CBS has answered the criticism of Eminem, Lil Wayne and Drake's Grammy performance after their songs were heavily censored.
According to the network, various terms were not allowed to air on national television.
"It was a rousing musical performance, but words were edited from the live telecast that didn't meet our broadcast standards," said CBS spokesman Chris Ender. "We have great respect for artists' creative freedom, but there are certain things you can't say, or sing, on television." (Associated Press)
Lyrics from Wayne and Em's "Drop the World" performance were also censored.
If you weren't watching, or have successfully avoided our Grammys coverage up until now, Wayne, Em, and Drake ran through "Drop the World" (the only good song on Rebirth) and "Forever"* with Travis Barker and rock guitarists. Also present were CBS's overzealous bleep-machine operators, who rendered huge chunks of the performance completely silent. It's all kind of bizarre: Why were whole lines being cut to avoid one profanity? Why was the music cut out along with the mikes? Did the bleep button keep getting stuck in the on position or something? (New York Mag)
Reports also suggest the emcees placed certain emphasis on censoring.
According to a number of reports, the "Forever" performance was more audible during the tape-delayed broadcast on the West Coast. Many have also noted that the artists themselves actually censored their lyrics and either replaced them with clean words or pauses. It's a difficult position for CBS to be in, though, considering Wayne and Eminem chose to perform a song that many have yet to hear -- "Drop the World," from Weezy's upcoming Rebirth album -- which includes a significant amount of profanity. (MTV)
The conflict has also caught the attention of university professors.
"Don't have performers on the show if you're going to bleep the h*ll out of their performance," proposed Paul Levinson, professor of communication and media studies at Fordham University. Levinson argues that the Grammycast did an injustice to the performers' music as well as to the audience expecting to hear it. (AP)
http://www.sohh.com/2010/02/cbs_justifi ... m_lil.html
hell yea 2 tat profesor
