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There were plenty of big winners at this year's Grammys — including the Grammys itself.
Monday's broadcast drew the largest audience for music's highest honours since a pre-pandemic show in 2020, broadcaster CBS announced.
The three-hour-plus ceremony pulled in an average of 16.9 million viewers, Nielsen data shows, making it a 34 per cent jump in audience from last year.
2024 is shaping to be the year where award shows bounce back from years of declining viewership as audiences shift to streaming.
Ratings dwindled even more during the constrained award shows put on during the COVID-19 pandemic — remember when the Emmys were practically held over Zoom?
There are a host of reasons why the Grammys hit a high note this year – the buzzy performances from both new artists and industry legends, the bonkers fashion, the suspicion Taylor Swift was about to announce new music.
But the most obvious reason is how the Grammys acknowledged some of the most celebrated and successful women in the industry.
Women dominated the Grammys, from nominations to the ceremony
When nominations were announced last November, women dominated nearly every category.
In fact, in three of the four top fields, John Batiste was the only man to secure a nod.
So it was unsurprising on Monday when every televised competitive Grammy went to at least one woman.
Taylor Swift made history by becoming the first artist to win Album of the Year four times for Midnights — she previously took home the top honour with Fearless, 1989 and Folklore.
Swifties sensed something was afoot and tuned in to see if Taylor Swift would announce the release date of Reputation (Taylor's Version) but were surprised with the news of a brand new album due out in April.
Several women earned their very first Grammy, including Miley Cyrus, best new artist Victoria Monét, country artist Lainey Wilson, with Karol G becoming the first woman to win in best música urbana.
Plus, Paramore became the first rock band fronted by a woman to win best rock album.
Phoebe Bridgers also won her first Grammy and ended up walking away with the most of the night with four — three for her work with band boygenius and one for her collaboration with SZA.
Billie Eilish picked up two awards alongside her brother Finneas for What Was I Made For? from the Barbie soundtrack.
"I think it is just wonderful to see so many women at the top," Dua Lipa told the Associated Press on the red carpet.
"What we want is just an equal space in the industry and to be seen equally on equal levels — not just on the creative side but on the business side — so hopefully the equality in the industry will kind of level things out a little," she added.
"I think we're still kind of figuring that part out. But we're getting there, slowly."
While last year Beyonce became the Grammys most decorated artist with 32 wins, Jay-Z used his Dr Dre Global Impact Award acceptance speech to critique the awards.
"Most Grammys, never won album of the year. How does that work?" he said of his wife.
"Even by your own metrics it doesn't work."
The Recording Academy has made considerable changes to its programming following the resignation of its former president Neil Portnow, attempting to better reflect the current musical climate.
Recently, more than 2,400 music creators joined the voting bloc — of those new additions, 50 per cent are people of colour, 46 per cent are under the age of 40, and 37 per cent are women.
Will the Oscars continue to see a surge in ratings?
Monday's Grammy tally is close to last year's audience for the Academy Awards, which drew about 18.7 million viewers.
While that comparison might make the Oscars look better, their ratings have also been trending downwards for years.
In fact, the last time the ceremony drew in an audience of more than 40 million was a decade ago in 2014.
The global success of Barbenheimer will no doubt give the ceremony an added boost, but the Academy was criticised when it snubbed Greta Gerwig for Best Director – despite Barbie earning eight nominations including Best Picture.
With Barbie's nomination for the top prize, Gerwig has become the first woman to have directed three Best Picture nominations.
Barbie was 2023's biggest box-office success, grossing more than $1 billion worldwide — the first film solely directed by a woman to break the 10-digit mark.
Australia's Margot Robbie, the film's star and producer, also missed out on a Best Actress nomination, but downplayed the controversy.
"We set out to do something that would shift culture, affect culture, just make some sort of impact," Robbie has said previously.
"And it's already done that, and some, way more than we ever dreamed it would. And that is truly the biggest reward that could come out of all of this."
Where can I watch the Grammys in Australia?
The 66th annual Grammy Awards were broadcast on Monday on Channel 7, with the ceremony available to rewatch on 7Plus.
To relive all the biggest moments, look back on our live coverage of the 66th annual Grammy Awards.
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