Even before Billie Eilish took home five Grammys on Sunday, she had already won the night, at least as far as the game of super-one-upmanship that is the red carpet was concerned. She did it not by opting out, like Alicia Keys (who also wore four different looks in her role as host, plus a fifth one to perform) or the presenter Cynthia Erivo. She was perfectly willing to play the game: to show up relatively early in the parade, to pose for the paparazzi, to enlist a big brand (Gucci). But in doing so, she also changed the rules and thus swept the field — much as she does with her music and her approach to stardom. It was a fitting choice (no pun intended) on a night that took place in the shadow of Kobe Bryant’s death, and in an arena that, as Ms. Keys said in her opening speech, “Kobe built”: the Staples Center in Los Angeles.

Source: New York Times January 27, 2020 13:18 UTC