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This news came out yesterday, but that just goes to show how much we pay attention to Nicki Minaj, even when she’s making headlines for yet another stunt. So Nicki took a page out of the Madonna/Lady Gaga handbook and went for shock value with a religious-themed exorcism and alter ego performance at The Grammys. Not only was it a bad copy of something we’ve seen other artists do to death, it was also predictably offensive to religious groups. The girl showed up at the Grammys in a Red Riding Hood nun costume with a Pope lookalike in tow. Of course she expected this kind of backlash and she was surely hoping for it in order to extend whatever mileage she could get out of her performance. It worked, sort of. I’m not thinking she’ll be around much longer, but that was my assumption about Katy Perry circa 2008’s “I Kissed a Girl” and I was so wrong about that. Here’s more on the controversy:
Nicki Minaj is known for her over-the-top stage persona, but her performance at Sunday’s 54th Annual Grammy Awards took things to a whole new level.
Wearing an Oscar de la Renta dress, the 29-year-old shocked viewers when she performed her new song “Roman Holiday” for the very first time. Channeling her alter ego Roman Zolanski, Minaj’s performance pushed religious boundaries.“I had this vision for Roman for him to be sort of exorcised,” she explained on Ryan Seacrest’s KIIS-FM radio show Monday. “People around him tell him he’s not good enough because he’s not normal and he’s not blending in with the Average Joe.”
The Grammy nominee’s performance included a Catholic confessional, demonic possession, dancing monks and a levitation scene.
“The people around him are afraid because they’ve never seen anything like him. He wanted to show that not only is he amazing . . . but he’s never going to change. He’s never going to be exorcised,” Minaj said. “Even when they throw the holy water on him, he still rises above.”
The rapper’s performance angered the the right-wing Catholic League, who issued a press release condemning it Monday. “Whether Minaj is possessed is surely an open question,” president Bill Donohue said, “but what is not in doubt is the irresponsibility of The Recording Academy. Never would they allow an artist to insult Judaism or Islam.”
“It’s bad enough that Catholics have to fight for their rights vis-a-vis a hostile administration in Washington without also having to fend off attacks in the entertainment industry,” Donohue seethed. “The net effect, however, will only embolden Catholics, as well as their friends in other faith communities.”
[From US Weekly]
A male alter ego named Roman Zolanski, really?
I’m a former Catholic, so I’m probably not the person who should be commenting on this, but you know I will anyway. In theory I don’t have a problem with making fun of Catholicism. It’s not like they’re some persecuted religion struggling for recognition. They’re a huge, powerful religion with a history of abusing their power. Nicki’s performance was incredibly over the top, though, and unlike Madonna or Gaga she didn’t just use a few religious props – she threw the whole lot at us in one sensory-assaulting go. It’s like a church threw up all over an 80s music video. Some people are saying that this performance wasn’t just offensive to Catholics, but to Christians in general and that it was inappropriate for the Grammys. Personally I’m not offended, but I can see how people would be.
My issue with this performance is how much it sucks and uses religion for cheap shock value. It starts with a confessional booth and an exorcism and takes place in a faux church complete with dancing monks and altar boys. They even have the stained glass windows “shatter.” Give me a break. At least she’s singing live and not lip syncing.
Video via VH1’s Tuner
Hot ass mess
Just mess, not hot.
Sounded (and looked) like ass.
‘That what you meant?
What a bloody waste of airtime!
i don’t find it shocking or sacrilegious, just lame. it has already been done to death by other performers.
I agree. I wasn’t offended by the religious imagery, it just didn’t have a point. Her acting in the movie part was really bad and reminded me of a student film. Her red riding hood outfit also looked really cheap and poorly made…they could have at least done some difficult draping work, added interesting volume and layers. I think this concept could have worked if it was done better.
When Gaga does a theme, it seems like it has more of a point and the elements are more thought out. At the end of the day, Nicki Minaj just isn’t a great rapper, performer, or artist.
It was a horrible performance and she should never, never try to sing in my opinion.
But when she had the altar boys involved, that was just too much for me. It’s one thing to dress up like a nun; it’s another thing to have a dancer gyrating her crotch in the face of an adolescent boy kneeling for prayer.
I’m a committed Catholic and can handle the mockery, but once the kids were brought in, it became pretty dark and evil to me.
Agreed. Tired and Trite. Madonna did it much better, and it was more meaningful because Madonna was still a Catholic. Nicki is so grasping and desperate for attention it’s kind of sad really. All that I could probably overlook, but the whole thing with the maid that was fired, who she verbally abused then the boyfriend physically assaulted..the whole time..it turns out, it wasn’t even the right maid..she freakin’ attacked an innocent person and never apologized. That kind of crap I don’t overlook. She’s a rude, obnoxious, no talent rube.
I’m not offended because it was just SILLY.
Also: Roman Zolanski??? He??? wtf?
I get that she was going for “confusing religious scary skit”, but it came off like a silly mess. Not scary, and didn’t really make much sense, even on a performance level. This is what happens when people try to copy Gaga.
What might’ve worked would be a Frankenstein thing. But of course, she extended her reach.
I don’t think she is interesting enough to be offensive and I think she agrees and that’s why she tries so hard.
Agreed.. and I have to say, why is she famous? The sputtery way that she “raps” sounds stupid, so do her songs and lyrics. She’s not only irritating but completely ridiculous.
Not to mention, um, how does she propose that her “alter ego” should be male if she still looks female while performing? It’s like a cheap rip off of Lady Gaga’s alter ego without the cross dressing.
Also: I wish celebrities would drop the damn “alter ego” bullshit. If you don’t feel you are entertaining enough without one, do us all a favour and just retire; the “alter ego” just makes you annoying. Look at Britney Spears; her fans always found her performances wildly entertaining and she never had to pretend to be someone else.
“The sputtery way that she “raps” sounds stupid, so do her songs and lyrics.”
I so agree! The worst lyrics are “the keys to the Benz. Keys to the Benz? The keys to the Benz!” She has a habit of repeating herself because she can’t think of anything else to say. So terrible!
Sputtering rap is right! I thought it was just me.
She ripped off Dizzee Rascal’s style. It isn’t the best style, but still, she’s ripping people off.
I’m offended that she used Christmas hymns… Nobody messes with Christmas!!! NOBODY! =0)
I’m going to copy and paste the comment I did on Kate Moss two days ago:
I’m an atheist who grew up with a Catholic background (Italian), and I think there is a difference between mocking some (if not all) concepts of a religion/cult/belief, and plain disrespect of their symbols and ideas. This is completely in the second group, with the aggravation that it’s not for the sake of “art” or a real “provocation”, just for some stupid scandal with no reason expect try-hard.
And I would think the same if there was another (any kind) religion involved.
100% agree
Indeed.
Yes! Tired. Contrived. Not thought provoking in any way.
I agree, also.
Well said.
Yep you’re right, and how appropriate that you were able to copy and paste your comment from a prior and very recent post. It just goes to show how common and unoriginal this sort of thing is. It’s done to death, boring and shows the limited capacity celebrities have for creating something new, and thought provoking. I hate to agree with Mr. Donohue on anything, but he’s right that everybody would be up in arms if the performance swapped out Catholic symbolism for Judaism or Islam. On the other hand at least that wouldn’t have been boring. My hubby and I watched the first 30 seconds of her act and then picked up our phones to catch up with email and text messages. Somehow I don’t think that’s the result Nicki intended, but I did get a lot of work done. Thanks Nicki!
Theuth,100%agree.The music industry is just RIDICULOUS right now!I just can’t stand that bull$hit anymore.
Kill me but I like the red riding nun outfit especially the face at the bottom. The performance? Hot mess. LOL.
That’s the Versace logo.
Dumb and disrespectful.
No, my problem with this is that this “performance” does not make fun of the Church in general. It is very specifically aimed against one of the most loved, admirable and inspiring religious figures of the last century: Pope John Paul II.
That’s what offended me. Not the use of Catholic imagery nor the blasphemy or all of that try-hard irrelevant stuff.
Just what the fuck was the Pope doing with the priests, cardinals, and other clergy men of the Catholic faith when they were raping little boys and/or covering it up? The has been my problem with Catholicism in general is that they try to make Saints out of sinners and engage in their own idol worship which is a whole other matter, but then when the “saint” does wrong, they cover it up instead of acknowledging it. The Pope is the Catholic Church.
I agree with your comment–except to say that they’re still molesting and still covering up.
Religion + power = corruption & exploitation. A cess pool.
First of all, Pope John Paul II has been very vocal against the paedophile priests and took actions against them. He personally apologised many times not only for this issue but also for all the abusive behaviours the Church or any of its representative may have been involved in throughout centuries of history.
Secondly, he alone built strong, peaceful connections with all the other main religions, building friendships among believes that were conflictual for a very long time. He was an actual peace maker, and that was acknowledged by all politicians, including the US president.
Third: don’t even think of laying guilt for sexual abuse of minors on one religion alone, since it has been proven that all of the main religions are plagued by this horror. In fact, I don’t see protestants or Muslims united and apologising for all the abuse their religious men have done. So if you want to generalize, speak about all religions. In fact, speak of every single organization that deals with minors and falls into the disgusting statistics about abuse.
Also, publicly denouncing and taking measures to make something stop doesn’t seem like hiding actions to me. It’s more “hiding” to say: “Those things never happened, now shut up and worship”, like other faiths do.
Please, miss me with this. My mother and father were the only non-Catholics in their family. The Pope had known for years about the shit that went down. Especially incidents that happened in Philadelphia where parents of the accused tried to handle the situation in-house only to find out that the higher ups simply moved the accused to another church. Not only was the Pope and other officials within the church aware of this, but they tried to intimidate and buy family silence until some families said for them to go screw themselves because they were telling it all.
The Pope is not a god. He is not the Mouthpiece of God and he is not a prophet. He is not the interceptor of anything. He was a human that is treated like a deity and therefore was/is given a pass for all his other grievances. The human of a powerful religious organization that always knows what’s going in their business and had the power to squash shit, until people refused to back down.
No one is talking about other religions as we know all religions have their dirt. Let’s not change the subject to deviate from your reference of the performance “specifically” singling out the Pope. My reply was about the deification and exaltation of a man who does not deserve it, as no human really does.
He did not single-handedly do anything. He did many good things, but he was not the end all be all for religious harmony. And all the good he did in the world tarnishes what he didn’t do when he had a chance to deal with the situation many many many years before it all came out.
I read this earlier and was not going to comment because it is a large issue and all of what I would like to say will not fit here. Mainly this though. As others have already said, the Catholic church has been attempting to make amends for the sins of a few of it’s priests for quite a while now. And before that, priests who were known to have problems were not simply moved to another parish. The church felt that those priests were their responsibility and so they felt that they could not simply be released from the church to possibly prey on the wider world – A few horrible cases did slip through the cracks but most of those with knows problems were moved to jobs within the church where they were not involved with the public at all.
Also, this is not simply a problem with religions, but any place in society where people are placed in positions of authority over children or teenagers. Look at the troubles the Scouts have had, or sports teams or school teachers. The simple fact of the matter is that no one wants to belittle the damage that was done, but priests are human beings, and some are led astray just like a little league coach could be. Priests in the Catholic church are at this point, simply a more recognizable target, and it’s very easy to lump them all together into one uniform group.
Pedophiles are drawn to positions where they can be near children. That includes the church, sports, scouts, teachers, etc.
I was raised Catholic and am Christian now. I don’t agree with the doctrines of the church, but that’s a whole different ball of wax. Coming from LA/California we had one of the worst offending priests there was, and Cardinal Mahoney covered and covered, moving him for years! He lives in Ireland now, just watched a documentary on it.
Pretty shameful, he lives across the street from a school in Ireland with no court orders to stay away from kids and no prosecution. Damn shame.
The issue I have is this was clearly satanic, it clearly mocked the leaders and symbols of one of the largest religions in the world and to me it is just wrong to shit on someone’s religion like that. It’s trite, stupid and offensive no matter what your beliefs. Like I said below, I find her lack of talent offensive.
@OriginalTiffany 🙂 I went the other way….raised fundie Baptist, Catholic now, but we are all Christians :).
Yeah, I know:) I just don’t want everyone knowing my religious beliefs totally. Christian encompasses it enough for me. I’m just not Catholic.
Whatever works for you. I never liked the priest/confession deal. I never thought I needed an intermediary for me and God to talk about my sins.
Ahh, Catholic school. Good times, bad uniforms.
So everyone is going to say how awesome chris brown and rihanna did, but knock on her? Really?
Do it miss Nicki.
Whatever keeps Gaga off the stage, and gives Katy Perry less airtime, I’m all for it.
Im not offended, about the religious tones…..just thought it was a terrible performance. She should have stuck to rapping and not trying to sing WSS. The horrible British accent. The lame acting in that video sequence. Gah.
Seconded! The only thing I found offensive about that performance is that it wasn’t actually, you know, music…
Nothing Nicki Minaj makes is music, in my opinion. It’s all garbage.
I thought it was a horrible performance but Chris Brown was the bottom for me. I can’t believe that he won a Grammy, I can’t believe the applause and I can’t believe that there are little girls out there who say they would take a punch from him any day. How sad is that? Both stunk up the place.
I didn’t see the Grammys but just hearing that people applauded for Chris Brown make me stabby. Glad I passed..
I posted an article called something like “Its ok to not like Chris Brown”, and people were defending him! ABSURD!
Did y’all hear about people tweeting things like(paraphrase),”Chris Brown can beat me up anytime”? I saw a bit with 25 tweets from people expressing similar things. Sad and disgusting.
I did see that Luna, which is part of the reason I decided to post something. If he was a decent man he would address it publicly.
Tiffany – Can you link me that article? How absurd! What’s wrong with our society when people defend someone like Chris Brown. Disgusting.
Here are two articles:
The first is “I’m Not Okay with Chris Brown performing at the Grammys and I’m Not Sure Why You Are”
http://hellogiggles.com/im-not-okay-with-chris-brown-performing-at-the-grammys-and-im-not-sure-why-you-are
The second is a response to that article, where they add a little more detail. I can’t access the original site at work, but hopefully this will work. It is called “No, We Don’t Have to Forgive Chris Brown”.
gawker.com/5884400/no-we-dont-have-to-forgive-chris-brown
Absolutely horrifying. The articles were very informative and insightful. Thank you. The comments on the other hand were less than disgusting. Some of those people need help.
I could not believe it either. Chris beatherdown Brown…how does he have a career? How?
Nicki is just loathsome and untalened but this man is a violent abuser. He activately hurt someone physically. Not a simple ugly tirade but put his fists on another human being and he gets applause. It galled me to no end.
I’m Catholic and it bored me. Predictable. Totally obvious in it attempt to ‘shock’ And it wasn’t even well done. The rapping was poor and the acting atrocious.
Not to mention that it was just a piss poor ripoff of lil kim, madonna, and gaga.
Everything about her screams hot budget mess. And what does Nicki Manaj know about Catholics? At least gaga & Madonna grew up in the religion. So there mockery may be justified. Oh Nicki, what a terrible performance, what a joke.
Just when I thought I couldn’t think of more reasons to find wrong with this performance you bring up a great point, both Madonna and GaGa grew up in the Catholic faith and for me that gives some sort of right of passage for them to push the Catholic envelope, not to mention they do it much more effortlessly with more refined visions and cohesion to their performances. This was an all out atrocity which screamed LOOK AT ME I’M THE BLACK RAPPING PERFORMANCE ARTIST. GaGa wanna be to the max, No one can tell me GaGa hasn’t had a direct and profound impact on her contemporaries.
Lancaster, I agree with you a lot. Madonna and Gaga are both Catholic so it is understandable that the imagery would have some effect on them and come out in their performances. And I also agree that Gaga and Madonna are MUCH more polished in their performances.
i understand that madonna did it 30 years ago, that was kind of shocking and new. but nowadays im not impressed.
very cheap, i always think, hell if you can sing you dont need all this crap. if you can sing.
That performance was a mess! Cheap, cheap shock value. Her time is over (crossing fingers and toes).
List of people in pop I would like Nicki to take with her:
EVERYONE!!!!
*clapping at the last sentence*
whole post, really:)
Ha ha..Good Morning, Asli! Feeling sassy today I see 🙂
@Tiffany 😀
Hi Kitten!
LOL! It’s 5 pm where I am and I just go home from work an hour ago. I work in retail and this lady started screaming at me for NO reason (we didn’t carry a particular brand of chocolate), another lady tipped over a display of 7 pound bags of dog food and there was one lady who tried to walk out of the store with a bra (un-paid for) under her own bra. I’d say bad day more than being sassy 😛
Are you in Denmark? Did I read that somewhere once? I got to live in Amsterdam last year, but we didn’t get to visit there.
It’s 5 here now off to pick the kids up from school in an hour. Yes, school is from 12 to 6pm. I wish I was my kids!
LOL! Yes, I live in Denmark. Your kids are so lucky!!! It’s the winter break right now so most of my friends are on ski trips. I’m stuck here working. Boring 🙁
I never got there! Wanted to go to Copenhagen on our double dark this year, but too much travel. Last year we did Paris. When we lived in Amsterdam we got to Belgium, but not Denmark. Maybe next time. Our tour got hi-jacked by Corteo, so we track back to CA now.
Sun! So excited.
I do like living in Europe, it’s just cold for us wimpy hot house flowers.
Yes, I am jealous of my kids. Learning multiple languages, living in the most interesting cities in the world. I’m so happy they know other cultures and ways of life. It’s definitely a perk! Especially at their age. (OK, I like it too) 🙂
I’m not religious by any stretch of the imagination, but even I was offended by this “performance”. Many people hold religion close to their hearts, and while I don’t always (read: hardly ever) agree with Bible thumpers and politicians who try to control our country’s laws by the Bible, to piss all over someone’s belief system is gross. It would be like if someone took cuddling with puppies (my own personal religion?) and made it something disgusting and gross.
Plus it was scary and I just didn’t like that.
I really like Nicki Minaj and her music but that performance was terrible. I think most people don’t know the significance of “Roman” and therefore, the whole thing was lost on most of of the audience.
I wish she’d stick closer to her hip hop roots and stop trying to compete with Gaga and Katy Perry.
That’s the thing. Nicki Minaj is a good rapper who had a lot of respect in the hip hop community before she got all Gaga’d out. Sad because she actually IS talented. I used to really like her but I find her new shit unlistenable.
she tried very hard to convince everyone she serves the dark side and i have no trouble believing her. however, this performance was derivative, boring and very lame. when sinead tore up a photo of the pope she was ostracized..pls lets do the same with this poseur. and take chris brown with you.
I did find it insulting, and not just in regards to personal beliefs, Catholicism, Christianity or religion. It was slanderous to Jesus Christ and God. For an international “star” and network to portray such a vulgar act was beyond revolting. I wish more people would agree and not support her or people who try to pull a stunt like this, but I realize I’m the minority.
ETA: I’m actually not a prude and enjoyed some of her stuff prior to seeing this showmance.
I turned that shit off after the first three seconds. When I watched Madonna’s Like A Prayer, I knew I was kind of wrong to like it but it was such a great song and I loved that she controversially made Jesus a black man. I thought it was really powerful and I was just gonna have be a sinner because that song was the business.
But Nicki is not on Madonna’s caliber. As much as I really dislike Madge these days, in her prime, Madonna was smart. She went for shock value but she also understood what she was doing and the message she was trying to send be it about sexuality, religion, or whatever. That’s what has made her a legend (and I wish she would sit the hell down because she is ruining my view of her).
All Nicki had to do was sing SuperBass. That song is fun and catchy and has a great beat and less than craptastic lyrics. She rocked the VSFS last year. Her look is a total copy of Lil’ Kim’s “Black Barbie” and Madonna and Gaga’s “edginess”. It reeks of posturing.
Even though Madonna caused “controversy”, at least she had a point. Jesus was born in the Middle East, he probably did have a darker complexion than most depictions of him.
I’m lost as to Nicki’s point, if she had one. It’s cool to be evil, possessed and levitating? Not to mention, I’m sorry, she has the most irritating voice I’ve ever heard, well maybe a close second to Kesha.
Maybe I just don’t have enough ADD, but I thought the old men rocking out was more entertaining than this try-hard production.
@theoriginal, @cindy, agree with both of your points. Just one minor correction. The figure you both believed was Jesus (in “Like A Prayer” ) was actually supposed to be St. Martin de Porres. Most people thought he was Christ and, I believe, the message of the video is much more powerful when that assumption is made.
@Mort I had no idea. And in Philly I lived three blocks away from the school that mostly all my little cousins attended which was St. Martin de Porres.
Interesting. All my life people said it was Jesus, and I think she knew what she was doing when she made it ambivalent in that way because most people who don’t know all the saints in the Catholicism would not know that.
@the original, agreed! And BTW, I’m right outside of Philly! Small world.
Ugh.
Maybe I am more offended that TV puts a satanic mass on at the Grammys, but clutches pearls at a middle finger.
Oh, and I don’t think that was “singing”. It was live and horrible, but not singing.
It was just stupid, I watched the clip just to see what she did, as i wasn’t staying up to watch the crapfest the Grammys is from the UK.
Her offense is how bad she is.
This!
Hell yes. THIS.
Psh! It’s been before. Besides, it’s totally obvs. that she’s swagger-jacking Lady Gaga.
I was totally offended because it was the Grammys, and my 9 year old was waiting for Nicki to perform. This was seen by a large audience, unlike the Kate Moss W spread, which will be seen by only a select (adult) group. Why the Grammy organization decided to allow such blatant disrespect toward religion is beyond me, and I don’t care which religion is targeted, although it always seems to be Catholicism.
You let your 9 year old listen to Nikki Minaj? Her music is for adults.
No, I don’t ‘let’ my daughter listen to her, but the kids at school know who she is, and my daughter was waiting for her performance. Needless to say, we fast forwarded through it since it was on DVR. I figured, though, that she would have cleaned up her act for a Grammy appearance. Obviously, I was wrong.
Only one word. Weird.
Her “performance” offended my eyes and assaulted my ears. That has to be a worse offense, surely?
It was completely unlistenable and ugly. Enough said.
Yeah, and all through it she kept yelling , “Mother, stop it! PLEASE!” for no reason. I was like, “Ugh! why don’t YOU stop it!!!” while covering my ears!
She confuses me. How many alter egos does she consist of? Lady gaga the rapper lol. She needs to polish up her image and charachter.
I’m so sick of singers and their ‘alter egos’ (Beyonce, Gaga, etc). If you’re not interesting enough to maintain people’s interest just being yourself, making up a second personality just looks desperate.
Yes! ITA. BTW, why the name change?
Why is this Minnie Mouse/ Popart/ helium&neon charicature trying to be arty and a voice of reason. She never had a point, and now Im suddenly suppose to think she has deep meanings and messages? Especially with such an unfocused performance that was all over the place. Its a really stupid ‘show’ and doesnt fit her image.
I was raised Catholic but haven’t actively practiced my faith in several years. Although I have many issues with the church as an organization, the people that make up its congregation, for the most part, are good and do what our faith has taught us. We turn the other cheek. This has been my personal experience throughout my life.
That being said, not only did this performance offend me spiritually but physically, I thought my ears were going to start bleeding. Her “singing” stunk!
Weren’t we just talking about some idiot doing the “Suck-it, Cathlolics!” yesterday? Ho-hum. I’m a devout Catholic, believe it or not, NOT a fan of Bill Donahue, and the most offensive part of all this is that it is just shamelessly derivative.
Pssst, it’s not shocking when everyone has done it. Maybe she is trying to cash in on the current HHS/contraception/sterilization debacle? I can see that they probably threw that shit show together since that started.
Well I am glad that some people are FINALLY seeing with this chick the lights are on but nobody’s home. She’s just reading off of cue cards Cash Money tells her. Now is that empowerment Nicki? The religious imagery is not done to death. There are a lot of questions that can be picked up in regards to that subject matter. The problem is that Nicki is basically to stupid to read a bible or learn anything. Madonna and Gaga more then likely was raised Roman Catholic. So I am pretty sure they had to deal with that sect of religious upbringing. Nicki is technically Trinidadian, half “american” Trinadad and Tobago about 65% of the population is Roman catholic i think 45% is Muslim, and 38 Oresha (don’t know if I spelled that correctly. I highly doubt she was raised Roman Catholic. Considering she was brought to NYC at age 5. Which has a lot more venues of religion. So I am just guessing that she never really looked into seeking any religion when she was here. But you never know.
I find it astonishing that she would say ok to this type of show. It’s the Grammy’s not VMA’s. However this is Hip Hop… and they are scrambling to find something innovative when really it’s called just open a book. You will find something in there.
Plain stupid is what it is…
Adele doesn’t use none of those distractions she dresses simple, most of the times only a piano and her voice. That is true talent.
I always kind of liked Nicki, she is smoking hot, but this was pretty unwatchable. Possible career-killer
Roman Zolanski and Jo Calderone should get together.
But what was the POINT of it?? Hate her as much as you like, Gaga is usually saying something (no matter how obscure or pretentious) with her provocative pieces. This was just embarrassing. Go away, Nicki.
I don’t know why performers are still using religion for shock value. It’s been done – overdone, in fact. It still shocks and offends some people, sure. But I think if I was religious even I would get to a point where I’d think ‘meh.’ Since I’m not religious, I just roll my eyes and think ‘this again?’
The Grammys show was the first time I had ever heard Minaj’s music. I figured I wouldn’t be a fan. I was right. Just not my taste.
I thought it was sick, twisted and offensive
The performance was so “put-on” and not the least bit entertaining. I was embarrassed for the Grammys. Fail, big fail.
I got through exactly 1 min and 51 seconds of this piece of sh!t and that is 1/51 of my life that I’ll never get back. That HAS to be the absolute WORST performance in the history of the Grammys. I challenge anyone to find something worse than this.
Madonna’s video had a story and a message. Maybe shocking at the time but mild now. Her performance of it liive was always kind of an uplifting performance with the sounds of a choir.
Gaga tried to be Madonna and release her Judas song at Easter to stir up controversy. It fell flat. But the song isn’t controversial. It’s about the pull of good and bad.
Nicki’s is just a hot mess, throwing every piece of religious iconography on and seeing what sticks.
I’m confused as to what catholics are fighting for their rights in washington about? is it about pharmacists not wanting to give birth control and emergency contraceptive? Because, imo, that’s pushing it to call it “fighting for their rights”–that to me implies they’re on some sort of catholic liberation front and the rest of the world is intolerant to them that they’re forced to speak out now, which from my observations, is untrue. Yeah there are religious prejudices, but more people believe in jesus than don’t so, in all my ignorance, I finds the plight that’s being projected a bit insufferable. Am I missing something?
It’s because of the Obama administration’s decree that all employers must provide insurance coverage for contraception and sterilization, which Catholics are not permitted to use. So a church, university, school, or hospital could be providing something to its employees that it believes is fundamentally wrong. Like if the American Cancer Society was required to provide cigars to its employees.
Wrong on some points. Churches and schools are exempt. Only universities and hospitals WOULD have had to provide coverage for these things. The compromise says that the insurance company will now have to provide coverage and the hospitals/universities won’t be paying for that coverage.
Ultimately, the Catholic Church’s hospitals and universities need to get with science and realize that birth control is a MEDICATION and is not soley used to prevent reproduction.
I have no desire to debate politics, but it’s still the Catholic institutions paying for contraception / sterilization — they’re the ones who purchase the plans, after all. Saying the insurance company must go directly to employees only hides the institution standing between the two; it doesn’t eliminate it.
You are right about the exemption for churches; however, since most Catholic schools don’t restrict their registration to only Catholics, I don’t think they’d be exempt.
Birth control is nearly always used to prevent reproduction; some have classified it as a recreational drug. There are plenty of studies and lawsuits which indicate that the Pill isn’t harmless. The Church does recognize and approve of some legitimate uses for the Pill; i.e. treating endometriosis or ovarian cysts. But this really is an issue of freedom of religion — would the administration require an anti-circumcision group to provide circumcision coverage in its policies?
Individuals have the freedom to make their own decisions; a Catholic hospital can’t forbid its employees from using condoms. But this ruling (and the one that required Catholic hospitals to provide the morning-after pill) are clear infringements on the right a religious institution has to make moral decisions.
Whether you agree with the Church’s position or not, I think we can all agree that the government should not be overriding the legitimate exercise of religious freedom.
I respectfully disagree, Umlaut. I don’t think this infringes on anyone’s freedom of religion. Your employer shouldn’t be in charge of determining what medication is morally ok for you to take. A woman shouldn’t have to go to her boss and try to convince them that she is taking a legal medication for bad cramps, to prevent ovarian cysts, to regulate her hormones and cycle, to lessen PMS, etc.
The administration is just trying to give all women access to medication they might need. If it is covered, that doesn’t mean that a woman HAS to take it. That would be infringing on her religious beliefs. Removing a medication as an option is actually more intrusive on an employee’s religious beliefs than it being covered by a 3rd party, IMO. Allowing women to make their own choices, as this policy does, is the definition of freedom not the removal of it.
No. You arent. It’s a politicized red herring to stir up the religious right. Even though polls show most women support it. I used to a Catholic, not by birth and the days of families with 10 children is long gone. The rhythm method is not the reason either.
They fixed the issue but the continuing debate is just a political tool.
I respect the rights of religious organizations to mandate whatever they want within the law and if they are not receiving federal money.
The option of contraception cuts down on the likelihood of abortion and that should be a good thing.
But Tacki Minaj thought to exploit the debate for shock value. She failed.
I didn’t watch the grammys, and what I’ve seen of her performance looks unimaginative at best, and devoid of any artistic merit and opportunistic at worst. Thank you all for enlightening me with your opinions 🙂 while I agree no one should be forced into anything that goes against their moral compass, I think when it comes down to it, imo, no one its going to force /try to make a woman to get birth control if it goes against her wishes unless its for a medical problem, like those stated above. I honestly have been ignoring this direct because I don’t want to think about how it may be made harder to obtain contraceptives considering I’m a broke student. But thank you to everyone who replied and I hope I didn’t offend anyone.
Madonna’s video Like a Prayer was powerful and had a moving storyline. Silly that it was seen as controversial at the time, but times were very different back then when you look at the crap videos now. Madonna’s performance in her Blond Ambition was a piece of performance art, Madonna praying to God to erase the guilt of her sins and everyone else like a choir in it. Actually, very beautiful. In 2005 her supposed controversial performance on a cross singing Live to Tell wasn’t controversial at all, as the Church wanted to say, but extremely moving with Bible scriptures at the end about how we need to help our fellow man as Christ would, and President Clinton’s organziation listed to help children who are orphaned with AIDS in Africa. It went with the song, Live to Tell, one of Madonna’s most beautiful ballads ever, beautifully. And we were all crying in the audience. It was that beautiful
Gaga’s Judas was released at a time, Easter, to try to be provocative like Madonna and get attention and cause controversy. It fell so flat, because it was such a blatant move. But her song is actually not blasphemous either. It’s about the pull of good and bad with lyrics like Jesus is my virtue, Judas is the one I cling to.
Nicki’s is just a super hot mess with everything but the kitchen sink thrown in. No rhyme or reason. I get a kick out of her, but felt it was just trying to shock, not a message or cohesive storyline.
These popstars need to find their own path as a popstar and stop trying to copy Madonna and being controversal when it makes no sense and looks try-hardy. Get your own identity.
If these performers had true talent, they wouldn’t have to put on a freakshow, let your work speak for its self.
I have more respect for and artist that doen’t have to use auto-tune, stupid slinky outfits and a bunch of silly dance moves to sell a song.
HER FACE freaks me out. I know she has had plastic surgery and some implants and all but there is something that is just so off with her face it makes me not want to look at her. As an artist and entertainer she totally bores me. As a practicing Catholic (you all have some interesting thoughts upthread on Catholicism that i am SO not going to touch) i thought her performance was lame and try hard.
Just like the truly heinous couple who performed on SNL this last weekend, if this is what the kids are into I am officially an old.
Yeah, I don’t think it was just Nicki that came up with this crap-fest. So not only should she SIT DOWN! but her handlers should too.
So sick of the music industry right now. Sigh.
Eh, I was mildly entertained. My boyfriend loves scary movies, so I saw this as some kind of B-movie parody of The Exorcist.
I’m unsure of what Nicki’s intentions were with this mess. But, I thought parts of it were funny, particularly the video intro. Which, to me, was reminiscent of what would happen if a Mad TV sketch and Lady Gaga got thrown in a Blender.
I must admit though, I’m not at all religious and never have been. I was not raised in the church (although my grandmother is a devout catholic), so stuff like this holds no meaning for me outside of the context of popular media. So, take my thoughts with that in mind.
There are so, so many talented performers out there. Wbo made the decision to put this mess on the stage? Regardless of any “religious controversy,” it was just a crappy performance of a crappy song.
As Madonna might say..it was reductive.
She is a Wal-Mart version of Missy Elliot.
Oh and another thing. The Catholic League is one guy sending our press releases from his house…fyi.
I wasn’t offended by the religious stuff, but I was by that awful song. And the stage stuff was ridiculous and awful. Very ‘try hard’.
Ok why does “she” have an adams apple?
Her performance and outfit sucked big time !!!! Iam sick of her and Lady Gaga with these weird outfits, it just doesnt make any sense !!! what happening to just singing or rapping !!! instead u get a full circus of bull shit nobody wants to see !!!
Author and maritza agree; I was raised in the faith and i found it silly and childlish; does this bimbo even know what sacreligious even means. it’s only the pop music industry that is a joke – there’s plenty of interesting good music out there try the Black Keys, Esperanza Spalding, the Avett Brothers, the lonely boys, Tame Impala – all way better than this junk.
She’s obviously taken lessons from Taylor Swift; use elaborate set pieces to distract from the fact you have no talent whatsoever. Sorry, doesn’t work on anyone with two brain cells to rub together.
I don’t usually comment on celeb sites (though I read a lot of them!), but Nicki Minaj’s “performance” SUCKED SO BAD I’ve been traumatized all day. Words can’t describe how bad she SUCKS.
On the complete other end of the spectrum, Bruno Mars was phenomenal!!!!!
Yes. That’s how you pay homage to your musical influence without coming off as a no talent, budget version of the original.
Re: “It’s not like they’re some persecuted religion…” Ask Catholics in East Timor or Poland or many other countries around the world whether or not they are persecuted and I am certain you will get a different answer.
I’ve never heard of NM and I wish I never had. She abdolutely sucks and shouldn’t be allowed anywhere NEAR the same stage that Bruno Mars dominated!!!
P.s. Why do they always leave Maroon 5 out of the Grammy nominations?
Oh, my goodness, she sucks. Obvs, shock value trying to make up for lack of talent.
Anyone else have a problem w/her alter ego’s name being so similar to Roman Polanski aka super skeezy guy? Seems like she should’ve done her homework and picked someone with a bit more class.
Just stupid. She’s a nobody, so it’s hard for me to be offended by her.
she did fine, but the concept in general is totally boring and unoriginal.
When I see an up and comer like gaga(last one that was as much of an attention whore as mad lady madge) or nik try to be planned edgy it just makes me laugh because it’s always things that were done before by someone better than they. It’s kinda like fire your people b/c they suck. Don’t try so fucking hard it’s making you look like a total loser.
btw on a side note did anyone else see Nik about to cry when she didn’t get the award for best new artist? She totally thought she had it in the bag.LMAO.
The venerable Anna Wintour said it best when she sniffed regarding ms. Minaj: Ive never seen such a nobody try so desperately for attention.
Short, sweet and to the point.
Why does anyone think this was anything other than a ploy to get attention? And to top it off, it was a half done ploy….she didn’t even try. And going after Catholicism….how original (yawn).
guess no one else cared that Roman Polanski is Jewish, not Catholic.
and “judyjudy” is someone else and I didnt see her posting name prior to my being here – not trying to pretend to be her/him.
Well you certainly nailed that on the head. No one cares.
my point, tho no doubt you missed it, is that connecting roman polanski to a fantasy about the Pope shows ignorance of the fact that tho he has a Polish name he isnt Catholic. *rolls eyes*
but thanks for the witty response. How long did it take you to come up with it? LOL!!
I really hope Nicki soon fades into obscurity for good.
Meh! Linda Blair masturbated with a crucifix 40 years ago. And she was 13. The only interesting part was I thought Glen Campbell, who performed earlier, wandered around the stage and decided to play the priest/Pope. I’m serious.
I have no issues with Minaj, I dig some of her songs but her moves are so calculated, I feel bad for her.
Very bad performance, she was a mess..a big B**ch mess!!!!
I’ve figured it all out now.
The more theatrical the performance, the crappier the song.
I personally did not care for the nicki performance but at the same time I think that if lady gaga did the same thing that she wouldnt be gett as much hatred for performance as she did. okay yeah I made no sense but at the same time lady gaga performances dont make sense either