The mid-performance costume change is an art form that has never gone away exactly, but if it stays away too long, you really start to miss it. Seeing an artist making the absolute most out of a few minutes on the stage can sustain you for three days, or more! Diana Ross, Lady Gaga, Cher are the masters of the form, and Sunday night, Dua Lipa joined their ranks with her Grammys performance.
She started in an elegant Versace gown, one sleeve dropping precipitously off a shoulder, to sing “Levitating.” Then after a DaBaby interlude, she changed into a sparkling blazer-dress before shedding it down to her pink bra set for some “Don’t Start Now” and floor-dancing. The look and feel of the performance was like a great early aughts reimagining of the disco era with 2021 background technology. (Bad Bunny singing along from stage right was a real cherry on top.)
Lipa racked up six nominations, behind only Beyoncé and Taylor Swift in numbers, including Best Album and Pop Vocal Album for Future Nostalgia, a pandemic album that a music-starved public was expressly grateful for, as well as Best Song for, “Don't Start Now.” She won the Grammy for Best Pop Vocal Album later in the night.
Of the nominations, the British singer told E!, "I mean, it’s bonkers, it's mind-blowing, it's amazing... These things really only happen in your dreams, so I feel like, well, I'm hoping no one is going to wake me up and be like, "All right, time for school!' or something."
Lipa is already a two-time Grammy winner, both in 2019. She was named Best New Artist and won in the Dance Recording category for “Electricity.” She also performed with Saint Vincent, which is well worth a watch, too. (Only one outfit per singer though.)
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