Dalai Lama wins Grammy – Olivia Dean best newcomer

The Dalai Lama won his first Grammy – for his narrative voice. He prevailed with the audio book “Meditations: The Reflections of His Holiness the Dalai Lama”. The Dalai Lama himself was not present to accept the award in Los Angeles. Songwriter and composer Rufus Wainwright did this on behalf of the band.

“The Tibetan spiritual leader’s narrative captivated voters with its deep wisdom and gentle delivery, offering listeners a deeply meditative experience that goes beyond the typical audiobook format,” the Grammys’ homepage said. Around 13,000 members of the Recording Academy decide on the winners. The category in which the Dalai Lama won was “Best Recording for Audiobook, Narration and Storytelling.”

Director Steven Spielberg won his first Grammy. He was honored as producer for “Best Music Film” with “Music for John Williams.” Music icon Cher accepted an honorary award at the gala and then gave a short acceptance speech. The 79-year-old appeared confused. After receiving an award herself, she was due to present the award for best recording of the year, but started to leave the stage and had to be asked to stay by host Trevor Noah.

Olivia Dean as best newcomer, Bad Bunny: “ICE out!”

In the important “Best New Artist” category, Olivia Dean was able to prevail against her competition (including Katseye, Addison Rae, Sombr). The 26-year-old accepted the award from last year’s winner, US singer Chappell Roan, and mentioned in her acceptance speech that she is the granddaughter of migrants. “I am the product of courage and I think these people deserve to be celebrated,” she said, alluding to the current controversy surrounding ICE operations in the United States.

Latin musician Bad Bunny, who won in the “Best Música Urbana Album” category, was even clearer in his speech: “ICE out!” said the Puerto Rican artist. He criticized US President Donald Trump’s migration policy, but warned not to give in to hate: “The only thing stronger than hate is love. That’s why we have to be different. When we fight, we have to do it with love,” said Bad Bunny.

The presentations by South African comedian Trevor Noah were also peppered with swipes at the American president. Noah hosted the awards ceremony for the sixth and final time. “I believe in term limits. I want to set an example for everyone who watches the show,” the 41-year-old said. On the one hand, US President Trump is known for watching a lot of television – and has repeatedly indicated that he could also imagine remaining president beyond his term limit.

Singer Billie Eilish also joined in the criticism of the ICE operations and immigration policy. “As grateful as I am, I honestly don’t feel the need to say anything other than: Nobody is on stolen land illegally,” said the 24-year-old, receiving cheers and applause from the audience.

“It’s really hard to know what to say and do now,” continued the American, who won Song of the Year for “Wildflower” alongside her brother Finneas O’Connell. “I’m hopeful in this room and I feel like we just have to keep fighting, raising our voices and protesting. Our voices really matter and people matter. Fuck ICE is all I want to say.”