of this post.
Two-thirds of respondents (66%) thought Keys was a “great” host who should return for another round as the Grammys’ master of ceremonies. But in a way it was a team effort. Some of her strongest moments featured her on stage with other artists and celebs. After the show opened with a medley by Latin artists Camila Cabello, Ricky Martin, J Balvin and Arturo Sandoval, she brought out her own all-stars to help her introduce the festivities: Michelle Obama, Lady Gaga, Jada Pinkett Smith and Jennifer Lopez (watch their segment below). And she later had a sweet moment reminiscing with John Mayer about the year they were rivals for Song of the Year.
But Keys is first and foremost an artist, which she reminded us by performing a medley of Grammy-winning songs including “Killing Me Softly with His Song,” “Unforgettable,” “Use Somebody,” “Doo Wop (That Thing)” and her own “Empire State of Mind,” among others. That was one of our readers’ favorite performances of the night. She even sang with Smokey Robinson when the legendary musician joined her as a presenter.
Another 23% of readers thought Keys’s hosting was just “okay,” and only 11% thought she was “terrible” and should never be invited back again. So when it comes to a successful Grammys, it looks like Alicia was the key.
